John, it’s a cold morning across North Carolina, but in spite of the chill on the air, believe it or not, winter is finally over: today is the vernal equinox. Springtime. A new day.
I spent the first eight years of my life in the foothills of Alexander County, and there was always something special about this time of year—looking off to the horizon and seeing the rolling slopes of the Brushy Mountains start to turn green after a long winter, the white blooms on the dogwood tree in our yard, the sound of birdsong in the morning. It’s a time to begin again.
And when I think about Alexander County, I often find myself thinking about how important new beginnings are for so much of our state. We know that when a community lacks investment, it’s vulnerable. It shrinks. Opportunity leaves, and people leave with it. Alexander County is one of those places—in one of the fastest-growing states in the country, Alexander County shrank from 2010 to 2020. It’s been left behind, and it could badly use a fresh start.
And I could say much the same thing about places all over North Carolina. It’s a big part of why I’m running: because it’s a new day, and if we work hard, it can be springtime again.
I’ve spent the last year crisscrossing the state, sharing our central message with anyone who will listen: government is a force for good when it understands that our people are our greatest asset and invests in our communities accordingly. Everyone deserves the chance to reach their full potential. Everyone deserves a state that believes in them. On primary night, that message carried my campaign to victory, but it also showed us a pathway to winning again in places where a lot of Democrats had all but given up.
And over the next few months, that pathway is going to form the backbone of our strategy to flip the Treasurer’s office, break the supermajority, make Josh Stein our next Governor, and keep Joe Biden in the White House.
But my message and I are only one part of why we saw a 99-county victory on March 5th, and will only be one part of the strategy for our 100-county campaign from here until November. The other half is you. At the end of the day, your support is the engine that keeps this campaign going and funds our ability to hire staff, print literature, and put our winning message directly in front of voters all across the state.
And today, the first day of Spring, is a great day to hit the ground running as we begin again on our efforts to transform the political landscape of North Carolina and build a coalition that will carry us to the top in November.
So, John, can I count on you to help us make today a new day by chipping in $25 or whatever else you can afford today? With your help, we can keep up our momentum from our primary victory and start our general election campaign off strong.
