While we celebrate President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’ important victory in the White House, there are so many other important races Democrats won on election night worth celebrating, too.

I launched the Canary Candidates Program to elect progressive, pro-worker Democrats in Ohio to make sure that our state works for the people who make it work, starting from the bottom of the ballot all the way up.

I’m proud to report that 57 of our Canary Candidates won their elections.

An impressive group of talented and diverse candidates, they won important federal races, including Reps. Joyce Beatty and Tim Ryan in Ohio’s 3rd and 13th Districts. And they won crucial state and local races, including 19 candidates elected to the state legislature. And we sent even more candidates to Ohio’s courts, school boards, and city councils from Athens and Youngstown to Cleveland and Dayton. That's where change begins -- from the ground up, in these local offices making decisions that most directly affect people's lives.

Their wins are a win for diversity, too, as we work to elect more Ohioans who better reflect the experiences of the people we serve. Thirty-four of our Canary winners are women, 15 are people of color, two are LGBTQ candidates, and five are Appalachian candidates. Now, our representatives’ experiences better reflect the experiences of the Ohioans they were elected to serve.

Our victories in Ohio are a direct result of the hard work of this grassroots movement. We came together early and we saw it through. And it doesn’t end here. This is about more than one election. We’re building systemic progress, and that will require years of commitment and engagement. Just look at the organizers in Georgia -- they had been on the ground doing the work in their communities for years before turning their state blue this past election night.

Progress is years in the making, and with you as a dedicated member of our grassroots movement, I know it’s possible.

With gratitude,

Sherrod