The Endorsement

I wish this post were about someone's endorsement of Harvey. But since he lost, that's no longer a possibility, at least in this race.

As soon as the primary election was over--fewer than twenty-four hours later, in fact--Harvey received phone calls from the two candidates who advanced to the runoff: Patrice Douglas and Steve Russell. Both of them wanted Harvey's endorsement; neither pushed him to give an answer on the spot, but both made it clear that they would like him to consider it and let them know as soon as possible.

Harvey knew that his endorsement probably wouldn't translate to a windfall of votes, but he also realized that in a tight race it could make a difference. The easiest thing to do, both emotionally and practically, would be just to stay out of it at this point. We lost. We were discouraged. Harvey was clearly the best candidate, and no one left in the race could possibly measure up, right?

But Harvey felt an obligation. One of his oft-repeated campaign statements was that you cannot demand what you do not demonstrate. Harvey sought endorsements while he was running, and he was frustrated by the hesitation, actually the refusal, of individuals and groups to commit to an endorsement for political reasons. It seems pretty simple and straightforward: pick the person you believe would do the best job and throw your support behind him or her publicly. But it turned out not to be that simple or straightforward for people and groups whose endorsements we sought. It came down to this: they were afraid to take a risk to endorse someone who might lose; they were afraid to risk offending the winner.

Harvey did not want to be one of those people, to be afraid to endorse one or the other candidate because he might pick a loser, because he might offend people, because it could cost him politically or professionally at some point in the future. Basically, Harvey did not want to be a hypocrite. So he made plans to meet with each candidate, pray, and make a decision.

Thankfully, both Patrice and Steve ran positive campaigns in the primary, and both had been gracious to Harvey and won his respect, also openly expressing their respect for Harvey, both to him and to others. In addition, the two of them generally agree on the major issues (as all the primary candidates did). So it wasn't a quick or easy choice.

After meeting with both candidates and with Steve's pastor, Harvey decided to endorse Steve. From the beginning, Harvey had been impressed with the humility and hard work Steve showed behind the scenes on the campaign trail. Steve's pastor confirmed what we had observed and already suspected: that the faith he professes was solid and genuine. For us, that's the most important thing.

Harvey's endorsement isn't just lip service. The first step was announcing it publicly by press release and on Facebook. Since he did that about two weeks ago, Harvey has had multiple conversations with campaign staffers and supporters and gone on a radio show with Steve, and we have already contributed to the campaign, knocked on doors, and attended a fundraiser.

Joining the Russell ranks

I gladly knocked on hundreds of doors for Harvey, but I'm not so eager to put myself in that position for someone else. It was pretty easy for me to introduce myself as a candidate's wife and ask someone to vote for my husband. Maybe I'm just still a little sore from the loss, but asking someone to vote for my husband's former opponent--I'm just not ready to do that yet. So I navigated and kept records for him while he knocked on the doors. All went smoothly and we covered around eighty houses in the course of the morning on Saturday, kids in tow.

Door-knocking: Harvey's a pro.

Then Sunday afternoon we attended a fundraiser for Steve at a country club, complete with bar and buffet and a view of the golf course, with ladies in heels and men in loafers. We didn't exactly have that kind of fundraiser in the Sparks campaign. Our campaign-event style was more Tex-Mex restaurant dinner or home meeting with homemade finger foods.

It felt odd being there. I couldn't help feeling a twinge of resentment toward the crowd, most of whom probably voted for someone other than my husband. And they were there to rally around someone else, when in my mind, that someone else should have been my husband. When we arrived, no one blew any trumpets. Harvey and I signed the guest list and wandered over to chat (or at least pretend to chat) with each other as we surveyed the room.

After a few minutes we began to be approached by faces we'd met during our campaign: the labor commissioner, a political consultant, someone whose door we had knocked on, and so on. Each one complimented Harvey on a campaign well-run and encouraged him to stick around in the political arena. There was quite the spectrum, from someone who made angry, hateful remarks about the President to someone who took our hands and prayed for us.

We listened to Steve address the crowd and field questions. We meant to grab some food from the buffet, but between conversations with people and Steve's speech, we never got the opportunity. We finally had to cut a conversation short so we could get back to our parents' house to pick up the kids.

Can you spot me hobnobbing in the background?

Since last weekend, Harvey has been meeting and communicating with campaign staffers and volunteers about how to encourage the church to vote for Steve. This is an area where Harvey has connections and a measure of influence, and he hopes to use it for Steve's benefit in the coming weeks.

Today it's been one month since the primary. One month of losing, grieving, searching, and waiting. We're glad to be able to focus some of our energy on getting our second choice for Fifth District Representative elected. In another month, God willing, we will be one step closer to that goal.

Steve Russell for Congress
Steve Russell for Congress (Facebook)