November 8, 2016, started out great. I put on the necklace my grandmother wore when she marched for the Equal Rights Amendment. I walked to my polling place at City Hall with my host daughter — I wanted her to see democracy in action — and voted for what I thought would be our first female president. I was excited. The day before I had told my best friend that soon I would be able to tell people my name was Hillary, like the President. All that hope and excitement made election night that much worse. As the results started coming in from Florida and Ohio, my stomach sank. By the time the networks called Arizona, I was in tears.
Sadness quickly gave way to resolve. I was determined to do something positive with my post-election energy. I started talking with friends about what we could do. When I found the Indivisible Guide, it was a light bulb moment for me. Everything clicked into place. The Guide — at that time just a typo-riddled Google doc written by former congressional staffers — laid out exactly how you could organize a small group and make a difference by influencing your elected representatives. I found a group of people on Facebook wanting to organize an Indivisible group in Kansas City, and together we formed Indivisible KC.
We began taking our message to our Members of Congress (MoCs). I collected healthcare stories from families in the Kansas City area affected by the Affordable Care Act and turned them into scrapbooks that we delivered to our Senators’ offices. When our MoCs refused to hold town halls, we held our own. When Roy Blunt (R-MO) tried to hide out in Tennessee instead of meeting with his constituents, we partnered with Indivisible East Tennessee to deliver messages to him in Knoxville. When everyone said there was no way we could stop the repeal of the ACA, we refused to listen. We, and thousands of folks just like us, kept visiting and calling and writing. We beat back every attempt at repeal, and we saved health care for 22 million people.
My work with Indivisible KC gave me hope for the future. I saw how powerful regular people could be when we worked together. But it was frustrating having to plead with my elected representatives to do the right thing. Far too often, it felt like I was talking to a brick wall. I realized that if we wanted to make a real change, we needed to put better people in office, starting right here at home. A Democrat had not run in the 8th Senate District where I lived since 2006. That is just wrong. So I decided to run in 2018. And when the incumbent Senator resigned to take a job on the Missouri Tax Commission and the Governor called a special election for this November, I jumped right in and started campaigning a year earlier than I expected.
Last year dozens of seats in the Missouri legislature went unopposed in the general election. The same thing is happening across the country. That is not democracy. So I’m calling on you — yes you — to consider running for office. You’re ready. You’re good enough. You’re smart enough. We need more grassroots candidates with your passion and drive. We need fresh faces and new ideas at all levels of government. We need committed citizens willing to stand up and fight for their democracy. We need you.
If you’re interested in learning more about my campaign, please visit my website or check me out on Facebook.