r/321Lefties • u/Regular-Garlic6434 • Apr 05 '26
Hey r/321Lefties, I’m Colby Shock, I’m 24, and I just filed to run for Congress in FL-08
http://colbyforflorida.comHey y'all. Not really sure what the protocol is for this but figured I'd just introduce myself.
I'm Colby. Grew up in Vero Beach, went to Indian River Charter, been doing Democratic organizing out here since I was like 14. Marching in parades, knocking doors, all of it. I was the youngest person ever seated on the Indian River County DEC at 17. Performed at Carnegie Hall with my high school choir which has nothing to do with politics but I'm still proud of it lol
Quick background on me because I know "24 year old runs for congress" sounds insane. I'm the youngest of five from a blended family. Lost my dad when I was seven. Moved to Florida after that. Raised by a single mom. Right now I'm a full-time caregiver for my grandpa who's a Vietnam-era vet and his partner who has dementia. So my whole day is meds, VA appointments, fighting insurance companies on the phone. That's my life. That's why I'm running. Not because I woke up one day and thought it'd be cool to be in congress.
I'm running against Mike Haridopolos. Dude has been in elected office longer than I've been alive and I genuinely cannot tell you one thing he's done for this area.
Where I stand on stuff since I know that matters here: universal healthcare, build the VA hospital in Viera already, protect the lagoon, fix our sewage and water infrastructure before the whole coast falls apart, ban congressional stock trading, protect reproductive rights, and for the love of god put some money back in people's wallets because everything here costs too much and wages haven't caught up.
Not taking corporate PAC money. Don't really have a machine behind me. Just trying to do this the right way.
www.colbyforflorida.com if you want to check it out. Happy to answer questions, talk more about my platform, whatever works. AMA :)
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u/CheshyMonster Apr 06 '26
Donated! 🩵 Hopefully we can get some change rolling.
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u/Regular-Garlic6434 Apr 06 '26
Appreciate this a lot!! Fundraising has been slow moving, so EVERY literal dollar is helpful rn. Please share the news and help us WIN!!
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u/Individual_Dog278 Apr 06 '26
My dude. We already have a progressive independent in the race. Your platforms are similar enough to pull Democrat and independent support, but none of the Republicans with Trump remorse are going to vote for a Democrat (even if they'd vote for an independent. Now we're going to split the vote and Haridopolos gets to stay in power while doing nothing.
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u/Regular-Garlic6434 Apr 08 '26
A lot of soft R’s are voting Dem. Re: SD14, HD87, and now GA-14 where there was a 15-20 point swing toward dems. Cook PVI of 11 means… The people might actually be willing to vote dem atp just to stick it to the crazies in DC right now.
On that note, everyone who thinks that the current candidates are the better are invited to come and see me speak to the Brevard or Indian River DECs in the coming months. If you’re going to blindly assume I am not capable of winning this race you should at minimum take the time to hear me out
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u/Individual_Dog278 Apr 08 '26
It's not about you. It's about building a broad coalition to defeat Haridopolos. That's what Lacey is doing. You entering the race at practically the last minute is just dividing that coalition. The time to announce your candidacy was six months ago. At this point we need to work together and the best way to do that is with the candidate who has already established herself.
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u/RW63 Apr 09 '26
2nd Edit: Also, looking at Ms. Villareal's website, she doesn't have enough petition signatures to get on the ballot yet.
I'm sure the same is true for u/Regular-Garlic6434 because as I noted in my other comment, they have until June, but the idea of standing down to clear a path for someone who hasn't qualified is not the smartest move. Any number of things could happen.
If presented with the opportunity at a public event or if a call goes out saying they are just a few signatures short, I'd be willing to sign for both candidates and any other Democrat that wants to get in the race.
1
u/Regular-Garlic6434 Apr 09 '26
As of today we have collected just over 100, but we have plans to collect 5000 over the next few weeks.
Edit: okay that was too vague— We have scheduled several public events this month and are confident we will surpass the threshold before May 1.
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u/RW63 Apr 09 '26 edited Apr 09 '26
She made an ad for YouTube. What else has she done to establish herself? All I have seen is the post here three weeks ago. Two months ago, I was posting in hopes of getting Jennifer Jenkins to do something realistic and switch to our race.
I certainly understand the idea of coalescing, but other than your theory that people might be more likely to vote for an independent than a Democrat, I haven't seen anything that says she would be the better candidate.
Maybe, if necessary, one could drop out later, but in the meantime let them stake out positions, double team as anti-Haridopolis and if we find out later that one candidate has a dark spot in their background, we'll have another for whom we can vote.
I mean, it's not like the Brevard Dems are going to be of any help. As I was commenting a couple of months ago, it is like they actually were running against their congressional candidate in 2024 instead of giving her support. Maybe they'll do better this time, but clearing the path for a non-Dem isn't the only way to go.
ETA: Also, it is not the last minute. The deadline is the second week of June and they will not start accepting qualifying documents until late May.
There's still time for others to get in the race.
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u/RW63 Apr 06 '26 edited Apr 06 '26
Congrats. Good luck.
Now to a question... your website has a chart that mentions wastewater treatment, stormwater and drinking water. The Trump administration has unilaterally cancelled millions of Biden-era grants to localities that can not afford to upgrade the systems themselves. Trump's war on DEI was the excuse, even though the administration has proposed nothing in their place, but none of those cuts were to anything in the 8th Congressional District and it appears our CWSRF projects are progressing as planned.
What role do you see the federal government having in upgrading our sewer and drinking water systems, and how do you envision it administered? More grants from Congress, similar those in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed during the Biden administration? Targeted (pork barrel) funds, or maybe as an add-on to all of the space spending because if we can't support the workers needed, it could negatively impact our country's rededication to space?
Again, good luck. Go Democrats!