Tuesday night was not the night that we were hoping for. Vice President Harris and Governor Walz ran a campaign of joy and optimism that helped to energize so many people across North Carolina and the country. I am grateful for their service to our party, stepping up and meeting the moment when called upon—even if they came up short in the end.

At the same time, North Carolina rejected many of the most extreme Republican candidates that have ever run in our state. In doing so, we elected Governor-elect Josh Stein, Lieutenant Governor-elect Rachel Hunt, Attorney General-elect Jeff Jackson and Superintendent-elect Mo Green, and reelected Secretary of State Elaine Marshall.

In the process, our state ensured that Josh Stein would hold the veto by breaking the GOP’s supermajority in the General Assembly. Because of these hard-fought wins, North Carolina will be a much needed safe haven for freedom in the South.

I want to acknowledge the hundreds of young Democrats who were the unsung heroes of campaigns across this state––the campaign managers, the organizers, the volunteers. In North Carolina, young people got it done.

For the sake of our country and its people, young people will also have to persevere.

Donald Trump has made it clear that if given a second term, he will use the levers of power to inflict suffering on those he doesn’t like and exact revenge on those who have attempted to hold him accountable. He is a now-emboldened extremist with nothing to lose.

The fate of the nation, all of its people, and our way of life now rests in the hands of public servants who remain beholden to the Constitution.

Good people are our last defense.

We will take every righteous fight. We will not stop fighting for our country. We will fight for it every single day for the next four years and beyond.

Be mad. Be scared. But tomorrow, we persevere—because we have to.