Four More Years

Dear Friends,
 
As we all wait for the national results, I want to express my gratitude and thank many important people. First, thank you my readers and supporters. Your support has allowed me to serve Arlington for another term. It truly is an honor and a privilege to serve Arlington County.
 
I want to thank my opponent, Audrey Clement, for running. It is not easy to run, and I know that Audrey is passionate about wanting to improve our community. While she and I don’t always agree on how to do things, we all benefit from active campaigns that bring a range of ideas to the table. Debate and civil disagreement help us to improve our own thinking. Good debate is one of the ways we become stronger together.
 
I am thankful to so many people who have helped make my win a possibility. I still am working on all my personal thank-yous, but please allow me a blanket statement of appreciation for everyone who contributed to my campaign with time, effort, finances, and spiritual support. I cannot tell you how much it meant to me during this most difficult of years for everyone.
 
A special shout out to everyone who worked so hard for our Arlington Democratic Joint Campaign effort. This was a full, nationwide effort to elect our entire Democratic ticket. Thank you to Jill Caiazzo, our party chair, for her leadership, and to all of our precinct teams, drivers to polls, absentee voter greeters, canvassers, phone bankers, postcard writers, and everyone who helped out – in large or small ways. This Joint Campaign harnessed the most engagement I’ve ever seen in a campaign year. Many, many thanks go to Maggie Davis, Corey Barton, Robert Julien, Rachael Feldman, and Alex Zins, for their leadership and unrelenting drive and work.
 
A big thank you to Townley McElhiney. We’ve been friends for a long time, but this was her first direct campaign involvement, and she helped steer me through the strangest campaign year ever. My friend and long-time treasurer Fran Zorn has been a crucial member of my team for years. I couldn’t have managed to keep up a campaign and Chair the Board as I have this year without Townley and Fran. Finally, an extra special thank you to my daughters and grandchildren for all their love and support through everything.
 
While the national races are unclear as of this writing and our nation continues to face darker times than it has for generations, I find it helpful to remember that other people around the globe have been facing horrible regimes, cruelty and injustice forever. At times they triumph. At times they lose tragically and evil wins. But the battle continues. Throughout this election year, I have looked at the quote I taped on my wall from Vaclav Havel, the Czech playwright and dissident who battled authoritarianism under the Soviet Union and became the first president of the new Czech Republic. Havel said:
 
“Truth and Love must prevail over lies and hatred.” 
 
I believe that to my core.  It is, I believe, the foundation for all the great religions. We are fighting for Truth and Love to prevail in our nation, and we must never give up. Ever.   
 
Thank you again for you support. I am forever grateful and very much look forward to serving Arlington for another four years.   
 
Libby