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City of Cape Canaveral, Florida
Don Willis
City Council, City of Cape Canaveral
Republican
RESOLUTE Citizen Score
100
/ 100
A
Raw: 6 of 6 dynamic max
· 3 of 30 answered
Local tier30 of 50 rubric questions apply at this office level — federal-only questions are marked N/A and excluded from the dynamic max. How tier grading works →
Last verified: · scorecard-level timestamp
✝ God First
2/ 70
🏛️ Local First
4/ 30
National Rank
#4,750 of 8,966 · bottom 47.0% among candidates with at least one scored answer
See the full rankings →Contact This Official
Reach out directly. Your voice matters. Proverbs 29:2 — When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice.
Official Profile
Background: Don Willis is a retired business executive and entrepreneur with 40+ years professional experience; owned Porter Willis (technology consulting) for ~14 years serving international corporations and small businesses. BA Magna Cum Laude, University of North Carolina; Executive Education, UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School; PMP-certified. Before council, served as the city's Parks and Recreation Commissioner, Vice-Chair of the Business and Economic Development Advisory Board (4 years), and on a private school's board of directors. Married to Paula Willis; three grown children, three grandchildren. Elected to Cape Canaveral City Council November 2021 (top vote share ~25.4% of 5,174 votes), re-elected November 2023 with 38.81% (~860 votes). Currently serves as Treasurer of the Space Coast League of Cities; member of the Florida League of Cities Transportation/Intergovernmental Relations/Mobility/Emergency Management Legislative Committee, Cape Canaveral Local Roads Committee, Space Coast TPO Governing Board, FDOT District 5 Central Florida Safety Strategic Plan Steering Committee, and FLC Federal Action Strike Team. Recipient of the 2025 Florida League of Cities 'Home Rule Hero' Award for advocacy during the 2025 Legislative Session. Personally aligned with the Brevard Republican Executive Committee (party 'R' set on basis of 2021 BREC YouTube address). Religion: NOT FOUND (served on board of an unnamed private school; denomination not specified; the LinkedIn 'Don Willis - Pastor at CrossBridge Baptist' result is a DIFFERENT person, NOT this Don Willis). Part of the Davis-Willis 2-vote minority that voted to RETAIN City Manager Todd Morley in the 3-2 January 2025 termination vote.
ARCHETYPE: Republican-aligned, business-executive, 'Home Rule + Law-and-Order' local-government technocrat — affirmatively pro-police (cleared HIGH BAR via personal Coffee-with-a-Cop sponsorship + joint BCSO LE-fraud presentation + 'Law and Order' campaign platform) and demonstrably anti-state-preemption (2025 FLC Home Rule Hero), with a near-total NULL footprint on the cultural cells. Three HARD TRUE: (1) public_justice.q0 — he and wife Paula are NAMED sponsors of BCSO 'Coffee with a Cop' (per his own city bio: 'sponsoring Coffee with a Cop'), affirmatively hosted joint Council Member + BCSO LE-fraud public-safety presentation on Identity Theft/Fraud/Scams, and campaign explicitly platformed on 'Law and Order, keeping citizens safe from crime on our streets' — pattern of affirmative engagement beyond routine budget votes meets HIGH BAR; (2) refuse_state_overreach.q0 — 2025 Florida League of Cities 'Home Rule Hero' Award recipient explicitly recognized for advocacy DURING the 2025 Florida Legislative Session against state preemption of local authority; (3) refuse_state_overreach.q3 — same Home Rule Hero designation + active service on FLC Legislative Policy Committee and Federal Action Strike Team is by definition subsidiarity advocacy (lowest-competent-level decision-making vs. state/federal preemption). 27 NULL — quiet civility-coded transportation-and-budget-focused councilmember whose only RESOLUTE-visible profile is PJ.q0 + refuse_q0 + refuse_q3. No FALSE-cluster — zero documented deviations against the rubric on culture-war cells, but silence is not affirmation in a small ~10K coastal city where most council business is stormwater, code enforcement, and CRA millage rather than life/marriage/gender. Faction signal: voted to RETAIN City Manager Morley in the Jan 2025 3-2 firing vote (institutional/establishment side of the controversy rather than reform/firing-faction).
