My congresswoman lost, but I still have hope for my community’s future
While many Americans refreshed their Twitter feeds, begrudgingly dropped off their early voting ballots, and engaged in politically-charged debates with colleagues, I stood on the busiest street in Omaha, Nebraska, clutching my Kara Eastman for Congress sign. It was a symbol of hope, change, and the hard work dozens of volunteers, field organizers, and constituents had devoted to a grassroots campaign. We waved to passing cars, and people cheered, blasting music from their speakers, celebrating what was supposed to be a progressive shift in Nebraska’s most liberal district. Hours later, the sign I hung onto so tightly became irrelevant as local news stations announced the victory of the NE-02 Republican incumbent, Don Bacon.
After months of talking to voters in multiple languages, distributing yard signs, and constant retweeting, I couldn’t help but feel that my and everyone’s efforts simply weren’t enough. This fact ate at me for weeks. This sensation of regret: could I have picked up more phone banking shifts? Should I have made more of an effort to change my grandfather’s vote? It was shocking. Through my genuine belief and love for my congresswoman, my mind had already decided: there was no way we could lose.
Here was an empowered woman, a social worker, mother, former president of a nonprofit, refuser of PAC money running against a man with arguably few congressional impacts, and a voting record that was 93% in line with the president. I had seen the polls declaring NE-02 as a toss-up, but I still had faith that first-time voters, my fellow Hispanics, and many other voters would cast their ballot in favor of change and morality. It would be overly simplistic to respond to the unwanted outcome with “it wasn’t meant to be” or attribute the loss to some other overused cliché.
Despite not winning the election, Kara Eastman’s campaign was nevertheless a mark of change. Being part of multitudes of impassioned people—individuals devoting practically all of their energy towards this election—shows that we truly believe in the future of our community. Following the results of the race, Eastman said: “I promised all of you that we would run a campaign that wouldn’t put winning over integrity. And we did that. We never doubted the importance of this fight, and we’re never going to give up on any of you, on our district, on our country.”
It can be difficult to maintain faith in a community or country riddled with polarization, hatred, and fear. But it is up to us to decide what we want the future to look like, what we want our country, our communities to do for us.
“There is so much work to be done,” Eastman said. “Yes, we can be sad. Yes, we can be disappointed, but we have to know we fought the hardest fight. And there’s still more to come”
Following the end of this election cycle, and the despair that came with it, I have kept Kara’s message close to my heart. With every loss comes incremental progress and change. So, I will keep waving my signs, calling constituents, and fighting for goodness and truth. Strength lies in unity. So, we can have our moments of heartache, as long as we pick ourselves back up and realize the best is yet to come. It has to be.
