All language subtitles for Surge.2020.1080p.WEB-DL.x265-NTG-English

marching band music

- To this
day, our normative leader

in the United States
is a white man.

It's what we understand
until very recently,

a Governor looks like a Senator,

looks like a
Representative looks like.

That's what we understand.

The President looks like.

That's what our
history has taught us.

It's what we read in the books.

Those who are not
white or not male

or both,
not white and not male,

are presumed in some
way to be marginal

to that fully human,
fully realized,

fully comprehensible citizen,
that is the white male.

- For too
long, the history of women

has been a history of silence.

- Something we
do in the United States

is we like to tell ourselves
that our inequalities

are things of the past.

We fixed them.

- For all practical
purposes, you think a woman

in the United States
today, actually being

nominated as President.

- I stand before you
today, as a candidate

for the Democratic
nomination for the Presidency

of the United States of America.

- This process
of diversifying leadership,

of getting somewhere
closer to actual

representative democracy,
isn't gonna be fixed quickly.

- And we've heard it before.

This is the year of the
woman in American politics.

- We see
these fits and starts.

- It took 150 years
after the signing

to win the right to vote.
Independence for women

- And 51 votes for
the next President

of the United States of America,

Hillary Rodham Clinton!

- Even though we'd
never had a major party

female nominee for
the Presidency before,

we assumed that
she was gonna win.

He is obviously

never going to be President.

- How could this
person possibly win?

- Trump is
headed for a historic defeat.

- We'll win in November.

We'll elect Hillary
Clinton the next

President of the United States.

- We have
lost a sense of why

this was an improbable victory.

- There's something
about her I just don't like.

- I could stand in the
middle of Fifth Avenue

and shoot somebody, and I
wouldn't lose any voters, okay?

With the race now

in the voters' hands, a top
Clinton campaign official

telling me this morning
they feel confident

about the race they've run
and a chance to make history.

- We have a major
projection right now.

Donald Trump will take Ohio.

Donald Trump, vastly

over-performing expectations.

- Let me tell you this.

It is Florida, Florida, Florida.

Florida is the entire

ball game for Donald Trump.

- The
scene here is so different

than it was a few hours ago.

- We have now confirmed that
Secretary Clinton has conceded.

You're awake, by the way.

This is your life now,
this is our election now.

This is us, this is our country.

lively classical music

- I think a
lot of people realize

how fragile democracy is.

- My
body my choice!

- For so many of us
it was the real belief

that rights could be taken away.

- It was the
biggest single day

political protest in
this country's history.

- After that
extraordinary outcry,

a lot of people felt
like that was a moment,

and then we were all
gonna forget about it.

- When you hear it
written off by so many

officially important
people as just having

fundamentally been some
party about pussy hats,

it's still very
tempting to believe

an overarching
narrative that says,

"Oh, but what are
they gonna do really?"

- Right after the
November election,

and really right after
the Global Women's March,

we started getting an
inordinate number of calls.

- We woke up the next
day to tons of emails,

tons of phone calls, women
from all walks of life

saying, "If not
Hillary, then who?

"Then me, it has to be me."

- It's the right race,
it's the right time,

and I'm the right candidate.

Seeing a surge of women

candidates across the country.

- What's
behind the surge of women?

- I see women
waking up like I've

never seen them awakened before.

- Women who had taken
for granted that

their interests were covered.

- We cannot have a government
for and by the people,

if it is not represented
by all of the people.

- If we want to live
in this country,

we have to fight
for it every day.

Put ourselves on the line,
put ourselves out there,

and become those
elected officials.

I wanna thank you all

for coming out here.

I want to thank Indivisible
DFW for putting on this rally

and giving us the
opportunity to, most of us

for the first time, to come
up, and as we run for office,

introduce ourselves and throw
ourselves into the fray.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

- We're gonna keep
the sneak peeks going.

We have Jana Sanchez, a
Congressional candidate

for the Sixth District.

- I guess we're
the true patriots,

willing to stand in
this weather today

to work for democracy.

Thank you for coming out.

Many of us have
been living in fear

and anxiety since November 8th.

Many of us are worried
about what could happen

to our friends and family
who could be swept up

in the anti-immigrant hysteria

that's sweeping the country.

