Congratulations, Bee Nguyen!

December 5, 2017

Dear PIVOTers,

Tonight we are in happy tears as we celebrate the historic win by our PIVOT-endorsed candidate, Bee Nguyen, the first Vietnamese American elected to the Georgia state legislature!

This has been a tough year as we watched many of the policies we care about - from healthcare access, public lands, and immigration rights - being stripped away. It’s so easy to feel hopeless with the constant bombardment of bad news. Thus, Bee’s win tonight provides us the big silver lining in the sometimes too-overwhelming cloud. Bee not only made history, she gave us hope. When Bee first announced her campaign, some people told Bee she shouldn’t run. It’s best if she stayed behind the scene, they said. Instead of being thwarted by the negativity, Bee  pushed forward (most of the time with a bottle of Powerade Zero in hand). Every single day, she marched the streets, knocked on doors to speak to her constituents, sometimes in 100 degree heat. She wants to better understand their needs, and genuinely tries to serve the people she hopes to represent. And along that journey, she won their hearts and their votes.

The path to be a consistent, reliable public official with the highest integrity can easily be marred with dirty politics, but Bee showed us that we can still win while staying true to our values. Bee has been fighting to bring equality and justice to Georgia since her early 20's, and she continued to display that message and value during her entire campaign. She elevated voices of groups ignored by society. She brought hope to the marginalized. She showed people that they can effectively work across party lines to pass legislation. Bee fights with integrity, while allowing us to envision and achieve a just and equitable society. We cannot wait to witness the results she’ll achieve and the examples she will set in the Georgia state legislature!

To Bee Nguyen - thank you for being the politician we admire. Even though you could have easily chosen a simpler career and a more comfortable existence, you instead chose a tougher path - but it is a path that brings in a hopeful future. We are thankful that you not only look backward to the struggles that your parents encountered, but you also look forward to ensure a more just and equitable society for future generations. You’ve paid great homage to your roots, your current and future community. You’ve provided us hope - and sometimes hope is all we need to keep pushing forward.

Congratulations, Bee. And let’s all keep marching on!