Dear Friends:
I thank you again and again from the bottom of my heart for supporting me during my campaign to be elected a Common Pleas Court Judge. Allegheny County is enormous, as was the task of getting my name and my message to the particular voters who appeared at the polls on Tuesday. So many of you worked in overdrive, some for months, right up to the moment the last votes were cast Tuesday at 8 p.m.
The official tally was heartbreaking. But the campaign, unfolding over many months and reaching so many, was also heart opening for me. Let me tell you why.
This was a true grassroots campaign that gained traction, and had a real shot at success, due to the hard work of a diverse corps of volunteers. Dozens of people opened their homes to introduce me to their friends and neighbors. Volunteers crafted thousands of e-mails and hundreds of letters extolling my candidacy. People phone-banked, canvassed, licked and sticked. Volunteers drove, delivered, fed and hammered. Our early efforts redoubled when I received strong endorsements from the Post-Gazette ("dignity, impartiality and ethics") and the Trib ("What more could you want in a Judge?").
On Election Day, more than 200 trained and tee shirt-wearing McGough for Judge volunteers delivered the message to voters at polls across Allegheny County. When the voting was done, many of the poll workers, including me, descended on Campaign Headquarters in Shadyside. We were sunburned, exhilarated and exhausted. Some arrived waving unofficial precinct tallies that put Hugh McGough solidly in the "winner's circle." It was a glorious spring evening with food, drink and fellowship. Everything seemed possible.
With 20% of the vote counted across Allegheny County, Sam Hens-Greco, my friend and campaign manager, was optimistic. Thirty minutes later, he pulled me aside to say, "It's not going to happen."
Under the evening sky, Sam told the supporters the bad news. I got to deliver the good news.
The good news is that we can be proud of this campaign. It brought together a wide cross-section of people who might not routinely mix. We built a coalition that included labor, progressives, the LGTB community, traditional Democrats and a number of Republicans and independents. It was a beautiful team that will continue to inspire me, and will be a resource for me, in my work as a lawyer and as an advocate.
I thank you for standing with me, and have high hopes that even better things are in store.
With respect and warmest regards,
Hugh
