John,

It’s taken me a few days for me to figure out what to say about the election without feeling cliche or resorting to platitudes. Now, we’re left to figure out what’s next.

After Parkland, if we had given up and listened to the same talking heads who got us into this situation — the same talking heads who said nothing could be done about guns in Florida — nothing would have changed.

Instead, we had the audacity to believe that change was possible, which resulted in Florida raising the age to buy a gun to 21 and passing a Red Flag law that has been used over 19,000 times.

This moment calls on us to do the same. The most important thing we can do is remain hopeful because without that nothing will change. I refuse to give up, I hope that you don’t either.

Young people have risen up and become leaders during times of great challenge:

We helped elect the first openly transgender member of Congress ever, Sarah McBride, even as millions were spent by the GOP on hate-filled, transphobic ads.

Dante Pittman flipped a seat in the NC legislature breaking the GOP’s supermajority in North Carolina, allowing a Democratic Governor, Josh Stein, more policy freedom.

We flipped a seat in Georgia, electing Bryce Berry as the youngest person and first ever active public school teacher to ever serve in the Georgia state legislature.

We re-elected Molly Cook to be the youngest person in the Texas Senate, Oscar De Los Santos to be the youngest member of leadership in the Arizona House, and we elected Christine Cockley to be the youngest member of the Ohio House.

Of course, these victories are bittersweet against the backdrop of the presidential election, but we are going to need these young progressive champions fighting for us now more than ever. I’m so proud of the work we all did electing them.

Your support has made it possible for these young people to win – and together with Mary Trump's Democracy Defense Fund, we're ready to help even more young leaders succeed. Will you split a $25 donation between Leaders We Deserve and Democracy Defense Fund to help us recruit, train, and elect the next generation of progressive champions?

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Hope is the most powerful force any movement can have. Thankfully, it is the one thing Donald Trump can’t take from us – the only way he truly wins is if we give up hope. I’m not. I know you won’t either.

Thank you to everyone who has shown their support of our work. By joining forces with Mary Trump's Democracy Defense Fund, we're building an even stronger movement to elect young progressive leaders. Will you chip in $25 now, split between our organizations, to help us continue this vital work?

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In service,

David Hogg
Leaders We Deserve

P.S. Your support means everything as Leaders We Deserve and Mary Trump's Democracy Defense Fund work together to elect the next generation of progressive champions. Split a donation between our organizations now to help us continue building this movement >>> [[link removed]]

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