Nonetheless, I'm here
today to say one thing.

Do not be afraid.

If there's ever been
a time in the history

of our country that
we need to be brave

in the pursuit of
democracy, now is that time.

Do not be afraid.

- I was so devastated by
the election results

and so worried
about our country.

I didn't sleep on November 8th,

but I sure as hell woke
up on November 9th.

Hi, this is Jana Lynne Sanchez.

I'm running for U.S.
Congress to South Dallas.

I felt I had to do something.

I felt I could do something.

I just had to run,
I had to do it.

I'm running in a district
that no one believes,

almost no one
believes is winnable.

We're gonna have a lot of
battles over immigration,

over guns and over healthcare.

There will be a lot of
Republican money coming in.

This district is not
a Republican area,

it's just a non-voting area.

We're cynical.

We don't believe that
anyone's gonna do anything.

So we stay home.

There are 264,000 possible
Democrats in this district.

They're registered to vote.

They've never been contacted.

Are you not a voter?

What has to happen is
you have to engage them.

I'm running because
I'm very concerned

about the future of our country,

about the state of democracy.

I'm running because my
grandfather was an immigrant.

I'm running because we
can do so much better.

And I'm running because
I think I can win.

- Hey guys, it's Lauren.

I'm out canvassing
for signatures

so that I can get on the ballot.

We have members
of Team Underwood

at the Sycamore parade today
and at other neighborhoods

across our great 14th District.

For some groups of people,
their idea in their mind

of a member of Congress is not

someone in her early thirties.

Hi guys, it's Lauren.

I'm here in King County
collecting signatures

to get on the ballot.

When the 2016 election
happened, I was faced

with this America on
TV that didn't look

anything like what I knew.

- This is
what democracy looks like!

- We deserve better,
particularly in the face

of this craziness coming
out of the White House.

Hi, I'm Lauren Underwood.

- Hi.

- We have the most
signatures to get on the ballot.

2,080 is what we submitted
on the first day.

That was enough to
like blow our minds.

- I think my parents are
stunned and surprised

and excited and overwhelmed.

It's one thing to
encourage your children

to step forward and to serve.

It's another thing
for a whole community

to rally behind them.

Thanks everybody.

Yeah, we did it!

We are on the verge of
a generational shift.

So many of our congressional
leaders are 65 plus.

I'm 31.

I think it's great.

It also lets us, you know,
run a race authentically.

So I say that we keep
it real here and we do.

Hi, are you Noah?

- Yes, I am.

- Hi, I'm Lauren Underwood.

- Oh, hi.

- It's so
good to see you.

I'm running for Congress
in this community.

- Oh, absolutely,
yeah I know about you.

- Here's
some info. Okay, thank you.

- Thank you.

- No one invited
us to this table.

No one invited us.

And I think that's
also what makes it

so powerful is
building something.

- Seven days in a week.

I am running for Congress
all day, every day,

during those seven days.

I've missed so many birthdays,

you know, major life events.

I've never missed
a wedding ever.

And I've just missed two
back to back this month.

I've given up
everything to do this.

Each day, there's probably two
meals that I eat in the car.

If I don't have
an hour that week,

my hair is not fabulous, right?

Reality.

This dress is machine washable.

That is why I have it on
today, because I could

put it in the washer
and the dryer.

Oh my god, right?

And that's just real life.

My car makes little noises now.

It has its own Lauren
Underwood for Congress

growing pains.

The barriers to running
are so significant

that sometimes you
have to just be real.

We're so focused on having
this facade of perfection.

We are chasing towards
the wrong thing.

Being perfect every day would
make me lose this campaign.

- I don't really like
bringing my family into it.

Hi, Lila!

'Cause you know, not
everybody is kind.

Are you practicing
what you're gonna say?

- So much of this is
about human connection,

showing that you're
real and that you care.

This is my daughter Lila.

- Hi Lila.

- She wanted to come
out door knocking.

Did you wanna
shake Harry's hand?

- Hi.

Okay, good luck.

- Okay thank you,
I appreciate it.

Okay, come on Lila.
- Okay, all right then.

- Okay, have a good night.

You know, it's interesting.

I think that even people
who have a hard time

picturing women in
office, when you say,

"What would you want
for your daughter?

