Team,

I came to the United States by myself 38 years ago because my parents believed in the promise of America so much so that they sent their 16-year-old daughter across the ocean knowing we may never live on the same continent again. They believed in America’s ideals and in our democracy — that this was a place where change and progress were possible. These election results prove that our democracy still works and that power always belongs to the people through the power of the vote.

President-elect Joe Biden’s victory has shown that compassion, truth, and science win out over cruelty, fear, and lies. And as the first South Asian American woman ever elected to Congress, I am also incredibly proud of Kamala Harris’ election — a powerful moment in history. We have not only shattered ceilings by electing the first woman, first South Asian American, and first Black woman as vice president but we have also constructed a different path for millions as they imagine their own futures.

Today is so much bigger than these two individuals or one political party. It was only possible because people across Washington state and throughout our country put aside cynicism, doubts, and fears to step up, speak out, and organize — not only for this election but for the past four years of the Trump presidency.

Millions of people have shown their belief in a system that takes care of all of us by taking to the streets for women’s rights, flooding airports to fight xenophobic bans, fighting back against attacks on our health care, and demanding an end to kids in cages and family separation. Our movements for justice not only resisted the Trump administration’s cruelty but proposed a different vision: One that stands firmly for Black lives and racial justice, for climate justice, for respect on all levels for women and our choices, for public education, for peace domestically and internationally, for love meaning love regardless of gender, for the power of people over the power of corporations, and for a country that works for all of us — not the wealthiest few.

Now is not the time to become complacent. Our work is only beginning — it is our moment to take bigger, bolder steps toward real, transformative change for people across America. We must come together to take on the dual public health and economic crises brought on by this pandemic with solutions that match the scale of the devastation, guarantee health care for all, raise the minimum wage, take urgent action to save our planet from climate change, cancel student debt, make higher education available to all, and root out corruption in our politics.

Never forget that the power is in our hands — and when we exercise that power, there is nothing that can stop us on the road to justice. Thank you for fighting alongside me, and thank you for powering us to victory.

In solidarity,

Pramila Jayapal