Category Breakdown
Candidate affirms life begins at conception and personhood from conception
Not yet verified
Candidate (if District Attorney) has committed to prosecuting illegal abortion procedures; (if mayor/council) has supported pro-life city resolutions or refused to declare 'sanctuary city for abortion'
Not yet verified
Candidate opposes embryonic stem-cell research, IVF embryo discard, and chimeric experimentation
N/A · out of tier
Candidate opposes euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide, and quality-of-life rationing
N/A · out of tier
Candidate has never accepted Planned Parenthood, NARAL, EMILY's List, or abortion-industry PAC funding
N/A · out of tier
Candidate affirms marriage as exclusively the lifelong union of one man and one woman as instituted by God
Not yet verified
Candidate opposes all forms of same-sex marriage, civil unions, and domestic partnerships in law
N/A · out of tier
Candidate opposes city/county trans-affirming policies (bathroom mandates on private businesses, Pride flag raisings at city hall, pronouns-required HR rules)
Not yet verified
Candidate supports no-fault divorce reform and policies that strengthen the marriage covenant
N/A · out of tier
Candidate opposes city/county Pride proclamations, Pride flags at city facilities, drag programming in libraries, and LGBT-affirming K-12 curriculum (school-board-relevant)
Not yet verified
Candidate (school board) opts the district into school-choice transfers + protects homeschool freedom + opposes truancy-based criminal referrals
Not yet verified[1]
Candidate (school board) requires parental notification before any gender/sexuality counseling of minors; (mayor/council) opposes city programs facilitating minor medical procedures without parents
Not yet verified
Candidate (school board) has voted to remove CRT/SOGI/comprehensive-sex-ed/gender-ideology materials from district curriculum and library shelves
Not yet verified
Candidate (mayor/council/library board) supports local enforcement of age-verification + removes sexualized content from library children's sections
N/A · out of tier
Candidate supports faith-based adoption/foster agencies and opposes placement of children with same-sex couples
N/A · out of tier
Candidate affirms the right to publicly profess Christ in all spheres (workplace, military, public office, schools)
Not yet verified
Candidate supports conscience exemptions for Christian medical professionals, business owners, adoption agencies, and educators
N/A · out of tier
Candidate (city/county/school board) opposes mandatory pronoun policies for staff + employees + students
Not yet verified
Candidate (mayor/council) supports city/county Christian displays (Ten Commandments, Nativity scenes), invocation prayer at meetings, Sunday-closure where chosen by community
Not yet verified
Candidate opposes city-funded non-Christian religious displays/programming (Ramadan illumination, etc.) at city facilities
Not yet verified
Candidate (city/county) opposes city participation in CBDC pilot programs + supports cash-acceptance ordinances for local businesses
N/A · out of tier
Candidate supports sound-money policies including gold/silver as constitutional money and audit/abolition of the Federal Reserve
N/A · out of tier
Candidate (mayor/council) has voted against deficit-bond issuances for non-capital city expenditures + supports balanced city budgets without service cuts via tax increases on residents
Candidate supports usury limits, anti-debt-slavery protections, and tithe-friendly tax structures
N/A · out of tier
Candidate (city/county) has voted to remove city pension/treasury investment in ESG-aligned funds + opposes city participation in WEF-aligned sister-city programs
N/A · out of tier
Candidate (city clerk/county election official) supports hand-counted paper ballots at local precincts where state law permits
Not yet verified
Candidate (city clerk/election official) enforces state photo voter ID + citizenship verification at local precincts
Not yet verified
Candidate supports single-day in-person voting with absentee only for verified medical/military exceptions
N/A · out of tier
Candidate opposes mass mail-in voting, drop boxes, and ballot harvesting
