Howdy John,
I want to express my gratitude to you for the determination, hard work, and care you've put into your communities, your candidacies, your state, and your country. I’m thankful for Vice President Kamala Harris and her exhilarating leadership and joyful campaign. We owe a debt of gratitude to our organizers, staff, and volunteers who put in so much work to support our Party up and down the ballot.
Many of us are feeling tremendous anger, pain, and sadness right now. Could we have done anything different? Could we have done more? These questions will persist as we dig out from the results. It will take a long time to process these feelings, but what you've done in Colorado is the path forward, and we do have reason to be optimistic. While we have our own wins and losses to account for, Colorado is a beacon of freedom and progress in these uneasy times, and that's thanks to you.
Folks, our role as Colorado Democrats - and as citizens - has quite simply never felt more necessary. And, in Colorado, we have a blueprint for how to bring people together around a vision of prosperity that includes everyone and puts our values to action. From safeguarding the freedom of women to receive reproductive and abortion care; protecting the right to marry the person you love; protecting public schools; reducing gun violence and investing in mental health; and making sure that our democracy is not put up for sale to the wealthiest individuals and special interests, our Democratic values are on display in many of the statewide ballot initiative results.
We've had big wins up and down the ballot, giving us more opportunities to pursue bold solutions that save people money, protect our environment, build affordable housing, and support working people. Incumbents and candidates who many wrote off defied the odds and won tough contests, and those who lost in many cases got closer than expected. While many counties across the country swung hard to the right since 2020, Colorado told a different story due to a spirit of servant leadership that begins with you. The next frontier of Colorado politics is local, and making sure that the governments closest to us are a force for good will become even more important in the days to come.
Some of you know that I have a deep admiration of General Ulysses S. Grant. In his memoirs, he wrote, "The friend in my adversity shall always cherish most. I can better trust those who have helped to relieve the gloom of my dark hours than those who are so ready to enjoy with me the sunshine of my prosperity." Please take care of each other. Practice kindness to others and to yourself, and take the time you need to process. We'll be ready to welcome you back to the fight when you're ready. After all, the work endures as it always has, and as it always will.
All best,
Shad Murib
