Lucas --
Thank you for your extraordinary support throughout this hard-fought campaign. While the outcome was not what we would have hoped, you should know that your dedication and generous support did make a difference on Election Night. It may be of little solace, but every close observer of these elections has recognized that your support allowed us to do everything possible to assist our candidates and prevent the losses from being even worse. Thank you for all you did to help us under these difficult circumstances.
This is no time for hand-wringing. If we give up now and don't keep up the fight, we are giving up on everything we fought for. We may be bruised but our spirit will not be broken.
It is time to unite and stand together. That's why I wanted to update you on just how our fight continues.
There are approximately 10 races that remain too close to call and are facing possible costly and lengthy recounts. In the early morning hours the day after the Election, we dispatched staff and legal teams to these districts to make sure we continue the fight and that we don't have a repeat of the nightmare in 2000 with Al Gore.
Here are just a small sampling of some of the races still too close-to-call, including:
- Congressman Jerry McNerney's race in CA-11. Congressman McNerney faces a radical Republican opponent who has called for all public schools in America to be abolished.
- Congressman Dan Maffei's race in NY-25. Congressman Maffei is up against a GOP radical who wants to abolish the US Department of Education and supports tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas.
- Congressman Solomon Ortiz's race in TX-27. Congressman Ortiz is facing an opponent who would slash education spending and end Social Security as we know it.
It matters that we bring these ten Democrats back to Congress not only to strengthen our fight back to the Majority but also because we will need these votes to blunt the Republicans' far-right agenda. With the radical GOP agenda in the House, we need to make sure we have as many votes as possible to ensure we can stop a repeal of health care and the privatization of Social Security.
Please contribute whatever you can to help us cover the cost of these important voter protection efforts so we can support our candidates in these key races.
Thank you again for everything that you've done in this campaign. When the special interests tried to silence you with their millions of dollars, you responded with your millions of voices. Without your incredible grassroots support, the damage would have been even worse.
This election was a perfect political storm born out of the understandable frustration felt by the American people in response to high unemployment caused by the worst financial crash since the Great Depression. The record amount of secret money spent by right-wing outside groups turned this political storm into a category 3 political hurricane.
Now we pick ourselves up and get ready to once again take up our fight on behalf of the American people.
Thank you,
Rep. Chris Van Hollen
DCCC Chairman
P.S. Despite the disappointing outcome of this election, Democrats have a lot to be proud of. As Speaker Pelosi has said, "the outcome of the election does not diminish the work we have done for the American people." Together, we have had one of the most accomplished legislative sessions in history. Please sign our thank you card to Speaker Nancy Pelosi for making history for our country and for her extraordinary leadership on behalf of hardworking Americans. Then encourage your friends and family to sign it as well.