"What would you want
for your granddaughter?"

They'll say, "I want
her to have the same

"opportunities
that any guy has."

You know, they don't
wanna think about anybody

shortchanging their
daughter or granddaughter.

And it's a way to
talk to people.

You know, again, it's just
make it personal, you know.

My idea of a town hall,
and I think what all of us

think a town hall is, is an
opportunity for the public

to come in and engage
with their representative.

I think we deserve that.

- Yeah.

- I got activated, I think
in trying not to have

the outcome of this

presidential
election that we got.

I started out my legal
career representing

working people
who are threatened

with losing their benefits.

There is a level of
neglect that is built

into our treatment
of poor people

that is simply brutal
and outrageous.

We've seen, you know,
what it looks like

when somebody attacks the
rights that we thought

were well-established.

And it's not just
women's rights.

It's all civil rights
that are under attack.

I'm the candidate
to flip the seat

because I am the
person who goes into

pancake breakfasts and
asks people, you know,

"Tell me what's going
on in your life."

- It's nice to meet you.

- And what I hear
is that people have

a lot of struggles
that have to do with

not having good-paying jobs.

That have to do with
people whose kids

have ended up
addicted to opioids.

I hear about people
who are really,

really frustrated
with a Washington

they feel has turned
its back on them.

We can make sure that
every single one of us

in the richest nation on
earth has enough to thrive.

If your representative
won't show up

and meet with you, I
will, I will show up.

Those are things that
I have fought for,

and those are fights
that I have led.

And people want a leader
and they want someone

who's gonna fight for them,

and they want someone
who knows how.

And I'm that person.

- Do you
ever have any doubts?

- No.

- What
are the challenges

that women face
running for office?

I mean, I--

- How much time do we have?

- If you
have a main challenge.

- Well, the main
challenges, just by virtue

of being female,
is that you think

you're gonna be treated fairly.

You're not.

Thanks so much NPR.

Like what?

"Underwood is in good company.

"This year's unprecedented
crop of women

"running for office
includes a glut of women

"running in races
that, to put it mildly,

"will be a challenge for
them to win in November."

Like I would've never
just done this interview.

You know?

And then, "For now
Underwood has other things

"on her mind in the long game.

"She faces off against
six other candidates,

"all of them men, for the
Democratic nomination.

"She knows she's a strong
candidate having out-raised

"all of her opponents combined,

"but she does know
that if she wins

"she'll have a much
tougher race to run.

"We're gonna need
to raise $2 million

"in the general, she says.

"This will be a challenge.

"We're rising to
that challenge."

Fine, I'm okay with that.

- Here for CPAC
Chicago, Illinois Representative

Randy Hultgren is here with us.

Good to see you, sir.

- Good to see you,
Cameron, thank you.

- Illinois 14, tell us about it.

- Yeah, just west of Chicago.

Starts in the
western suburbs goes

straight west across to Iowa.

Great district, very diverse.

- Is this the
house you grew up in?

- Yeah, this is home.

The community is diverse.

There's a lot of
southeast Asian, Indian

and Pakistani people in
this part of Naperville.

When I was growing up, I was not

the only black
person in my class.

So that was a good
formative experience,

yet I never had a black teacher.

We're gonna turn
in to the right.

It's interesting.

It's diverse, but it's not
like capital D diverse.

It's just not.

- It's been 120 days
since Trump took office

and 32 years since Joe
Barton's been in office.

I'm dreaming of a world where
I can sleep through the night.

- People like me don't deny
that the climate is changing.

I would point out that if
you're a believer in the Bible,

one would have to
say the great flood

is an example of climate change.

- Hi, my name is Elizabeth
and I'm volunteering

with the Jana Lynne
Sanchez campaign.

For the first time
in three decades,

a Democrat can fight toe
to toe with a Republican

in our district, District Six.

I'm really excited about
the possibility of Jana

representing us in Washington.

Thank you.

- I never thought I
would run for office,

but I saw that I
knew how to do it.

We're running the most
comprehensive campaign

in this district for 30 years.

Nobody else has
walked as many blocks

as we're walking and
we're gonna do six pieces

of mail for a lot
of our audiences.

Two rounds of phone calls.

