Thanks, Gene

The following is a thank you note to all the supporters of Gene Magrini who came up short in yesterday's school board race. This note from Gene says it all. His class and his grace prevailed throughout his entire campaign. Thank you, Gene!

Thank you to all of you that supported my campaign and voted for me!

We came up around 4,400 votes short tonight, but I am humbled by the fact that we received over 34,000 votes and garnered 47% of the vote compared to 28% in the August Primary. To put this in context - you have to remember that we faced a candidate that has owned a business in this county with his name on it for over 23 years, was involved in numerous civic organizations over the years and I was basically unknown prior to entering this race.

I attribute this showing to the tremendous work of many volunteers - be it sign waving, walking door-to-door, talking to your friends, neighbors or customers - you made these numbers happen and I appreciate your efforts and hard work! Thank you so much!!

The great thing about our election process in this country is that it forces candidates and incumbents to dig deeper into the issues and challenge conventional wisdom and thinking, and pushes new thinking to the forefront. I truly believe we had a game-changing campaign - even though we didn't win tonight - we won in challenging the assumption of what our county should expect from their School Board members. During this election we had a great message and we brought managing and scrutinizing the School Board budget to the forefront of this debate; we brought raising the bar for our students, not lowering it to the forefront; we changed the assumptions of what a School Board race in Hernando County looks like - and yes this was the most expensive School Board race in our County's history!

I thank all of you again for everything you did for me. My only disappointment is that I didn't honor your hard work with a victory! But keep your head up high, and keep fighting for the issues that matter to you - and yes I will do the same.

Thank you again and have a great night.

Gene Magrini