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Dear Friends & Colleagues,

I’m writing to let you know that our campaign for a seat in the CA State Senate has fallen short. With a highly competitive field of serious Democratic candidates, I came in 3rd place just a few thousand votes shy of being in the “top two” for the general election.

It would be a huge understatement to say I am disappointed. Many of you believed fully that I could accomplish many great things at the state level were I fortunate enough to be elected. Alas, it is not to be. Nevertheless, I want to extend my heartfelt thanks and appreciation to each of you who had supported my candidacy, had faith in my skills, and helped me along the way during this challenging campaign. Your steadfast support kept me going through this election season’s twists and turns.

The Primary results are all too reminiscent of the close third place finish six years ago in the State Assembly Primary. As Yogi Berra said, “It’s like Déjà vu all over again.”

I am honored by the level of support my campaign received. With your help, we spoke with thousands of voters and received financial donations from nearly 900 individual donors. This was truly a worthwhile effort engaging with East Bay residents to share and advance my environmental and public interest agenda to the state level. But we fell short in getting the magnitude of institutional support necessary to win in a such a large district.

I want to acknowledge each of my fellow State Senate candidates for running serious campaigns that reflect the progressive nature of our East Bay region. I congratulate Mayor Jesse Arreguin and AC Transit Director Jovanka Beckles for garnering the support necessary to advance to the November General Election. And I also recognize candidates Kathryn Lybarger and former Assemblymember Sandré Swanson for their serious efforts and tremendous good work over the years.
 

I will cherish your support and continue to work in our community every week addressing key issues. I have a lot of work to do over the weeks and months ahead to retire my campaign debt [https://lnkd.in/gJdufCKe - please help if you can] and to finish my term as an Oakland City Councilmember. I am working on housing affordability, environmental and public safety challenges locally.

Warm thanks and appreciation to my team: Alix, Alex, Michael, and Jay for all their hard work and dedication, and to Ben T., my pollster, as well. Thank you also to my many endorsers, event hosts, and contributors, and to all my volunteers over the past year. In particular, warm thanks to all-star volunteers Davis B. and Reid F. for their tremendous efforts. And big thanks to the many people in the solar energy industry, clean tech, and environmental communities who supported my candidacy.
 

I wish you all the very best and I am looking forward to re-connecting while we work collaboratively to resolve the myriad of local and regional issues facing our communities.
 

With appreciation,
-Dan​

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~ BIG CONGRATS TO JESSE ARREGUIN ON HIS ELECTION TO THE CA STATE SENATE ~

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