Welcome to 2023! We're starting off the year with a bang. This weekend, the newly-formed Florida Executive Committee met in person for the first time, alongside members of the Forward HQ team. I was there, as was Joel Searby, Lindsey Drath, Cortney Hazen and Leslie Villegas.

Less than a year ago, I met with Leslie, our state lead in Florida, for the very first time. She was young and fiery and capable, but she was the only single human operating Forward in the state of Florida. Over the course of 2022, Leslie turned a one-person operation into an incredible, diverse, large-scale leadership team. Today, they're on the verge of filing paperwork to achieve Minor Party status in Florida, and you'll very likely see a wide array of local Forward candidates on the ballot in Florida this year. In the image above, you see the Executive Committee signing their paperwork to officially begin the filing process in Florida.

I've since hired Leslie as the Regional Organizing Coordinator, Southeast for Forward HQ, in a large part due to her unbelievable lift in getting the Florida team to where they are today.

Stories like these blow me away. There is no substitute for dedication, hard work and commitment. If you build it, they will come.