John,

As any parent will tell you, you can love something and be disappointed in it at the same time. That’s how I feel about this country. Every year since 2016, when things began to feel particularly precarious, I have asked myself what more I can do. And this year, this sense of responsibility hit very close to home. A man who believes I shouldn’t have access to appropriate health care unless I am the victim of a crime became my Congressman. And there was no one challenging him, so I entered the race. My decision was about ensuring that someone who would cheerfully take my rights away given half a chance didn’t get too comfortable in that seat.

I believe that the redistricting chaos of 2022 significantly contributed to the loss of the House majority and we may well be facing similar challenges this year as we wait for the Court of Appeals to weigh in. Given this much uncertainty, multiple candidates and a long primary could jeopardize our chances of taking back these critical NY seats – our singular goal since the very beginning. For these reasons, I have chosen to suspend my Congressional campaign. Mondaire Jones is an excellent candidate and has represented a large portion of this district. He has the infrastructure, name recognition, and fundraising strength to take on Mike Lawler in what will be a hard fought election. I will do whatever I can to support him to take back this seat.

I have learned a lot in this process and met amazing people doing incredible work. Despite a lot of darkness in the world right now, I remain optimistic and excited for the contributions I can make to the causes I passionately believe in. I look forward to continuing the hard work of organizing for the betterment of the Hudson Valley, our state, and our nation.

Thank you to the wonderful organizations who have been by my side throughout this journey: EMILYs List will parachute campaign ninjas into your living room to help you figure out the process, hire amazing staff and get you launched. Elect Democratic Women offers support and encouragement (and spoiler alert: we do need to elect a whole lot more women). And what would I have done without the no-nonsense, savvy advice from Tri-State Maxed Out Women? Thank you to former employees of my store, Pop Katonah, who showed up to volunteer when I needed them. Thank you to Carissa, Campbell, JT, Natalie, Zach, Ella, Andrew, Dylan, Hunter, Ben, Noah, Julia, Chase, Madison, the entire MPC team and many, many more. Thanks, all of you.

I want to end this email by encouraging you to ask what more you can do. Contribute, call, canvass. Give, dial, walk until you can feel it. I have included links above to contribute to some excellent organizations. Do whatever you can, because there’s nothing better than waking up the morning after an election and knowing you made a difference.

Liz

PS I never actually used what would have been my “walk on” song, so let me share it with you here: Take Back the Power by the Interrupters. So queue it up, turn up the volume, and be sure to ask yourself every single day: What’s your plan for tomorrow?