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Friends, Yesterday I was at Little Rock A.M.E. Zion Church for services. One of the most important events of my life occurred there, eight years ago. It began when the mayor of Charlotte stepped down, suddenly and unexpectedly. Then our city council picked my state Senator to replace him as our new mayor. Then we had to replace my state Senator. A number of people stepped forward. At age 31, having never held elected office, I was one of them. As I told Marisa at the time, “Don’t worry — I’m not going to win.” There was a special election. Precinct leaders and elected officials in the district were allowed to vote. The election was held at Little Rock A.M.E. Zion. 49 people were allowed to vote. I received 25 votes. Which means I won by one vote. Here’s a picture from my speech just before the vote. I found one paragraph from my speech in an old Facebook post. I said, “I've met with almost every one of you and to a person, all of you agree our state is on the wrong track. Despite this, the amazing thing is that when we talk, what I hear isn't anger or resentment, it's confidence that this too shall pass. That we have seen worse and darker days and now we use those as lessons to our children about how things used to be."
Now it’s eight years later. I was just in the same room as a congressional nominee, and what I felt was a tremendous obligation. Our challenges are even greater now than they were then. I have to do this job as well as I possibly can and it’s going to take everything I’ve got. So that’s what I’m going to give. Part of my job is encouraging you to join us, because we’re stronger that way. The homestretch for this campaign is closing in, and your support now means more than you know. If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately: Now let’s go meet this moment. Best, |
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