I’m sad today because a candidate I voted for is trailing in votes for a County Council Position. This particular council is important because it represents a lot of suburbs and exurbs that are home to people who can’t afford in the exorbitantly expensive nearby city. The candidate I voted for did something I haven’t seen in decades. He came to my house and asked me directly for my vote. Later on I saw him trudging around the neighborhood door knocking. There’s not a huge amount of daylight between him and his competitor in terms of positions but I liked that he wanted to talk to me about his ideas and when I read his bio I saw that even though we are different ethnicities/genders and he’s younger than me we had very similar west coast upbringings. Raised by single moms, lower middle income, diligent college strivers - Americans who came of age in the late 20th century.
Your column has inspired me to write him an email and tell him not to give up.
Galen, thank you for sending that email! Some of my favorite organizers (and the most effective ones) started as candidates who lost but kept with it, but that's hard to do if you feel alone.
Also, I appreciate you naming the emotion a lot of us are holding-- celebrating some races but mourning others. This afternoon, the Minneapolis mayoral race (which I was following closely) was announced, and it didn't got he way I was hoping! Such a swirl of conflicting emotions.
Meanwhile, over in St. Paul, the city elected its first ever Hmong mayor and its first female mayor, and all the City Council members are women, so that's pretty cool!
Same thing happened to me in 2024 (our City Council elections are held in even years). Young, enthusiastic guy with a long Sri Lankan name ("You don’t have to spell it to vote for me–just look for the long name!" he said cheerfully). I loved his progressive policy positions and, yes, his door-knocking, and was devastated when he came in 3rd. Well, let's be honest, there were more devastating results to wake up to on Nov. 6, 2024. But your comment has inspired ME to send him an email urging him to run again in 2026.
Garrett: "Let’s support candidates everywhere that inspire us to love without exception, who won’t allow some of us to be thrown under the bus."
Check out the exit polls: People who identify as straight voted 46% for Mamdani, 45% for Cuomo. People who identify as LGBTQ+ voted 81% for Mamdani, 15% for Cuomo.
It's very possible that LGBTQ+ voters DELIVERED THE VICTORY to Mamdani, someone who not only did NOT throw our trans neighbors under the bus but included expansion and protection of gender-affirming care as part of his platform. As a Californian, I want our next governor to do the same, unlike Gavin Newsom (who should never ever ever ever be president, BTW).
With you on this, Garrett. I want candidates who are fierce, creative, hardworking, and RESPONSIVE to their constituents. Sure, I'm for certain ideas, but at this point I'm less interested in *their* ideas and more interested in whether they're committed to consistently knowing what their constituents want and need, which requires them to actually get out into the community-- into senior centers and religious communities and picket lines and schools and living rooms and porch steps. I want to see them talking to folks at length at street fairs and backpack giveaways and on line at the food bank. I want to see them sitting and talking with folks at potlucks and free Thanksgiving meal gatherings and high school sports games. I want to know that they are a genuine part of US, so I can count on them representing US in whatever forum they have influence and power, and that they are connected and embedded enough to challenge US when we need to think bigger, bolder, and in a more loving way about what we are capable of together.
I was in a meeting this AM with a really smart person who thinks about politics and organizing for a living and he said "people don't care about how much they identify with a candidate, they care about how much a candidate identifies with them."
YES. By the way, my favorite Common Council candidate, Jorge DeFendini, the young Dem Socialist, won in Ithaca, just like I'd hoped. Yes, he and I probably agree on some policies, and yes, he's been responsive to my policy concerns, but I also just like him because he showed up to canvas my door with his fiancé, who is a very cute, chubby, nerdy, bespectacled woman. I'm not gonna lie, if you're a straight guy who loves a cute, chubby, nerdy, bespectacled woman then you are a guy who loves women like me, and you get all the gold stars in my book FOREVER.
Brilliant as always! I was just talking to my husband this morning about how to get a candidate that fires up the whole country on the national stage in 2028 like Mamdani. Is it because he’s somewhat of an Everyman and kind of came out of the blue? I don’t know but after both NJ and VA yesterday, I’m hopeful again.
As an aside, it’s fascinating to see which neighborhood voted for him and which voted for Cuomo. As a not-born but raised NYer (proud immigrant!), there is so much racism in a place the rest of the world would consider pretty open. Every one of the Cuomo-voting areas I remember as being predominantly white, and not necessarily affluent. Makes it even more exciting to see a Muslim man leading the city!
That's another reason why I want to reject the "cosmopolitan, leftist New York" narrative. Mamdani had to survive an explicitly race baiting campaign, and there is no place in America sadly (very much including New York, as you point out) that isn't still swayed by that kind fo fear mongering.
This resonates so much for me. Even in pretty liberal Seattle, I want candidates I can be excited about! We had some of those this time, and many of them won their races, which was so great to see. The only one we’re still waiting to see is the mayoral race, where the incumbent is still ahead but the challenger might (might!) be able to make up the difference in the remaining vote count. Crossing our fingers! (And wondering if the reason the mayoral race was closer than expected was because of the vast amount of money the incumbent put into the race. Sigh.)
LOL I got an email today with the subject line "I want Democrats to start winning again. To do that, we must win the center" from a new PAC called winthecenter.net. I suspect everything they stand for is the very opposite of what this post celebrates.
