I won’t sugarcoat it: Watching the election results in Virginia last night felt like a gut punch. This Republican victory so close to home serves as a wake-up call around what lies ahead of us in the next year, and I know a lot of us are feeling sad and angry about the results — but as Martin Luther King Jr. said, “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”

I know that’s a lot easier said than done, but I know a thing or two about the power of never losing hope. In just three generations, my family did something extraordinary — we went from being enslaved in a cabin in Gaithersburg, Maryland, to serving in the cabinet of the first Black President. Because of that, I believe anything is possible.

I am hopeful that together we can turn the tide and bring meaningful, progressive change to Maryland. That is why today I am asking you to contribute to our Rapid Response Fund now and join me in a shared hope for a better future for our state.

But, we can’t just hope for a better future, we need to work for it. Marylanders elected a Republican governor twice in the past eight years. With Republicans gaining momentum in Virginia and across the country, we are going to need to work harder than ever to flip our state and we can’t take anything for granted.

So if you’re feeling just as fired up as I am after last night, please consider contributing to our Rapid Response Fund right away to bolster our efforts to build a winning campaign to flip Maryland blue. I’m ready to win this race, and I know that together we will.

Keep the faith,

John