I want to personally thank, and hug, each and every one of you for your courage, independence, and vision in supporting our campaign for a just, sustainable, prosperous society for all. I am deeply at peace and feel wonderful because I know we did our best for people and the planet, and we achieved dramatic progress in the public’s awareness and support. Together, we:

Won nearly 10,000 votes, in our first run for this Congressional seat. That’s the highest of any of our five Congressional candidates in Maryland, and far higher than our Green registration - over 80% of our voters were not Green Party members! And we did it in a four-way race. That’s HUGE!

Distributed 40,000 pieces of literature, one by one, to voters over eight months

Placed signs at 110 precincts in one night, covering two counties

Reached 150,000+ people through Facebook

Reached thousands on Twitter, including many people in other countries following our excellent posts – on climate change, $15 minimum wage, domestic violence, other topics

Created our own campaign YouTube channel for the first time

Created our own campaign videos for the first time

Found over 400 new people interested in volunteering going forward! YEAH!!!!!!!!

Had first-time coverage with major and local media, including kudos to the Frederick NewsPost for truly fair and balanced coverage of all four candidates. Other media were Baltimore Sun, Washington Post, WMAL, Montgomery Community Media, Future Generation, Montgomery Sentinel, Real TV, The Random Hour, and WAMU online.

First-time interviews by a Maryland Green candidate in Spanish (El Tiemp Latino, Calentando la Mañana, HispanTV)

Spoke at numerous candidate forums, increasingly included as the race went forward through the year

Included in key voter guides such as the League of Women Voters and online guides

Coordinated over 50 volunteers!!! THANK YOU!! see list below

Held our first open, public Election Night party!

Finally, in a great compliment to our campaign, the Library of Congress has written they are going to archive the campaign website as a record of this election for posterity 

Most important was hearing from YOU, and all the voters, why we need free quality health care, decent pay starting at $15 an hour, free public college, forgiveness of student debt, stable climate change, an end to police violence, and breaking up the overconcentration of power and wealth in our country and a return to representative democracy.

Elsewhere in the US, Greens won office at the local level, with 279 Green candidates running nationwide. More people voted for Greens than ever before. Many Green candidates won 15-30% in their races, a big increase, including 100,000 for our Senate candidate in Republican Arizona! We had key structural victories in two large states, Pennsylvania and Michigan, where Greens won high enough percentages to qualify for official Party status. This means our members do not have to spend time collecting tens of thousands of petition signatures, instead working directly on issues and campaigns. This is a massive step forward.

As a member of the Green Party for 13 years, I am stunned at the massive sea change I saw this year. In thousands of conversations since January, over 99% of the public was aware of the Green Party. This is a 180 degree change. Most people under 30 knew what we stand for, and most of the public was willing to listen to alternatives. The pace of change has picked up enormously.

And YES! we will keep moving forward (of course). America and the Earth need us now more than ever. We will be starting immediately to identify and train candidates for the 2018 election, which focuses on local and state positions, always the easiest to win. If you are interested in running, please reply to this email.

Second, we will continue our strong advocacy on issues, in coalition with community groups on the environment, social justice, peace, sustainable economics, ethics, and electoral reform. We are the leading progressive advocacy organization in Montgomery County and Maryland, spanning all issues. One of our top priorities continues to be lobbying Montgomery County to divest from the fossil fuel industry (it was nearly 80 degrees on Election Day). You’ll get action alerts when to make those critical phone calls and emails to win these fights.

And third, the Montgomery Green Party remains an endless fountain of information, resources, leading examples, and inspiration to accomplish our transformative, compassionate vision of sustainable prosperity for us and our children.

We accomplished a huge amount this year, we have more to do, and I love working with all of you! You are great, and thank you for opening your hearts, for giving your time, your creativity, and your energy. Onwards!

Take care,
Nancy