Senate Concession Speech - Nov. 5, 2024

Good evening, everyone. I’ve decided not to read any speech tonight and speak from my heart. As you all know, the results that we just saw right now are not the results that we were expecting. But I want to start by first thanking my incredible family. My incredible family that has put up with me traveling non-stop all around the state. My sisters, who were canvassing and staffing all the polling sites, my nieces, my nibling, my mother—hi, mom. You know, she’s one of the reasons why I decided to do this over a year ago.

I want to thank the volunteers that have put hours and hours and hours of text banking and phone calls, knocking on doors, communicating with voters, trying to give them the message that there was another choice in this election. A choice of someone who would fight for them every step of the way. I want to thank and acknowledge my incredible team. This team, oh man, they were full of ideas. My social media was on fire. I never thought I would have a TikTok account the way that I did. Erin, organizing the people all over the country for the text banks, because so many people believed what was possible. Aiden, who drove me 35,000 miles is what he was telling me, all over.

I am so, so fortunate and privileged to have had this incredible opportunity to be the nominee representing the Democratic party here in the state of Florida. To give Florida a new view on what we could do together. And there were millions of Floridians that today came out to say no más. Millions of Floridians that wanted change for the state of Florida, but today we were not successful.

We were not successful in making sure that we sent someone up to Washington, D.C. that would protect Medicare and Social Security. We were not successful in sending a champion that would fight for our communities to reduce gun violence. We were not successful in sending a woman, a mom, who would be fighting every single day for our daughters and women in the state of Florida to protect their reproductive freedom.

And I want to say this, I am proud to be a Floridian. This state needs a lot of love, it needs a lot of work, I’m not going to lie. But I want you to think of this: we did not win this battle, but the fight is just getting started because let me tell you something, if you think that this Latina right here is giving up on Florida, then I don’t think you’ve been paying attention.

I have been so, so lucky to meet Floridians on the trail. Rita Wilson, a retiree with cancer, who continued to knock on doors to send a message that we needed to protect our civil rights. Seniors in the panhandle who have been forced to go back to work because of the failure of the Republican party in this state, that have taken everything away from our seniors, including the dignity to be able to make it in this state.

Students, incredible students, showing all across the state of Florida, thank you Gen Z, wow. You are rocking it. I’m coming back, because let me just tell you, you have formed a family that is going to make sure that we will take our state in the right track. We are not going to give in. We are not going to give up. I will continue to keep my eye on the prize, and I want all of you to do the same. Florida, I heart you so much. Let’s continue to work on our state, thank you so much.

(Speaks Spanish)