Hey John,

Last night stung.

I know we all worked so hard and gave our whole selves to winning the White House and building a better America. The selflessness, energy, and hope I’ve seen over the past several weeks reflected the very best of North Carolina — and to see it end like this is heartbreaking.

But hear me:

Our work mattered, and this is not the end of this fight.

Because of our work, North Carolina chose Josh Stein as Governor, Jeff Jackson as Attorney General, Rachel Hunt as Lieutenant Governor, and Mo Green and Elaine Marshall for the Council of State.

Because of our work, the Republican supermajority in Raleigh has been broken; their ability to ram through extreme veto-proof bills is no more.

Because of our work, Don Davis will hold North Carolina’s last swing seat in Congress, preserving Democrats’ path, albeit narrow, towards flipping the House of Representatives.

What we did mattered, even if it doesn’t feel that way right now. North Carolina is in position to fight the worst excesses of a second Trump Administration because we stood up, fought back, and won key races up and down the ballot.

If you need a little time before you get back in this fight, that’s OK. Right now, what’s most important is taking care of ourselves and each other.

But soon enough, we’ll need to dust ourselves off and get ready to fight again.

We can’t let Donald Trump’s 2025 agenda go unanswered or unopposed, and in 2026, we have the opportunity to help take back the US Senate by flipping a seat here in North Carolina.

That’s what I’ll be working towards next. That is what’s keeping me going.

Our democracy is in danger, but it’s still standing — and it’ll stay standing as long as there are enough of us willing to fight for it.

Thanks for standing and fighting with me. More to come soon.

— Wiley