Spirited, tenacious, enthusiastic and unexpected - these are all words that have been used to describe our campaign by either the media or the incumbent. To those I add the following: amazing and humbling.
As I wrote before the polls opened on Election Day, I am deeply grateful for all your support and contributions of time, money and ideas. I cannot thank you enough.
The 3,323 votes reported on Election Night (the official vote totals come out next week) put me at just under 24% of the vote, a fantastic result for a third party candidate, especially against an incumbent!
In fact, I received the highest vote for any Green Party candidate in NYC history and was the first to max out the Matching Funds Program. I actually received more votes than any third party candidate running for the first time (there were three who lost in the primary under a different party than they ran on in the general) and a higher percentage of the vote than over two dozen Republicans around the City.
But those are just numbers: important but not the whole picture. I wanted to share with you excerpts of some emails I received from strangers on Election Day and the day after:
"I have been extremely impressed with the campaign itself. Though I've lived in Astoria for a number of years, this is the first time I can remember having been swayed, as an ordinary voter, to vote for a candidate for a lesser-known party based upon that candidate's visibility in my community and clear expression of standing for issues with which I agree....she got my attention and my vote, and I appreciate knowing that someone dedicated enough to run such a well-organized and principled campaign is living in and working for my community."
"I’m so sad about yesterday, but thank you for making such a big effort. You were clearly the better choice -- I guess there’s still so much of Astoria that’s entrenched in same-old, same-old...Thanks for showing so much enthusiasm, integrity and heart over the course of the last year. It will not be quickly forgotten!!"
"I just wanted to congratulate you for running in this year's election for City Council. I was quite happy to vote for you last night as it was rather thrilling that a "green" person was running for office. I was also really happy to know that you support marriage equality - and I know that your opponent doesn't."
It's obvious that our message around energy-efficiency, affordable housing, seven day library service and good green jobs resonated with thousands of voters. With close to 100 volunteers on Election Day itself, we were a highly visible presence in the community -- and one that the incumbent, his brothers and his staff commented on to me throughout the day.
During the campaign, we met many amazing activists and community organizers and our Election Night Party was abuzz with ideas about future projects. In the coming weeks and months, we will be assessing what our next steps will be in continuing to work for a just, healthy and sustainable city.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Lynne Serpe