From everything I hear,
that's never happened before,

so this will be a first.

Voters are going to get
sick of hearing from us

probably by the time
election day comes.

Oh, hi.

Good, how are you?

I mean, we all know
Republicans vote in Texas

and Democrats don't.

I mean, that's why
we are where we are.

And you know, that hopefully
is changing

at least a little bit
this year.

All right, I hope
you'll think about it.

It's your duty to vote.

It's your patriotic duty.

- All right.

- Thank you.

- You're welcome.
- All right, bye bye.

Nobody enjoys campaigning.

There's two, I'm going
to four down here.

Hey Drew, did you get 2317?

We're done with the street then.

- Yep.
- Where are we going to now?

- One street
left, Taurus.

- Taurus.

It's a personal beating
every single day.

It is an absolute beating,
but we still have to do it.

We have to do it,
we have to be there.

We have to be the
agent of change.

You know, in my
district no Democrat has

even run a competitive
race here for 33 years.

It will be a miracle if
we win on some level.

- Right
now at five o'clock,

some political experts
believe a north Texas

Congressional District
may now be up for grabs.

Long time Republican
Congressman Joe Barton

apologizing today after
a nude photo of himself

has been making the
rounds on the internet.

- A spokeswoman for Congress
and Joe Barton insists

he is not stepping down.

He has been in office
since 1985 and he has

already filed to
run for reelection.

It is still unclear who
posted the nude photo

of Barton on the internet.

- You need to get the
bottle of bleach out

before you look at it,
'cause you're gonna

need to pour in your eyes, yes.

You can
never unsee it.

My take on this has been
that if you like Barton,

you see him as a victim.

And that's one of the
reasons you'll notice

in all of my statements, in
all of my media commentary,

I have not criticized him.

However, I have noticed
an extremely distinctive

change in attitude
in the district.

Now we're getting
real contributions.

People don't understand
that this district is,

it was always winnable, but
it's now extremely winnable.

Either I'm gonna be
running in an open seat

or I'm gonna be running
against an incumbent

with a gaping hole in his head.

- Oh my god,
here's my little buddy.

I'm so excited!

- We took in the Liz
for Indiana frame.

- Can we get our, wait,
my pictures of dogs

are my favorite.

A campaign isn't one person
who gets up and goes,

I'm gonna run for Congress.

- This will be good
for our promotion.

- This is a
really good picture.

You have these people who
are just kind of a godsend,

you know, who just have your
back a million times over.

- Okay ready, three, two, one.

- So hi, I'm Liz Watson
running for Congress

in the 9th District,
and who are you?

- I'm the candidate's mom.

- We've been working
hard for Liz.

- Gave her our firstborn,
he's working too.

- Yes, our son is
working full-time.

- I should say lent
our firstborn, so yeah.

- Since June, he's working
full-time for her.

- This is the first
big election since 2016.

And you know, it's
really important

what our country says
in this election.

- The Republican party's
working to suppress

the vote, actively and openly.

And so that, I think,
is the big picture

that we're working against.

You know how hard it is we
make it for people to vote.

Since the 2016 election,

nine states with Republican
state legislatures

have passed laws
restricting the vote.

- Indiana has the
shortest voting hours

in the country.

There's only 12 hours,
6:00 a.m. to 6 p.m.

- It closes 6:00 p.m.

You know, so people who
want to come after work,

you know, that's ridiculous.

There's no good reason
to end at 6:00 p.m.

- At this point, I'd like
othto welcome to the floorer.

another freshmen of ours
from Indiana, and yield

one minute to Mr.
Hollingsworth from Indiana.

- Mr. Speaker, as a small
business owner myself,

I understand how difficult it is

to build a business
in today's economy.

- It's the time
for her and for us.

We have a one term
Congressman who won't

even appear publicly, literally,

to answer questions
or talk to people.

Maybe that's part of
the goal is to just try

to get people not
to pay attention.

- The worst thing
is to have people

not contesting these races.

When you don't contest
races, you know,

you start to lose people
from the Democratic party.

And I've seen that here.

How was your day?

- Um, pretty good.

I worked on some speechy stuff,

Learned about writing
speeches.

- But you know, we've known
each other for 16 years.

