03/19/2026
The gratitude I have for all of you is overwhelming, I cannot express it in words.
I entered this race knowing it was a long shot but I also knew it was the right thing to do. I am incredibly proud of the work we all did over the last 5.5 months. It was not enough, though, and we must accept the lessons this experience has offered us.
However - there is no defeat when morality & justice are on your side.
I was reminded on St Patrick’s day that the Irish fight for independence lasted decades. It was one uprising after another. Thousands of people who laid down their lives for a cause they knew in their bones was just. I think of those at the beginning of the fight, who endured heavy losses of life and morally crushing defeats. They persisted. They may have doubted, but their doubt was quelled by the understanding that there is no alternative. The alternative is a lifetime of subjugation. The fight continued then, as it does now.
We will take some time to rest and recover but then, we begin to build.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to everyone that was a part of this for everything you have given to the cause.
- Joey
