John —

I want to start by saying thank you. Thank you.

Thank you for voting. Thank you for volunteering. Thank you for giving. Thank you for talking to your family and friends. Just, thank you.

Last Tuesday night, I was reelected to serve the great people of California and its 30th Congressional District. And I can’t thank you enough. From the bottom of my heart.

And I can’t wait to get back to work.

For weeks, the pundits and election forecasters hyped a “red wave” that turned into barely a “red ripple.” Then a “red nothing.”

Not all of the races have been called — here’s what we know: We kept the Senate blue, and the House is going to be within a couple seats either way.

But this much is clear — the forecasters, pundits and pollsters were wrong yet again, and those who cared about our democracy turned up to vote.

Those who wanted to protect our freedoms and rights turned up to vote.

And those who didn’t want Republican lies and chaos to engulf us all turned up to vote.

And as a result, we will be able to protect our democracy in the next two years in a way the pundits could not have predicted.

It wasn’t all good news, but it was a lot more good news than any of us expected. And we worked to make it happen. Knocking doors. Making calls.

Thanks to your generosity and support, I traveled to dozens of states, doing more than 150 events to support my colleagues and our challengers in competitive districts across the country.

I heard voters tell of their profound fears for the future of our country and democracy. But I saw the determination also, and watched as people rose to defend this great experiment in self-governance.

And my takeaway from the last six years is simply this:

You can have the best written Constitution in the world, and I believe we do. You can have the best written laws meant to constrain the worst impulses of human nature, and maybe we do. But none of it will be enough if people don’t give meaning to their oath of office, if they do not inform that oath with ideas of right and wrong, and if they are unwilling to accept the basic truth of things.

What we should look for in our elected officials is not whether they agree with us on every issue. (In fact, any elected who says they do should be greeted with great suspicion). But rather, we should look for people of character who will do the right thing, even when it is hard — especially when it is hard.

Thankfully, we had many people of good character run for Congress this cycle on the Democratic ticket, and with your help, voters saw the importance of electing them. Rejecting the big liars, and electing the truth tellers.

Now, the hard work continues. We’re going to find out in the coming days whether we fully beat the odds and defended the House in an upset for the ages, or if we will be up against an incredibly extreme (but incredibly small) Republican House Majority — and one determined to do crazy stuff, and to try to drag down Joe Biden.

We’re also going to find out whether our Senate Majority will be once again 50-50, or whether Rev. Warnock wins the Georgia runoff to make it 51-49.

I want to thank you again for being with me every step of the way. No matter how great the challenges. No matter how serious the obstacles. No matter what. You have been amazing.

Our challenge over the next two years is to demand better from our elected officials, to fix what’s broken, and to continue to stand up for our democracy.

I’m not giving up. Not by a long shot. And I know you aren’t either. We press on.

— Adam