So we share a brain sometimes.

saxaphone music

- You gotta get Arturo in there.

I'm an unlikely candidate.

There are a lot of things
wrong with my pedigree.

I love this.

I always say it's
the only fun part

about running for
office is parades.

- Sí, se puede!

I think the best thing
that I didn't expect

was the support I've had
from other women candidates.

I'm in a group of
28 women candidates

and we provide a support
network for each other.

And that's been amazing.

That's been an
amazing experience.

These women are so
bright and so supportive.

Oh my god!

I have said it and
I will say it again.

I don't believe men should
be running in this time.

No, I'm really honest.

I think if there's
a qualified woman

in the primary, I don't
believe men should be running.

- I think we are gonna
absolutely surprise people.

- Blue wave.

- I really do.

- I'm licensed
as a nurse.

I decided to become
a nurse after having

an early diagnosis
with a heart condition

after third grade.

And so I actually consider
running for Congress

to be an extension of my
nursing practice, right?

I am fighting for
our community to have

the healthcare coverage
that we need, that we need.

Good evening everybody,
good evening.

I am overjoyed and delighted
to be here with you.

Standing room only in Woodstock.

And they say there's no
Democrats in McHenry County.

Give me a break.

37,000 people in the
Illinois 14 have healthcare

coverage thanks to the
Affordable Care Act.

Randy Hultgren and the
Congressional Republicans

are dead set on taking
away healthcare,

eliminating all the
protections that allow

so many of us with
preexisting conditions

to be able to have
affordable coverage.

I'm a nurse and I'm also someone

that has the
preexisting condition.

So when folks make
promises in that area,

it's personal to me.

Randy Hultgren broke
his word, and I

couldn't stand by
and let that happen.

I knew I needed to run
for Congress against him.

Because this chaos and confusion

isn't working for us, is it?

- No.
- No.

Together, together, we will
be able to flip the 14.

Thank you all.

As a nurse, we were
trained to walk into

a patient's room to build
that level of trust.

And it's the same thing.

Hi, how are you?

I introduce myself on
the campaign trail.

I say who I am, and I
wanna know about your life.

We're gonna do it.

- We are, we're gonna do it.

- We have to.

Hi, nice to see you, Jay.

Hi Mary, how's it going?

Good, thank you
for coming tonight.

- Glad we could make it.

- Thank you for being here.

- Good luck.

- We're gonna do it.

We have to do it.

Thank you so much.
- We will get our ballots.

Okay, great, thanks.

- See ya.
- Bye.

- It's
in your text messages.

They're holding a parking spot

for you in the front.

- I think that
our country would be

a far different place
if we had more nurses

and teachers, police
officers, right?

More regular people
involved in our government.

- If somebody had
told me four years ago

I'd be running
for U.S. Congress,

I would have told them
they were on drugs.

- They're
calling this a pink wave.

Do you see Texas turning blue?

- Texas would not be the
first state you would

point to to think that
Democrats would swing it.

But what you do see is the
Democrats contesting places

where they haven't
normally even tried.

- I'm feeling nervous.

I'm feeling good.

We've accomplished
something really phenomenal

by being here where we are.

- Have you been
able to make it out

to the polls today to
vote for Miss Watson?

- I'm just calling to remind you

that today is primary
day, and if you

haven't voted for Liz.

- Please remember
to do so today,.

- The polling stops
at 6:00 p.m. tonight.

- Nice to meet you.

- Nice to meet you.

You think I'll have your vote?

- Absolutely.
- Thank you!

It takes a lot of hard work
and it's building a movement.

Something that's built to last.

It's going good today.

Nice to see you, too.

- I voted for you.

- Oh, I really appreciate that.

Thank you so much.

- Yeah, I saw you at
the forum at Wittenberg

and I really liked
what you had to say.

- Thanks!

- You had like a bulldog spirit.

- I do.

- You were gonna grab
on and you weren't

gonna let it go.
- I don't let up.

I hope you told lots
of your friends.

- Yes I did.

- Okay, good job,
much appreciated.

I'm really different
from a lot of candidates.

I'm a labor candidate,
but because I'm a woman,

sometimes that gets obscured.

Hi, Liz Watson
Democrat for Congress.

