To all my wonderful volunteers and supporters:
I know many of us are disappointed by the outcome of the Florida Senate District 20 election, and I am disappointed not to be able to represent you in the Florida Legislature. And, so, I want to share some positive things about the progress made with our 2020 campaign.
We ran the campaign we wanted.
We ran a campaign for the people, a campaign that dismissed big money offers of support so that we would not have to answer to special interests, nor to entrenched politicians, so that we would answer only to the people of District 20 and Florida.
We took heat and we kept going.
Many people “in the know”—party leaders, consultants, people in our community—told me this was an unwinnable race. They said it was especially unwinnable without the support of big money donors who would have censored my voice. Over 115,000 voters disagreed.
Though we have lost this race, we have proved what is possible for future elections.
We have shown that it is possible to run a truly grassroots campaign and fund it with small, individual donations--we have raised more than $133,000 with an average donation of $80. Considering this was a special election with a short lead time, this is a phenomenal achievement!
As the late, Honorable John Lewis said, we make progress by making good trouble. That’s what we did together. Together, we have shown that it is possible to put the interests of people first, before big money and big business.
I ran for Florida Senate because, as the mother of a daughter with a disability, I became frustrated by the inaction of our state agencies. I ran because it made me angry that other families were going through the same waiting and suffering.
This race and our campaign have focused the bright Florida sunshine on the problems so many hardworking Floridians face.
We have raised the flag, bringing attention to the problems facing so many Florida families:
to the difficulties obtaining disability and medical benefits;
to the disenfranchisement of voters brought by poverty and race;
to the problems workers and families have gaining equal access to quality and affordable health care, including disability benefits;
to women’s right to have control over their own bodies;
to the issues of marriage equality and equal and fair employment and housing practices for the LGBTQ+ communities and for people of color;
to the need for a realistic living wage—Amendment 2 on the ballot does not go far enough soon enough;
to the issue of gun violence which affects too many people each and every day;
to the problems we have in our criminal justice system with inequitable practices in our state law enforcement, the hiring of unqualified and disqualified applicants, and the need to invest in mental health services and education in law enforcement and in schools;
to the unfair burden put on our teachers to be all things to our children while being paid far less than they deserve;
to the concerns of the environment and climate change that disproportionately affect Floridians, Florida tourism, small businesses, and people of color; and
to our state’s haphazard, patchwork response to the pandemic, needlessly endangering millions of people, and especially our first responders, and needlessly sacrificing the lives of loved ones in the process.
Your support helped focus broad—in fact, national—public attention to the these pressing issues.
The campaign really took off when we received national attention, not because of any specific work we did, but because the existing party system revealed cracks in its veneer. Those cracks allowed space for new ideas and a new way of campaigning without going low.
Future Democratic candidates have a new playbook for how to run an honest, people-first campaign with sustainable grassroots support and without having to answer to corporations, special interests, or powerful, self-interested politicians.
Let us look to the future with hope and the spark of possibility. Let us keep working for what is right.
My best to all of you.
In gratitude and solidarity,
Kathy Lewis