Or: How I spent 15 minutes trying to pin down Mayor D.C. Reeves
Picture this: A Wednesday afternoon at Pensacola City Hall, Mayor D.C. Reeves stands at the podium while his presser streams live on Facebook, thinking he’s about to discuss infrastructure projects or Veo scooters. But I had to determine if he was ready to commit to running for reelection in 2026.
Round One: The Setup
My Opening Gambit: “So, former House Speaker Paul Renner is running for governor. Ann Hill’s running for mayor. Which race are you getting into?”
- A classic move—casual, direct, with just enough ambiguity to catch an unsuspecting politician off guard. But D.C. isn’t mayor for nothing. He immediately pivoted to talking about “keeping people safe at night” and “transformational projects.”
Translation: “I’m not falling for that, Rick.”
Round Two: The Clarification Attempt
Mayor Reeves droned on. “These are big transformational projects for our city. So I’m hyperfocused on that… I would never expect a job that’s as important, as vital to the city as the mayor of the City of Pensacola to be run unopposed again.”
- I tried a different angle: “So Ann will have opposition, is what you’re saying?”
D.C.’s response? A masterclass in political non-commitment: “Yeah, well, as of this moment, no.”
You can practically hear my internal sigh. It was like asking someone if they want to grab dinner and getting “Well, I do eat food” as a response.
Round Three: The Timeline Trap
Realizing Reeves was an accomplished sports journalist, I switched to a possible betting line. “So is announcing in January over or under?”…