Learn more about Cody's campaign and how to get involved at CodyForCollier.com
Register as a Jeffersonian today and join us in pursuing federal, constitutional, American government at RegisterToVoteFlorida.gov
The paperwork has been filed and I am now in the race for Collier County Commissioner District 2 (See the Supervisor of Elections entry here). There is a qualifying period in which the campaign will have to pay a fee, but the fee is manageable, and other than that, as long as I am able to keep up with my financial reporting, I will be on the ballot in the November 3rd, 2026, general election, God willing. Unless the incumbent gets primaried, which is possible, I will be running against Chris Hall.
The candidacy was prepared after incumbent Mr. Hall told me, and others, that he would not be running for reelection in 2026. For whatever reason, Mr. Hall changed his mind and decided to run for reelection. I could have cancelled my campaign but I decided against it because I think the contrast between a Jeffersonian candidate and an incumbent can help solidify the identity of the Party, and also because I believe Mr. Hall is a vulnerable candidate, so I think electoral success is possible. Further, Mr. Hall, along with the other Commissioners in general continue to further a broken development pattern and there are many residents of the County that are not happy with this.
I have three focus issues:
1. Keep Collier's Character:
Collier County is growing, but growth should not mean abandoning the locally rooted, quiet way of life that longtime residents built, and that new families moved here to enjoy. Today, oversized, developer-driven projects are overwhelming our roads, straining our environment, and pricing out small businesses and working families.
County government should stand with residents, not special interests. Growth must be guided by clear principles: neighborhood character, environmental stewardship, infrastructure capacity, and genuine affordability, not by whichever well-connected developer shows up with a proposal.
Development should be a partnership with the community, not an extraction from it. Developers should succeed when Collier succeeds, not at its expense.
As Commissioner, I will champion bottom-up, incremental, community-shaped growth that strengthens Collier’s identity rather than erasing it.
2. Restore Conservation Collier:
In 2023, the Board of County Commissioners, Mr. Hall of District 2 among them, voted to divert $53 million from Conservation Collier, a program repeatedly affirmed by voters through supermajority referenda to protect Collier County’s natural lands. Nearly $30 million was used to plug a general budget shortfall caused by an unsustainable “tax cut” that Mr. Hall championed. Even after public pushback, when Commissioners considered restitution, Mr. Hall stated:
“We did not talk about borrowing the funds last year. We never said the word ‘borrow.’ We said we’re gonna take those funds and balance the deficit in our budget.”
This decision violated the clearly expressed will of the people and undermined public trust. These funds were intended, by both the original program design and repeated voter referenda, to be dedicated to conservation, not budget balancing. Voters did not approve Conservation Collier to serve as a rainy-day fund.
As Commissioner, I will fight to reallocate and restore the funds to their proper place. Conservation Collier should be protected from political gamesmanship. In a self-governing republic, the people’s will, expressed repeatedly and plainly through direct vote, should be sacred. A Commissioner should be a steward of both the land and the public trust, not an irresponsible accountant shuffling funds to cover poor planning.
Source for quote (Min. 51): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RT5PoLmC05M
3. Fairness in Land-use Decisions:
Collier County’s land-use process has become a system of inconsistent rules and special treatment, and residents are being left behind.
Recently, the Commission approved a major density increase for a project on Vanderbilt Beach Road because the developer committed to providing substantial affordable housing. But only months later, a large project on Immokalee Road was allowed to cut its affordable-housing obligation by more than half at Commissioner Hall’s suggestion (”I would be ok with doing 129 units at only 30% affordability”), while also dropping a planned daycare, without any meaningful accountability.
These contradictory decisions send a clear message:
- Big, well-connected developers get flexibility,
- Ordinary homeowners and small businesses get rigidity,
- And public commitments can be renegotiated based on convenience
If affordability is used to justify more density, it must actually be delivered. And if ordinary residents are
expected to follow the rules, those with deep pockets shouldn’t be allowed to rewrite them for themselves.
As Commissioner, I will fight to:
- Hold developers accountable to the commitments that justify their approvals
- Ensure consistent land-use decisions, not favoritism
- Promote bottom-up, incremental development that aligns with neighborhood character
- Protect neighborhoods from chaotic and unsustainable overdevelopment
Zoning should serve all of Collier County, not just the few who have the resources and know-how to work the system.
Source for quote (Min. 59): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yhK50ZCUrc
If you would like to get involved as a volunteer of my campaign, please reach out, and also please donate at CodyForCollier.com/donate. We are designing the campaign to do more with less, but some amount of money will always be necessary, so please help us stand up to entrenched powers by donating. We allow ACH transactions so that more of your money goes to my campaign, rather than to payment processing fees.
Thank you for your time, and whether you are Republican, Democratic, or among the many tens of thousands in Collier who have been alienated from both major parties, I hope you will vote for me on your ballot in the November 3rd, 2026 election. Only residents of District 2 will have the opportunity to vote for me on the ballot, but you are welcome and encouraged to help out in whatever way you can, regardless of where you are. Just reach out and tell us you'd like to help.
Email: CodyDavis@JeffersonianPartyFL.com
Phone: 901-207-8897
Learn more about Cody's campaign and how to get involved at CodyForCollier.com
Register as a Jeffersonian today and join us in pursuing federal, constitutional, American government at RegisterToVoteFlorida.gov
