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Hi John,
I was taking a trip down memory lane and I stumbled across this picture. I’ll never forget this night, when I flipped a red seat blue and won my first congressional election.
This was one of the most incredible nights of my life. But it wasn’t an easy race. Far from it.
John, all eyes were on our district as I took on a nationally recognized Republican incumbent and Clinton impeachment manager in the most expensive congressional race ever at the time — it was a true slugfest until the very end. (And a bit afterwards, too).
But at this moment, it was bliss. We won. And we were heading to Washington. (The downside? So were George W. Bush and a Republican House.)
Here’s the thing: My congressional race wasn’t the first time I ran for office — and at this point, I had lost a few times running for State Assembly, and won once for State Senate. After those losses, I used to quote Winston Churchill a lot. When he was unceremoniously thrown out of office near the end of World War II, he remarked how people kept telling him that his loss was a blessing in disguise. “At the moment,” he replied, “it seems a blessing very effectively disguised!”
During my State Senate term, I was urged to run for Congress, even though no Democrat had won in our district since Franklin Roosevelt. Despite the challenge, I embraced the opportunity to be part of a historic Democratic takeover of the House.
My opponent, a well-known Republican named Jim Rogan, made our race a national spectacle due to his role as an impeachment manager in Bill Clinton's trial.
While my opponent opted for aggressive national tactics, bombarding the media with attack ads and mailers, I focused on door-to-door campaigning, and addressing pocketbook issues like healthcare costs, public safety, and jobs.
In the end, we took on the most well-funded campaign in the country and we beat it.
Skip to the present, where I’m running for the Senate in our country’s most populous state. I never could have imagined this. Not in a million years.
But through it all, my values and my unwavering commitment to uphold American democracy and tirelessly advocate for the issues affecting my community have never changed.
There is lots of work that needs to be done, and I'm prepared to play my role in leaving Californians in a better state than before and fixing our damaged democracy. But just like back then, I can't achieve this alone; I need support.
If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately:
Your support means the world to me — and hopefully will lead to more memories like the one in that photo when I knew I’d be heading to Congress to represent Californians.
— Adam
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