Commissioner Casey Willits was elected in November 2022 to serve as the first District 3 commissioner with a full four-year term from January 2023 until January 2027.
Before being elected, Casey had two decades of community involvement working as a civil rights advocate with groups such as Equality Florida and with political campaigns across the southern U.S., including the 2008 and 2012 statewide campaigns to elect President Obama in Florida.
In 2014, Casey chose Gainesville as his permanent home and safe harbor. After making Gainesville his home, he immediately continued his engagement and advocacy as a volunteer in the community. He served in leadership in the Alachua County Democratic Party, Alachua County Young Democrats, Stonewall Democrats of Alachua County and has knocked on doors for campaigns and public servants he believes in in almost every Gainesville neighborhood.
Casey enjoys Gainesville’s mild winters, proximity to local strawberry, blueberry and citrus farms, and Gator softball. He has a passion for maps, demographics and transportation.
Casey graduated from the University of Arkansas with a Bachelor of Arts in Geography with a minor in Spanish, and completed additional graduate studies in Public Administration. He has worked in the College of Medicine at the University of Florida for seven years.