Thank you from Chelsea Lepley
Chelsea Lepley was our endorsed candidate for Des Moines City Council Ward 2 this election cycle. This is a message from them to CCI Action members:
I want to express my gratitude to everyone who put time, energy, money, and other resources into our campaign for a more accessible, responsive city government.
As you may know, we received just under 2300 votes, winning 8 of the 19 precincts in Ward 2. We got more votes than the incumbent did 4 years ago, but voter turnout was up, so 2300 wasn’t enough after all. I'm taking the increased voter turnout as the election's silver lining (the dark cloud being the incumbents' collective shut-out of new voices).
Of course I’m disappointed with the results, but that’s not to say I’m discouraged – and I hope you’re not, either. We have always known progress is slow and comes with setbacks, so let’s not lose heart. If you've spent much time around me, you've heard me say, "If it were easy, it would be done by now," which I repeat to remind myself to be patient and persistent. There will be other great campaigns for us to work on – and soon!
Neighbors for Lepley (my official campaign committee) knocked about 4000 doors, made a few thousand calls, and had over 1000 conversations with voters – and that's not counting the many, many shifts staffed by volunteers with Iowa CCI Action Fund. You all made a tremendous difference, adding hundreds if not thousands of interactions to that total. You helped make our grassroots campaign more powerful!
I have never felt more supported in my life than I did by CCI Action Fund during this election. We couldn't coordinate activities, which meant I couldn't participate in your canvass and phone bank events, but every time I saw photos online afterward, it was a huge morale boost. I know a lot of voters and spectators were rooting for me during the campaign, and that's encouraging, but it was so much more encouraging to know that a bunch of like-minded people were out there doing the work to bring our shared vision to life.
Speaking of morale, I want to emphasize that volunteering makes a difference both in terms of voter outreach and in terms of candidate morale – which can mean the difference between someone being willing to run again and someone feeling burnt out. Because of you all, I am willing to try again someday. And if you're thinking about running, please know that it's not as scary as it can seem, especially when a team like this has your back.
Community organizing has changed a lot over the 20+ years I've been canvassing, but I am so glad to know that there are still people willing to go out and do the work to put people first. I hope you'll be there for the next campaign, too -- and when one of you runs, you know you can count on me to knock some doors for you!