N/A · out of tier
Candidate (city clerk/council) refused acceptance of private election-administration grants ('Zuckerbucks')
Not yet verified
Candidate supports completed physical border barrier and active military border presence
N/A · out of tier
Candidate (DA/sheriff) cooperates with ICE detainers + transfers; (mayor/council) supports local cooperation with ICE rather than sanctuary policies
Not yet verified
Candidate (city/county) has voted against local sanctuary-city ordinances + supports city cooperation with federal immigration enforcement
Not yet verified
Candidate supports mandatory E-Verify for all employment and benefit eligibility
N/A · out of tier
Candidate opposes birthright citizenship for children of illegal aliens, tourist births, and opposes foreign ownership of U.S. farmland
N/A · out of tier
Candidate (mayor/council) opposes local gun-registry ordinances + local gun-shop zoning restrictions
Not yet verified
Candidate (city/council) opposes local-ordinance red-flag/magazine/AWB analogs + local gun-shop zoning restrictions
Not yet verified
Candidate supports repeal of the National Firearms Act (NFA), Gun Control Act (GCA), and other federal gun regulations
N/A · out of tier
Candidate supports castle doctrine and stand-your-ground laws with full civil immunity for lawful defense
N/A · out of tier
Candidate opposes ATF overreach, citizen disarmament initiatives, and U.N. small-arms treaty participation
N/A · out of tier
Candidate has publicly backed law enforcement and opposed defunding/dismantling police
Candidate opposes cashless-bail, soft-on-crime, and rogue-prosecutor (e.g. Soros-DA) policy
Not yet verified
Candidate supports victim restitution and proportional punishment of evildoers
Not yet verified
Candidate refuses to treat violent crime as a "public health" excuse to avoid punishment
Not yet verified
Candidate affirms the magistrate's God-ordained duty to bear the sword (Rom. 13:4)
Not yet verified
Official has declined state strings that compel ungodly or unconstitutional local policy
Not yet verified
Official has protected local citizens from state overreach (lockdowns, mandates, ESG)
Not yet verified
Official has refused to enforce unconstitutional state directives
Not yet verified
Sources & Evidence
2 Official8 Other
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Canaveral,_FloridaEncyclopedia
www.cityofcapecanaveral.orgUnclassified
www.scloc.org/Unclassified
Bias ratings sourced from AllSides and Ad Fontes Media. Classifications for government, reference, and advocacy domains are maintained by U.S.M.C. Ministries; see source_bias.json.
References & footnotes
Every answer above with a [n] marker corresponds to one of the footnotes below. Wayback-archive links preserve the page as it read at our access date so a reader can verify the citation even if the original URL changes or disappears.
- [1]Served on board of an unnamed 'private school' (per city bio) but no public statement endorsing universal school choice or homeschool freedom located. Insufficient to score TRUE. Official
Served on board of an unnamed 'private school' (per city bio) but no public statement endorsing universal school choice or homeschool freedom located. Insufficient to score TRUE.
- [2]Appears in CRA budget discussion (Aug 2024) on rollback-vs-3.622-millage / 7.41% tax increase but his individual vote/position is NOT recorded in either summary. Cannot score TRUE or FALSE without the meeting transcript. Honest null. Unclassified
Appears in CRA budget discussion (Aug 2024) on rollback-vs-3.622-millage / 7.41% tax increase but his individual vote/position is NOT recorded in either summary. Cannot score TRUE or FALSE without the meeting transcript. Honest null.
- [3]Appears in CRA budget discussion (Aug 2024) on rollback-vs-3.622-millage / 7.41% tax increase but his individual vote/position is NOT recorded in either summary. Cannot score TRUE or FALSE without the meeting transcript. Honest null. Unclassified
Appears in CRA budget discussion (Aug 2024) on rollback-vs-3.622-millage / 7.41% tax increase but his individual vote/position is NOT recorded in either summary. Cannot score TRUE or FALSE without the meeting transcript. Honest null.
