U.S. Senate Race Concession - Apr. 26, 2016

Edwards: I want to say first of all to my family, to my son Jared, who all of you read about and heard about and who has been talked about, thank you, sweetheart. I love you.

To my mom and my sisters and my brother, thank you so much. I love you. You ground me.

Audience: Whoops, cheers, and applause.

Edwards: You ground me. You have always been there for me, no matter what. And to my campaign staff and all of our amazing volunteers — I want to thank you, thank you, thank you.

Audience: Whoops, cheers, and applause.

Edwards: That’s right. You truly gave your heart and your soul to this campaign. There is no one in this race — no one — who outhustled our team of door knockers, phone callers, and poll workers. You have my deepest thanks, and you deserve your own round of applause, I thank you.

Audience: Whoops, cheers, and applause.

Edwards: Just a short bit ago, I called my opponent, Mr. Chris Van Hollen, Congressmen Van Hollen to congratulate him on his win tonight after a very hard-fought campaign. But I have some news for you, my friends: our battle is not over, and our work is not done.

Audience: Whoops, cheers, and applause.

Edwards: To our friends in labor, our progressive allies, to my friends at EMILY’s List — [Spoken emphatically] You. Are. Not. Dark money. You are not the Koch brothers. Thank you so much for being with me.

Audience: Whoops, cheers, and applause.

Edwards: This campaign has never been just about me or my opponent. It is about building a progressive movement all across our state and country, that lifts the sights of our citizens just a little bit higher.It is about saying that if we set our hearts and our minds and our shoulders to it, we can actually do big things in this country.

We need to do big things — to give everyday citizens, ordinary people, working people an opportunity and a fighting chance in our economy and in Washington. And, my friends, it is also about leading fearlessly. It is about repairing a broken political system, saying what we believe to be true, and fighting for what we know is right.

Audience: Whoops, cheers, and applause.

Edwards: Regardless of what the Washington insiders and the political establishment might prefer we continue to fight for what is right.

APA Citation: WBAL-TV 11 Baltimore. (2016, April 26). Rep. Donna Edwards concedes the Democratic race for U.S. Senate in Maryland to Rep. Chris Van Hollen [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkSG97zl3dI (Transcript derived from video.)