Thank you to everyone who supported my effort to bring better representation to our district.
It's true, we lost. Challenging an incumbent is a tough business. When it comes to unseating someone, challengers have little more than an 8% chance.
That said, there is one statistic we shattered. On average, first time challengers normally take between 10 and 30% of the vote (depending upon the office they're running for).
With this race, we took nearly 40%. Amazing work.
Let me put it in even sharper perspective: A 28 year old, first time, non-party affiliated candidate that refused special interest support took forty percent of the vote from an entrenched, four-year Republican incumbent in one of the only districts in Massachusetts where the GOP presidential candidate won.
Be proud - we did a remarkable thing.
I owe that increased percentage to our incredible team of volunteers - to everyone that got out to knock on doors with me and who stuck with me through the heat of the summer and the rains of the fall.
Beyond the vote count, our team was able to accomplish some notable things:
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We made over 30,000 door knocks. -
We actually practiced pure democracy. We built our very platform by spending months knocking on doors and talking with regular working people about what they needed to see from the state.
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We set up the next challenger. Because we ran a smart, aggressive race, our opponent spent nearly every last dollar of his $70k war chest. (We spent less than 1/3 of that - knocking on doors is free.)
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We did it right. I never took a dime of special interest money or support from a PAC. We did door-to-door - no mailers or robo-calls. We treated people like human beings and not like "votes".
For a long list of reasons, I am so proud of this race. Volunteer staff, you’re incredible people. You shared my vision for a better politics and you fought alongside me to make it happen. Thank you.
And to each person that took five minutes out of their day to sit with me on their doorstep and talk with me about their struggles and about politics, I can only thank you. I say often in my literature “we’re a good people.” I had that same feeling every night after I returned home after knocking on doors.
I’m proud to call this place my home and in my private life I'll continue to do what I am able to improve our community, our state and this world we live in. Given the scope of some of the challenges we face as a people, a state and a nation, I can only urge us all to continue to do the same.
Good luck and contact me at any time,
Tom Roache
tom@JoinTom.net