It's a double-edged
sword to talk a lot

about being a woman
in this district,

because I will lose
five to 10% of votes

over this issue, I guarantee it.

It's very frustrating.

- The polls are closed.

Get outta here.

- What am I talking
about, Brian?

Is it just absentee
plus early vote, or...

For my daughter, I think
it's important for her

to see that women
can run and hopefully

she'll see that women can win.

- Did we tell you yet that
she's running for Congress?

- We need a woman
in this world, girl!

- Thank you.
- Yes!

Are you gonna vote today?

- I did.
- You did?

- Right
before we got here.

- At every place,
there was one person

who knew who I was
when I walked in,

which is pretty awesome.

- I saw you on my Facebook.

- Definitely on Facebook.

We were talking to the
digital ad people last night.

We were like, yeah,
we're trying to spend

the whole budget
that you gave us.

We were like bumping against
Facebook's spamming limits.

They think that we're spamming
people, we're like, okay.

- This has been like
weeks of anxiety dreams,

animals chasing me,
running to catch a plane.

The train has left the station.

I'm like, wait!

Right, like all of that.

And then last night I was out.

So maybe I'll get
nervous later on today,

but I don't think so.

I'm feeling--
- Your body's telling you,

look you've done the work.

- We've done it.

- You know, I think
back to November 2016,

which I just still think
couldn't even think

about at that time,
but it comes down to,

this is about not only
daughter, but also my son.

- Mm-hmm.

- I am so excited.

This is the oddest feeling,
but just, we did it.

I saved my position for
last to fill in the bubbles.

I made sure I did
everything else.

And then I took a deep breath
and filled in my own name.

I feel really good.

Thank you.
- Yep.

- Bye!

- 'Kay, see you later.

- I think Katie
is getting me a pen.

- Maybe I'll put this
back here.

- I'm so thrilled to be
the Democratic nominee

for Congress from our district.

This might not happen.

We all know this, but you
just have to get ready.

We did this together.

Thank you.

Uh, what am I doing right now?

Okay.

It's so wonderful that
we had so many Democrats

running strong,
robust campaigns.

It shows that we have the
strength to come together,

come together and
beat Trey in November.

No, I can't drink before I talk.

It's always a bad idea.

I've learned that.

- It only happened
once.

- No, I've done it
on three occasions

and every single time
it did not work out.

- You know you did
a lot of the work

that's gonna make this
possible in November.

So I mean all credit
to you and thank you.

I think you and I stand
for the same thing.

We're just in this
for the right reasons

and all right, yeah.

Thanks Dan.

Okay, thanks for calling.

Okay, bye bye.

So are we?

- Yeah, I'm gonna have
more for you later, but--

- So am I gonna, I'm gonna okay.

- Yeah, yeah.

- Liz,
Liz, Liz, Liz, Liz, Liz!

- I am so thrilled and
honored to be the Democratic

nominee to take on
Trey Hollingsworth.

I know I just
introduced my family,

but you know, I really,
Craig, I gotta hand it to you.

You believed and
you got behind me,

I mean, a thousand percent.

But I want to be really
clear about the fact

that we all did this together.

It's because of each
and every one of you

who are here in this room,
who knocked on doors.

And I know a lot of people
are probably thinking

finally, I get to sit down.

There is a crew
of people here who

I don't think slept last night.

Thank you, thank you
for what you did.

So this is a really
exciting moment.

And it's a really
important moment,

because everything we care about

right now is at stake.

Everything is on the line.

- Lauren,
Lauren, Lauren, Lauren!

Lauren, Lauren, Lauren, Lauren!

Thank you.

- We earned every single
vote we got tonight.

We did not need name
ID in order to win.

We won one vote at a time.

We are releasing a
press release as well.

What is your deadline?

- Everybody, can I
have your attention?

Just real quick!

Jana would like to
say a few words.

- We started from nowhere.

We had zero name ID.

We just had an
idea, which is that

Democrats could
win this district.

- Absolutely.
- Yeah!

- And we have proved tonight

that we are on our way.

A lady on Facebook
messaged me and said,

"I'm gonna make you a sash."

I think it's like this.

And I love it, but
I've never worn it

because I feel a little bit like

I'm pretending to be a
beauty pageant contestant.

