Election 2026
Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves won reelection outright Tuesday night, clearing the 50% threshold needed to avoid a runoff in a crowded six-candidate field. He finished with 53.23% of the vote, well ahead of runner-up Alicia Trawick, who took 21%. Ann Hill followed with 10%, Jermaine Williams with 8%, Jasmine Brown with 4%, and Eric Shorter with 3%.
At his press conference this morning, he thanked voters, addressed his margin of victory, and laid out priorities for his second term, including whether he’ll seek a third in 2030.
“The Real Work Continues”
Reeves opened by thanking the other five candidates in the race, saying it “takes courage and effort” to put your name on any ballot. He argued the true temperature of the city isn’t found on social media but around kitchen tables and in living rooms, “when you feel safe in a city or when your kid is in college and calling home and figuring out that it’s somewhere that they want to live.”
“So today, the campaign over, and the real work continues. To those who voted for me, and certainly same those who did not, my commitment is to be a mayor for every one of the 55,000 people who live here.”
He said the city “remains coachable” heading into a second term and pledged to keep listening to residents.
Same Priorities
Asked whether his priorities are shifting for term two, Reeves said the “hierarchy” stays the same: public safety, housing and affordability, and jobs. “And a part of affordability is jobs.”
Reeves said the city needs to learn from mistakes made a decade or more ago and make sure new jobs coming to Pensacola pay well and that residents can actually access them.
“I want to take that lesson learned, and I want to make sure that that Birdon comes on even more jobs, even higher paying, that we know how important that is. And I don’t feel comfortable coming up and touting 2,000 jobs if we don’t have the ecosystem to make sure that Pensacolaans are getting them.”
Looking ahead: Reeves said the city will convene state and university “thought leaders” in Pensacola on Aug. 26 to map out which industry tracks the city should target as regional demand for jobs grows in Mobile, Pascagoula and Panama City.
On 47%, and 2030
A reporter pressed Reeves on the fact that he avoided a runoff by roughly 3 percentage points, meaning close to 47% of voters backed someone else. Reeves said he doesn’t read too much into the exact number, calling the overall result “the resounding support of our city.”
Asked whether he’ll run again, Reeves declined to commit, joking that the question was supposed to be saved for a later date. He said he’s already asked a lot of his staff and family to commit to another four years, and pointed to the next election cycle before giving a real answer.
“I have said it’s an eight-year job… check back with me in mid-2029, probably.”
In an earlier post today on Ricks Blog we read, “This time, facing more opponents, he ran stronger, not weaker.” But, information posted today on the Escambia County Supervisor of Elections webpage describes that fewer people voted in the 2026 mayoral race (14,047) than in 2022 (15,079) and D.C. Reeves got “fewer” votes in 2026 (7,483) than in 2022 (7,682). Regarding, jobs for city residents, what percentage of ST Engineering jobs are held by city residents? Further, what percentage of jobs on city-owned property are held by city residents? It seems a big secret. When the ST Engineering lease was approved, I was the lone citizen to testify asking that the lease give preference to city residents. When Commissioner Valentino had raised a similar point related to lending the city $8 million he was openly opposed by Mayor Hayward and so withdrew his motion. After I spoke to the City Council, none of them saying a peep, Commissioner May thanked me saying that he had the same concern but was afraid to speak up. A lady with the Greater Pensacola Chamber of Commerce caught me on the way out and said it would track where the ST Engineering workers lived when hired but if that was done it too is a big secret. The fundamental failure of the mayoral campaign was a wholesale lack of debate about how to make the City of Pensacola affordable for the people who already live here and don’t want to work in a shipyard, repair aircraft, etc. Maybe it will come up in the District 2 race. And no one challenged Reeves when he lied repeatedly to include his recurring false claim that the City of Pensacola has the fourth lowest crime rate in the United States. Not even close.