07/12/2026
This article is from the school board race in Osceola county Florida. As you can see I was the underdog. I almost won, if only a few more people had known about me.
I fight for what's right and I fight for "We the people." That's why so many people came out and voted for me. Did you notice the money I spent compared to the money my opponent spent? I'm the fiscal conservative person our town needs.
Please help me become mayor. Tell your neighbors, tell your barber, tell your hairdresser, tell your mailman that Deb Wemette is the person we need as mayor of Hot Springs.
Thank you so much for your support!
Fresh eyes
Fresh perspective
Osceola county Florida,
Thomas Chalifoux’s victory in the lone School Board election last week means the factions that have developed during the past two years will continue at least another two years: He and Jay Wheeler remain pitted against the other three board members.
Chalifoux hung onto his District 2 seat by a hair Tuesday, beating challenger Debbie Wemette by fewer than 2,500 votes.
“I felt concerned,” said Chalifoux, who was at the Supervisor of Elections Office until 3 a.m. Wednesday watching the votes being counted. “I thought my numbers would be stronger.”
Though the vote was close, Chalifoux outspent Wemette by 36 to 1, with most of his campaign money coming in the form of personal loans to himself and donations from his businesses.
“At the end of the day, which result do you want: spending $2 a vote and getting the job done or spending 6 cents a vote and not getting the job done?” he said. “When you go to battle, you fight to win.”
In the end, Chalifoux, who spent more than $82,000 on his campaign, garnered just over 51 percent of the vote.
“He won fair and square,” said Wemette, who spent $2,300 on her campaign. “Because of my lack of funds, people didn’t know I was out there.”
Last week, Wheeler announced that he planned to nominate Chalifoux for School Board chairman this month, a move that ruffled feathers because it was said during a televised board meeting the day before the election.
“It was one of the most unethical things I’ve seen out of Jay Wheeler in a long time,” board Chairman Tom Greer said. “It was a campaign ad.”
Wheeler said he was just trying to be up-front with the board, saying that Chalifoux has been on the board for four years and deserves the opportunity to be chairman.
“I’m sure if I said those things about Tom Greer, he wouldn’t have a problem with it,” Wheeler said.
With Greer being president of the Florida School Board Association, he isn’t looking to lead the Osceola board for a third year. But the position isn’t likely to go to Chalifoux, either.
