John, in thirty-three hours, at 7:30 PM EST on November 5th, 2024, polls will close in North Carolina and results will begin to come in.
At the dawn of our nation, as the delegates to the Constitutional Convention voted to adopt the blueprint for our young country, someone in the street happened to ask Benjamin Franklin what sort of government the framers had written into reality.
“A republic,” he replied. “If we can keep it.”
The next thirty-three hours may be some of the most consequential in the history of our American republic. They may well determine if democracy lives on to fight another day or if we will succumb to the forces that threaten that very democracy.
I know you know this. I know it’s been repeated so often that maybe it sounds trite. And while tomorrow will be a pivotal moment in this fight, the danger won’t go away entirely even if we can beat it back. The road ahead is long and we have much work to do no matter what happens over the next two days.
And I know that we have been at this work for a long time. God knows we’re all tired. But we have to keep going. We can’t let up now.
If you haven’t voted yet, make a plan to vote tomorrow.
If you have voted, make a plan to get your friends and neighbors out to the polls.
If you’ve got time, there are still opportunities today and tomorrow to make phone calls and knock doors to ensure we get our voters out and save our democracy. If you aren’t sure where to start, head to mobilize.us and find an event near you.
The incredible thing about living in a battleground state like ours is that you can make a difference.
I came home in 2016 because I knew I had a duty to give back to my home and to fight for the future, to fight for a North Carolina where every single human being is afforded the dignity and the opportunities I had growing up. I will be spending today and tomorrow doing everything I possibly can to elect Kamala Harris, Tim Walz, Josh Stein, and enough Democrats to break the supermajority so that we can make that vision a reality.
(Oh, and to elect a guy named Wesley Harris as our next Treasurer, too.)
It’s been a long road, and you’ve been with me the whole way. We have thirty-three hours to go. Let’s finish this out strong.
Keep the faith,
Wesley Harris
