Yes we can.
This morning I voted. It felt like a slightly radical act: we the people taking control of our country. I was excited. Voting happens regularly, but this one is special.
I sat down with Henry (my 5-year-old) several nights ago to fill out my absentee ballot. We went through each race one by one, talking about what the jobs were and who the people were who were running. He was very excited to help me vote for Barack Obama, for Governor Christine Gregoire, and for me.
We want change.
Last night I canvassed. I was in prime contested territory, talking to people who hadn't voted yet and who might not have made up their minds. It was raining and dark, and we canvassed until it was simply too late to ring people's doorbells anymore. At door after door, people greeted me warmly. A woman with two daughters called them over to meet me. They had just been discussing her absentee ballot; she wanted them to know what was possible.
Yes we can.
All over my district we have staging locations where people are phonebanking and canvassing to get out the vote. This is also true in other races in cities and towns all over the United States. I'm going location to location today to thank my volunteers for all of their hard work and dedication, for the passion they have brought to making our democracy work. I feel like I'm part of an incredible team.
You all are part of that incredible team.
Thank you.
I don't know whether we will know the outcome of my race tonight. The good news is that a huge number of people voted early by mail, and the enthusiasm was on our side. The bad news is that both King and Pierce Counties will be counting votes very, very slowly. We're currently expecting to be behind Congressman Reichert in the poll votes because so many of our voters voted early. And those votes of many of our most enthusiastic supporters won't be counted today; many of them won't be counted until late this week or early next week.
To be specific, we'll know the votes of the roughly 100k voters in my district who vote at the polls today, but only about 40k to 50k of the roughly 250k who voted early. Our best guess is that King and Pierce Counties will count 40k to 50k votes per day in my race, which is, obviously, another five or six days of counting.
But I believe we're going to get there.
Thank you.
Hope.
And vote.