While I could not imagine losing, it was also difficult for me to assume I would win! 

Sunday evening I knocked on my last door.  I had started to hear from people that I had already knocked on their door, written them a note, put a sign in their yard – that they were already going to vote for me, so please stop knocking on their doors!  That’s when I knew that I had a reasonable chance of winning. 

Tuesday morning I was at Rollingcrest-Chilllum Community Center, shaking hands and asking for votes.  So many people told me that I had already knocked on their door/written them a note/called the night before that it actually got to be a joke among the other poll workers!  They started laughing, every time another person repeated the same message.  I was starting to feel the love.

Maybe the poll volunteers for other candidates began to sense some momentum started helping me!  I could not believe it, but there they were, pointing me out as the candidate and funnel curious voters to speak to me.  It was so good to have everyone rally around me!

The love was building.

And when I walked into my victory party at Artmosphere Café in Mt. Rainier, the love was overflowing!  Early results showed me in the lead, and everyone was so happy for me!  It was really, really a blast.  Later results brought the race to a razor-thin finish with me in a very close second place to Victor Ramirez – at least, I think that’s how it ended.  I will check the results later, but either way works for me as the top three go on to serve in Annapolis!

And it’s the love, I know, that got me through this.  So many people love me and were willing to do all of the grunt work required of a successful race.  Nothing but love could make people get up at ungodly hours to pass out fliers or wave at traffic.  Nothing but love could get people to knock on strangers’ doors for hours on end.  Nothing but love could have anyone stand outside all day long at a poll, or cut paper flowers for a float, or build “IVEY” out of wood for the flowers to decorate, or work on mailings and literature pieces or research odd questions for an endless number of endorsement questionnaires or tend to tedious campaign financial filings or work on my database for hours and hours or, phone banking, or, or…

Just love.  And that’s why I won!  And it’s wonderful to have so many people who I love, and who love me back enough to go through this crazy adventure with me.

So thank you!  Thanks so much.  Now I will need you all for the real work ahead, improving life for all of us here in the 47th Legislative District, in Prince George’s County, in Maryland, in the United States of America, in the world.  It all starts here!

This is our little corner of the world, and I’m so glad I have you with me to make it better.