John, I just filled out my ballot and voted for myself. It feels very odd to see your name printed on a ballot. The first time it happened was in August 2014 when I came in second in an 8-way race for three city council seats and advanced into the general election and then again, in November 2014, when I earned support of the Flagstaff voters and became their councilmember for the following four years.
Looking at the ballot today as I did six years ago, I think about my parents who gave me everything — my mother who taught me how to be strategic, pragmatic, and fearless and my father who died in 2005 and never got to see his daughter to follow in his political footsteps. Throughout his life, he made me feel confident, never missed an opportunity to celebrate my achievements, and was generous in expressing his love toward me. And yes, I’m crying as I’m sharing this with you, because I so wish he had lived to be part of my fight for justice, decency, and democracy.
I’m also thinking about the people who really made this moment possible. While I, as a candidate, am at the forefront of this campaign, it is actually not me as an individual who is on the ballot. It is our top-notch campaign team and thousands of voters who told us they have our backs and want to see a representative who will finally put people before profits. It’s thousands of contributors who have been investing in our campaign over the last 18 months, and those progressive organizations who endorsed us because they understand we have to change more than just policies — we have to reform our entire political culture. We are only 12 days away from election day, and we still have 12 days left to make a difference. What we can do in these precious few days is getting more limited and costs more. Recently, my opponent started to dump tons of cash into TV and digital ads. This means we need to expand our final budget by $12,000. I know we can do it with your help. Pitch in $5, $10, $25, or any amount and let’s see this through together.
Thank you, Eva Putzova
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