I don't, votes for.

Maybe it should say
vote for Jana Lynne?

But it says votes
for Jana Lynne.

I'm gonna wear it tonight.

So I'm gonna wear it tonight

for the victory party
or the watch party

as we're calling it.

I hope
it's a victory party.

- How many more
hours until the polls close?

- Uh, what time is
it now, it's 4:30?

So, um two and a half.

I'm feeling nervous.

I have no idea how
it's gonna go tonight.

I think it's gonna be close.

Data is really helpful.

The more data I have,
the more I calm down.

I just always want to
know how we're doing

based on empirical evidence.

- I'm Shelly Poplar from the
"Fort Worth Star Telegram."

The polls have been closed
now for a little over an hour.

And in Congressional
District Six,

this is Joe Barton's
seat, Jana Lynne Sanchez

has taken an early lead.

Let's look at the numbers here.

I know they're fluid.

- So far, we're
four points ahead.

It's 52 to 48.

We were expecting to be
a bit behind right now,

but it's only about 250 votes.

So we can't get too excited.

So we could still lose.

That could still happen.

I feel good.

I feel really relieved
and optimistic.

- The last
time you were here.

- And how many Tarrant
County precincts was that?

- That was 50.

- 50 out of a 100.
- 50?

- We got 182, yeah.

- I'm winning.

- We've already
counted most of the--

- They called it!
- They called it!

- We won!

We won!

- Female candidates for office

are featured on
"Time's" latest cover.

The magazine calls
them the Avengers.

Joining me now is
Lauren Underwood.

She's running for a
congressional seat in Illinois

against Republican
incumbent, Randy Hultgren.

So Lauren, I have to ask,
what made you want to run?

- In our district, we
have 37,000 people who currently

are insured through the
Obamacare marketplaces.

And so they're looking
for some stability,

but also to make sure
that it's affordable

for middle-class families.

- In politics now, you
can tell it's an election

that's tight as can be
because the allegations

are heating up in the 14th
Congressional District.

Congressman Randy Hultgren
is facing a stiff challenge

from political newcomer,
Lauren Underwood.

- Our district, the
Illinois 14th, has not had

a competitive Congressional
race in 10 years.

My opponent has not had a
primary challenger ever.

- There's been so
much about healthcare.

Where do you stand on
preexisting conditions?

Because that seems to be--

- Yeah, somehow
is must have been

like a nationwide
poll that they did

and they picked this out,
'cause it's just not true.

- We have special
interest dollars that are

getting ready to flood in that
want to drown out my voice.

They are so threatened
by my candidacy.

The battleground,
if you will,

is in suburban Midwestern
districts like mine.

- We are in a red, red,
red part of Illinois.

Yeah, this is not an
area that Democrats

have usually thought
we could play in.

And yet here is this

fantastic African American

vibrant young
leader, who's I think

caught the imagination
of everybody up here,

- Such an opportunity.

We've had tens of
thousands of people

invest in this race and
say, "I have your back."

Hi everyone, it's
Lauren Underwood.

I'm so thrilled to be
here with my friend,

Mayor Pete from
South Bend, Indiana.

We're here to talk early voting.

I'm here on our 100th
day until the election.

So excited about this
group, this team.

We know that we're
gonna be victorious

come November 6th.

We can win but we're
not winning yet.

We can't shirk away,
we've gotta dig in.

- For our Democracy
2018 coverage

focused on bringing
you all of Indiana's

most pivotal races in the
upcoming midterm election.

Today we travel to the 9th
Congressional District.

Incumbent Republican
Trey Hollingsworth

is being challenged by
Democrat, Liz Watson.

- Watson is
from Bloomington where she

resides with her husband
and two children.

- What's
it been like, Lila,

to see your mom running
for this office?

- Well, at first I
was like, oh my god,

like I have never done
anything so brave before.

And the day that we won the
primary, I was like,

oh my god, we could
actually win this.

- Lila tells it like it is.

- What's
been hard about this year,

having your mom run?

- It's mostly that I always
have something on my mind.

Oh my god, what if
we don't win this?

Or--

- I mean, we wanna win.

But we we talked
about that, we said

we'd made peace
with every outcome

before we started
running, right?

