Lauren Ashcraft  🌹Compte certifié

We launched our people-powered campaign knowing we’d be up against the powerful status quo, but the potential to bring a new voice to Washington was critical. Most importantly, we knew we were joining a larger movement already in progress -- a cause much bigger than our one race.

Ultimately, the biggest question for us was: How could we best advance that larger mission of a more compassionate, inclusive, forward-thinking society?

The answer we’ve come to is a difficult one. And so today, with a broken heart, but with clear eyes and fierce determination to achieve those ultimate goals, the time has come for me to end my candidacy for Congress in NY-12.

I am so damn proud of what we accomplished over the past 8 months. Together we helped center the voices of those previously relegated to the sidelines of our political processes. We exemplified what a new era of electoral politics should look like.

And there is still so much more work to be done. If we want real systemic reform, we need to find ways to work together, not against each other. That is where my focus lies now. I will call-in those who kowtow to machine politics when our movement needs them the most.