I have been here before. The exhaustion that you've been ignoring starts to catch up with you and despair starts to creep in. How could the majority of voters choose DeSantis over Gillum? I don't know. This I do know. We have a choice.

We have a choice to turn disappointment into renewed determination.

We came just shy of electing the first black Governor of Florida, an unabashed progressive campaigning on medicare for all, raising teacher salaries, and reforming the criminal justice system.

I could not be prouder of the type of campaign Mayor Andrew Gillum ran, going to every part of Florida, speaking to voters from Palatka to Pensacola, from Richmond Heights to the Villages. He is a transformational candidate. And I'm honored to have been a small part of his journey.

As he said last night, he's not going anywhere. He's going to continue fighting, and so should we. The people that are counting on us need us now more than ever.

Luckily, we are stronger now than we have ever been.

• Miami-Dade turned-out to vote in historic numbers for a mid-term election
• Donna Shalala for Congress and Debbie Mucarsel-Powell flipped TWO congressional seats in Miami-Dade that can be leveraged to build lasting political change locally
• We took back control of the U.S. House which will put an important check on Trump and his hateful agenda
• We elected Cindy Polo, Javier Fernandez, and Michael Grieco to the State House; and re-elected Annette Taddeo to the State Senate
• We passed Amendment 4, the largest expansion of voting rights in 50 years
• We built lasting friendships and organizations solidified coalitions

We must not despair but instead lift each other up. We need each other to push back against the Trumpian agenda coming our way.

And let's not forget that we were part of something special. From the dedicated volunteers who knocked on thousands of doors, texted thousands more and went above and beyond. Many of you were engaging in the political process for the first time. Keep going.

From Chiva rides to camping in the streets to be first to vote and to midnight yard sign operations, this campaign was special. You all made it special. Thank you all so very much, especially to my campaign colleagues, project pastelito, and DEC party leadership who put in countless hours.

The choice is yours to let this simply be the end of a campaign or the beginning of a movement.

This was never going to be easy, and the journey continues, so grab a clipboard. There's 1.4 million people to register.

Sign up for email updates, and join us at county and local club meetings to learn how to get more involved.