A Letter from Jerri Green: Thank You isn't Enough

Friends,

It feels like it’s been forever since Election Day, and I apologize for not writing sooner. But I did want to take a moment to say thank you and tell you all how incredibly grateful I am to have taken this amazing journey with you this past year. I have been simply overwhelmed by the outpouring of support you all have sent my way since our loss. Your wonderful messages and kind words have made our defeat much more bearable.

I, of course, am disappointed that I won’t be in Nashville next year to fight for you, but I am still so incredibly proud of what we built with this campaign together. This campaign saw:

1. More votes in favor of a Democratic candidate than has ever been won in District 83, in fact we saw a 31% increase in blue votes this time around;

2. More than 50 endorsements from organizations, public leaders, and civic groups;

3. Over $152,000 in fundraising from more than 1,000 individual donors;

4. Hundreds of volunteers who sent more than 5,000 handwritten postcards to voters;

5. A #onetoughvolunteer army that reached 8,000 households with campaign literature and canvassing;

6. An amazingly dedicated group of volunteers who sent more than 50,000 texts to potential voters and placed calls to thousands more.

The list goes on and on.  But the point is YOU did all of this—from donations to volunteering, from encouragement to sign waving, from phone banking to simply VOTING. And I am certain your hard work and tireless efforts will not go unnoticed in our state capital this session, whether I am there or not. 

It is clear the people of East Memphis and Germantown demand leadership who listens, who reflects their ideals, who will stand up to the current state leadership to fight for values like decency, compassion, and common sense over the circus that politics has become.  It is also clear that our work is not done. We must continue to hold our elected representatives accountable. Change is coming. It won’t happen overnight. But it will happen, and this race proves that.

So this is most certainly not a goodbye.  It is a genuine and heartfelt thank you, and a reminder that we have to stay in the game, stay engaged, stay ready to make our community better. But for now I hope you, like me, take some time to rest and recharge, reconnect with the ones you love this holiday season, and get ready to get back to work real soon.

Ever-hopeful, always-tough,

Jerri
#onetoughmother