I know that last night’s result stings. We all put in a lot of hope and a lot of work, and Aftyn and her team ran a hell of a campaign.
Even though the election night result wasn’t what we worked for, this wasn’t a loss. Really.
Aftyn and her team gained ground in Every. Single. County.
Friends, for far too long, our state has been overlooked. Taken for granted.
But not anymore.
The night before the election, I joined the GOTV virtual rally. The speaker line-up included former Vice President Al Gore, AOC, Rep. Jayapal.
Outside groups have spent almost $7 million on this race.
Aftyn and this race have been covered everywhere: CNN, New York Times, NPR, Time Magazine, and anywhere else news is news.
Before a few months ago, was any of this on your bingo card? Did you ever imagine that a Congressional race in our state would capture the attention of the nation?
This was a district drawn to be won by Republicans that Trump easily carried by 22 points. This was supposed to be a cake walk for the GOP. Instead, they had to fight tooth and nail for every vote.
Do you know what Republicans are hoping we’ll do?
They hope that we’ll let all this momentum – all this energy, all this hope – die. That we’ll engage in all-or-nothing thinking and decide that they were right. That districts like this and states like ours aren’t worth fighting for.
If for no other reason than to not make the GOP happy, I hope you’ll take one thing away from this election: our state is worth fighting for and progress is progress.
Now our job is to keep the progress we’ve made – while fighting for more and sending a message to the GOP that we aren’t backing down. We’re stepping up.
If you believe Tennessee is worth fighting for, that every district should be contested, that every Tennessee voter deserves a choice – and that we should support the folks who are running in some of the reddest places across the state – join Blue Tennessee.
We directly fund the nominees who are going toe-to-toe with some of the most extreme GOP legislators in the state.
Aftyn’s race showed us what’s possible. Now it’s our turn. Join us, friends.
Let’s go.
Michaela