I’m sad today because a candidate I voted for is trailing in votes for a County Council Position. This particular council is important because it represents a lot of suburbs and exurbs that are home to people who can’t afford in the exorbitantly expensive nearby city. The candidate I voted for did something I haven’t seen in decades. He came to my house and asked me directly for my vote. Later on I saw him trudging around the neighborhood door knocking. There’s not a huge amount of daylight between him and his competitor in terms of positions but I liked that he wanted to talk to me about his ideas and when I read his bio I saw that even though we are different ethnicities/genders and he’s younger than me we had very similar west coast upbringings. Raised by single moms, lower middle income, diligent college strivers - Americans who came of age in the late 20th century.
Your column has inspired me to write him an email and tell him not to give up.
Galen, thank you for sending that email! Some of my favorite organizers (and the most effective ones) started as candidates who lost but kept with it, but that's hard to do if you feel alone.
Also, I appreciate you naming the emotion a lot of us are holding-- celebrating some races but mourning others. This afternoon, the Minneapolis mayoral race (which I was following closely) was announced, and it didn't got he way I was hoping! Such a swirl of conflicting emotions.
Meanwhile, over in St. Paul, the city elected its first ever Hmong mayor and its first female mayor, and all the City Council members are women, so that's pretty cool!
Same thing happened to me in 2024 (our City Council elections are held in even years). Young, enthusiastic guy with a long Sri Lankan name ("You don’t have to spell it to vote for me–just look for the long name!" he said cheerfully). I loved his progressive policy positions and, yes, his door-knocking, and was devastated when he came in 3rd. Well, let's be honest, there were more devastating results to wake up to on Nov. 6, 2024. But your comment has inspired ME to send him an email urging him to run again in 2026.
So sorry that he lost! He sounds great!
That’s awesome! Thank you 🙏
Garrett: "Let’s support candidates everywhere that inspire us to love without exception, who won’t allow some of us to be thrown under the bus."
Check out the exit polls: People who identify as straight voted 46% for Mamdani, 45% for Cuomo. People who identify as LGBTQ+ voted 81% for Mamdani, 15% for Cuomo.
It's very possible that LGBTQ+ voters DELIVERED THE VICTORY to Mamdani, someone who not only did NOT throw our trans neighbors under the bus but included expansion and protection of gender-affirming care as part of his platform. As a Californian, I want our next governor to do the same, unlike Gavin Newsom (who should never ever ever ever be president, BTW).
Oh this is such smart analysis!
With you on this, Garrett. I want candidates who are fierce, creative, hardworking, and RESPONSIVE to their constituents. Sure, I'm for certain ideas, but at this point I'm less interested in *their* ideas and more interested in whether they're committed to consistently knowing what their constituents want and need, which requires them to actually get out into the community-- into senior centers and religious communities and picket lines and schools and living rooms and porch steps. I want to see them talking to folks at length at street fairs and backpack giveaways and on line at the food bank. I want to see them sitting and talking with folks at potlucks and free Thanksgiving meal gatherings and high school sports games. I want to know that they are a genuine part of US, so I can count on them representing US in whatever forum they have influence and power, and that they are connected and embedded enough to challenge US when we need to think bigger, bolder, and in a more loving way about what we are capable of together.
I was in a meeting this AM with a really smart person who thinks about politics and organizing for a living and he said "people don't care about how much they identify with a candidate, they care about how much a candidate identifies with them."
YES. By the way, my favorite Common Council candidate, Jorge DeFendini, the young Dem Socialist, won in Ithaca, just like I'd hoped. Yes, he and I probably agree on some policies, and yes, he's been responsive to my policy concerns, but I also just like him because he showed up to canvas my door with his fiancé, who is a very cute, chubby, nerdy, bespectacled woman. I'm not gonna lie, if you're a straight guy who loves a cute, chubby, nerdy, bespectacled woman then you are a guy who loves women like me, and you get all the gold stars in my book FOREVER.
I want one in California, too.
I read something yesterday sticking with me.
It's not just who you stand up for; it's who you stand up to.
We deserve nice things and strong candidates who show us they care!
Brilliant as always! I was just talking to my husband this morning about how to get a candidate that fires up the whole country on the national stage in 2028 like Mamdani. Is it because he’s somewhat of an Everyman and kind of came out of the blue? I don’t know but after both NJ and VA yesterday, I’m hopeful again.
As an aside, it’s fascinating to see which neighborhood voted for him and which voted for Cuomo. As a not-born but raised NYer (proud immigrant!), there is so much racism in a place the rest of the world would consider pretty open. Every one of the Cuomo-voting areas I remember as being predominantly white, and not necessarily affluent. Makes it even more exciting to see a Muslim man leading the city!
That's another reason why I want to reject the "cosmopolitan, leftist New York" narrative. Mamdani had to survive an explicitly race baiting campaign, and there is no place in America sadly (very much including New York, as you point out) that isn't still swayed by that kind fo fear mongering.
Thank you for this!
Thanks!
This resonates so much for me. Even in pretty liberal Seattle, I want candidates I can be excited about! We had some of those this time, and many of them won their races, which was so great to see. The only one we’re still waiting to see is the mayoral race, where the incumbent is still ahead but the challenger might (might!) be able to make up the difference in the remaining vote count. Crossing our fingers! (And wondering if the reason the mayoral race was closer than expected was because of the vast amount of money the incumbent put into the race. Sigh.)
LOL I got an email today with the subject line "I want Democrats to start winning again. To do that, we must win the center" from a new PAC called winthecenter.net. I suspect everything they stand for is the very opposite of what this post celebrates.