Hi everyone,
Two years ago, I was feeling pretty helpless, perhaps like a lot of
you—worried sick for family and friends and community in the onslaught of
the pandemic. As a society, we did what was necessary to protect public
health. At Make Westing, that meant closing for what would turn out to be
14 months. It wasn’t easy to do, but it was an easy decision. The health
and safety of our 30+ employees and of our large and diverse community of
customers always comes first.
While no one could’ve predicted the pandemic, the failed response from
government at all levels was shocking. As a small-business owner on the
verge of losing everything I had poured the last 12 years of my life into,
I was sick of feeling helpless. I decided to run for Congress as an
independent because I felt that both parties were failing to focus on and
address the needs of the people.
I soon learned that I was not alone. Whenever I talked to people I found
that although their cynicism about politics runs deep, they retain real
hope for change—especially when we'd talk about solving our problems
outside of the two main political parties.
Though we finished third out of five in the June 7 primary, I am enormously
proud of the fact that we earned more than 5,000 votes—all with a skeleton
staff, a minuscule budget built on individual donations, and no party
backing. We can hold our heads high, especially seeing how our campaign has
compelled the 24-year incumbent to refocus her platform on what we’ve been
advocating, including increased support for small businesses.
Thank you, truly, to everyone who supported this campaign—in particular,
Jonathan Mindes, my de facto campaign manager, without whom I would never
have achieved as much as I did, and my family (my mother, Nancy, father,
Jerry, and brothers, Jim and Scott), without whom I never would have even
had the courage to run. I also want to thank Boomie Aglietti, Nate Bryans
and Ragnar Bloom for their unwavering support and editorial assistance;
Mike Miller, Joyce Ni and Gabriel Avila for their help with the website and
translation; Sharif Nakhleh and Elie Khadra for their work, with Jonathan,
on our campaign video; Ahmed Darwish and his Living Organism Project (
Thelivingorganismproject.org
<[link removed][0]=AT2YiFA0s-1ZMmupQ2UufkgDvIc8ShhMmc5By0MQYg7uCj4gPWjaQZNE-zE9N3Le0FK4KaBHNSWciwT0N9AgQ11Kgl5skSFZhVi-tsmLIL7EtlBK8czkMddzJg-vE8VW-J8GJW7jVh2vD-mPWMTm7eTXe_UxVEuz9dFWQsYMUl5qjIw>)
for his encouragement and counsel; and Roma Frey for her support and
guidance. And, of course, a big thank you to all of our donors and
supporters.
Change is hard and requires persistence, but the fight is itself rewarding.
I love my community and will continue working to make it better in every
way I can.
Yours,
Glenn