Senate Victory Speech - Nov. 6, 2024

I first want to thank my incredible husband, John, and our daughter Abigail, who’ve been with me through all of this. I want to thank John for going on that entire get out the vote tour, for standing and giving speeches, while his wife’s face was blown up on the side of the bus, that was pretty good. I want to thank our great campaign staff, including Kieran, Jake, Annie, Ben, Justin, Bridget, Jane, and the whole team. I want to thank—(applause)—I want to thank my hardworking Senate office in both Minnesota and Washington, Erica, Tamara, your teams. They always put the constituents first, and nearly everywhere I go in Minnesota, someone comes up to me and tells me how our office has helped them. Helped them to get veterans’ benefits, help them to take on their insurance company, helped them with an adoption. And thanks to my devoted staff for never getting cynical, thank you for caring for our state, and for making me better. Thank you to our staff.

To the state of Minnesota, I once again pledge to you I will stand my ground while always seeking common ground. I will strive every day to be worthy of your faith and trust. Here in Minnesota, we voted for moving forward in this senate race, we voted for building up and not tearing down, we voted for results, and now it is on all of us to come together as a state and as a country to govern. It is on all of us to cross the river of our divides to get to a higher ground.

This has not been an easy election season, but I am so proud of our grassroots volunteers, and I am honored to serve as your U.S. senator. I want to thank our incredible legislative leaders, I know we’re awaiting the results in those races. First of all we know that Kelly Morrison is going to be the next congresswoman for the third district. I think it’s pretty good they’re going to have a doctor in the House, thanks to Kelly. I talked to Angie tonight, and we’re feeling really good about her race. Some of those numbers are not in yet, there seems to be a little bit of a delay. We’ll have to deal with that in the future. And even though we know he is not here tonight, I want to thank our governor, Tim Walz. Gwen, and Hope, and Gus, and of course our lieutenant governor, Peggy Flanagan. And as for Tim and Gwen, I think you know you have done well as a parent when your kids are as proud of you as Hope and Gus are of them. I don’t think we will ever forget those three words during the Chicago convention when Gus looked at Tim and with tears in his eyes and said, “That’s my dad.” I can’t think of three better words to describe our governor.

So DFL-ers, as we await the outcome of these elections, we know there is so much more work to do. We have to—for this state—we need more housing, we need to reduce the cost of childcare and more accessible childcare, and we need to continue our work to bring down the cost of prescription drugs. We need to restore competition to the marketplace with tech, with pharma, with healthcare. You know I love more competition. And yes, with TicketMaster. We need to make sure that our workers are prepared to compete in the 21st century, and we need to continue to protect our union members’ right to organize because when unions are strong, our economy is strong. When our economy is strong, America is strong. We need to pass a farm bill—I want to get it done by the end of the year—and we have rights to protect, like the rights of women to make their own healthcare decisions and not politicians.

Minnesota, let us remember tonight as we await for the rest of these results, that we have faced dark and tumultuous times before. And each time our nation has been tested, our democracy has endured, and our union has prevailed. When Abraham Lincoln gave his first inaugural address in front of the Capitol, the Capitol dome was only partially constructed, braced by ropes of steel. He promised he would finish it. He was criticized at the time for spending funds on it during the Civil War, and to those critics he replied, “If the people see the Capitol going on, it is a sign we intend the union shall go on.” And the union did go on, and the reason our democracy went on and endured is because the people of this nation, despite our differences, still believe in America. We still believe that “We must find light in the never-ending shade”, to quote Amanda Gorman.

So you know me, you know me, Minnesota. I reach out. I go to all 87 counties every single year. I meet people where they are. I believe in bringing Democrats, Republicans, and Independents with me. Minnesota, you know that I will always have the people of our state as our North Star. No matter through good times and bad, I will have the backs of the people of this state and I am honored to continue to serve as your United States Senator.