- [4]HARD TRUE — clears HIGH BAR: he and wife Paula are NAMED sponsors of BCSO Coffee-with-a-Cop events per his own city bio ('sponsoring Coffee with a Cop'); affirmatively hosted joint Council Member + BCSO public-safety presentation on Identity Theft/Fraud/Scams; campaign explicitly platformed on 'Law and Order, keeping citizens safe from crime on our streets.' Pattern of affirmative pro-LE engagement beyond mere budget votes. Unclassified
HARD TRUE — clears HIGH BAR: he and wife Paula are NAMED sponsors of BCSO Coffee-with-a-Cop events per his own city bio ('sponsoring Coffee with a Cop'); affirmatively hosted joint Council Member + BCSO public-safety presentation on Identity Theft/Fraud/Scams; campaign explicitly platformed on 'Law and Order, keeping citizens safe from crime on our streets.' Pattern of affirmative pro-LE engagement beyond mere budget votes.
- [5]HARD TRUE — clears HIGH BAR: he and wife Paula are NAMED sponsors of BCSO Coffee-with-a-Cop events per his own city bio ('sponsoring Coffee with a Cop'); affirmatively hosted joint Council Member + BCSO public-safety presentation on Identity Theft/Fraud/Scams; campaign explicitly platformed on 'Law and Order, keeping citizens safe from crime on our streets.' Pattern of affirmative pro-LE engagement beyond mere budget votes.
HARD TRUE — clears HIGH BAR: he and wife Paula are NAMED sponsors of BCSO Coffee-with-a-Cop events per his own city bio ('sponsoring Coffee with a Cop'); affirmatively hosted joint Council Member + BCSO public-safety presentation on Identity Theft/Fraud/Scams; campaign explicitly platformed on 'Law and Order, keeping citizens safe from crime on our streets.' Pattern of affirmative pro-LE engagement beyond mere budget votes.
- [6]HARD TRUE — 2025 Florida League of Cities 'Home Rule Hero' Award recipient explicitly recognized for advocacy DURING the 2025 Florida Legislative Session against state preemption of local authority. 'Home Rule' in the Florida municipal context is a localism / anti-preemption posture — concrete documented assertion of local control against top-down state directives. Official
HARD TRUE — 2025 Florida League of Cities 'Home Rule Hero' Award recipient explicitly recognized for advocacy DURING the 2025 Florida Legislative Session against state preemption of local authority. 'Home Rule' in the Florida municipal context is a localism / anti-preemption posture — concrete documented assertion of local control against top-down state directives.
- [7]HARD TRUE — 2025 Florida League of Cities 'Home Rule Hero' Award recipient explicitly recognized for advocacy DURING the 2025 Florida Legislative Session against state preemption of local authority. 'Home Rule' in the Florida municipal context is a localism / anti-preemption posture — concrete documented assertion of local control against top-down state directives. Unclassified
HARD TRUE — 2025 Florida League of Cities 'Home Rule Hero' Award recipient explicitly recognized for advocacy DURING the 2025 Florida Legislative Session against state preemption of local authority. 'Home Rule' in the Florida municipal context is a localism / anti-preemption posture — concrete documented assertion of local control against top-down state directives.
- [8]TRUE — same 2025 Home Rule Hero designation + active service on FLC Legislative Policy Committee and Federal Action Strike Team and Treasurer of Space Coast League of Cities is by definition subsidiarity advocacy (lowest-competent-level decision-making vs. state/federal preemption). Unclassified
TRUE — same 2025 Home Rule Hero designation + active service on FLC Legislative Policy Committee and Federal Action Strike Team and Treasurer of Space Coast League of Cities is by definition subsidiarity advocacy (lowest-competent-level decision-making vs. state/federal preemption).
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