- Yep.
- Yeah.

And that it's gonna
be important that we

ran a campaign that was
based on actually trying

to fight for people, right?

- Mm-hmm.

- Yeah, so whatever happens
we've done a pretty good thing.

So we've elected a Congress
full of millionaires

who have no idea
what real people face

and no idea how
hard people work,

and how close to the edge so
many people here are living.

- Yeah.

I think that one of
the reasons that I've

kind of taken to being able
to run a strong campaign

is that I can have this
really singular focus.

You know, when you sort
of go 150 miles an hour

for a year and that's
just what it takes.

I mean, I had no idea
about the fundraising.

It is nuts.

I mean, we've raised over
$2 million in this campaign.

Like how does one do that?

The hard part about that, right,

is my opponent has a
$58 million net worth.

I do not.

In a district where
your opponent spent

$4 1/2 million putting
his name out there

in paid advertising to win
the seat the first time.

Getting out there so
that people know who I am

is really important.

I mean, we all wish
we could run campaigns

without money, but you can't.

So I've had to spend a
stupid amount of time

raising money, I mean, just
a stupid amount of time.

You know, we have a system
where someone like me,

that isn't gonna take
corporate PAC money,

and doesn't have their
own fat bank account,

is just gonna be on
the phone all the time,

you know, trying to raise money.

So when you go up against
somebody that doesn't

have to spend any
time raising money,

it's just an unequal
playing field.

He has been running
digital attack ads.

He's found all my bad hair days.

I have so many to choose from,

so many bad hair days.

And then he kind of
paints my hair blue.

It's
very interesting.

- Liberal
lobbyist, Liz Watson,

spent a decade in Washington.

She'd raise taxes,
open our borders,

take over your healthcare.

She won't fix the problem.

Liberal lobbyist
Liz is the problem.

- I'm Trey Hollingsworth
and I approve this message.

- Liberal Liz thinks people
should have healthcare.

All the things that
are in every campaign,

the name calling and the
lying and the whatever,

it's all fear-mongering,
I mean, you know.

I really appreciate it.

- Yeah, I hope you--

- It's all based on fear.

You just have to
stay on your message

and just don't give
it any airtime.

Just stay on your message.

orchestral string music

- I'm so happy to be
back here in my hometown

and particularly
happy to be surrounded

by so many amazing, active,

powerful Democratic women.

So you know we've all heard,
we've been hearing it,

this is the year of the woman.

How many of y'all
have heard that?

You watched us on
the Women's March.

They've taken note of
the fact that we have

more women running
than ever before.

But sometimes I worry
about those labels,

the year of the woman.

Because I want this to
be more than a year.

I want this to be
the beginning of us

making sure that we are
no longer on the menu

because we are at the table.

It's with great pride
and pleasure that I

introduce to you, our Texas
Congressional candidates.

With us today, Jana
Lynne Sanchez running

in Congressional District Six.

- Hi, how are you doing?

- I'm doing well,
I'm doing well.

- Oh, good to see you.

Are you out walking?

Are you knocking
on doors, oh yeah.

- Love your emails.

- Thank you.

Thank you.

I think people thought
we were in the way,

but we're in the
way wherever we are.

- I's not the first time
we've stopped traffic.

- Okay, can we find
a place to sit down?

'Cause my feet are killing me.
- Absolutely.

- My girls would
be so disappointed.

They were so excited when
they saw I wore a suit today.

- You can go back.

You can go back,
just taking a break.

- Am I nervous?

Not right now.

- Have
you been nervous

throughout the campaign?

- I've been nervous for sure.

Debates?

The first debate
I did with Randy,

well the first forum
editorial board meeting

at the "Chicago
Tribune," I could barely

string together a
coherent sentence.

I'm serious.

I don't know what
came over my body.

- All right,
Mr. Hultgren, what's an issue

that you agree with
your opponent on?

- Well, I think we
agree, for example,

on the threat that Russia poses.

And it also means that we
need to make sure that,

just as citizens ourselves,
consumers of information,

we need to not only vote,
not only participate,

but make sure that we're
getting information

from a lot of different sources.

All of those things
are important

to make our
elections meaningful.

There could be nothing
more important than that.

- I'm very concerned
with the threat

that foreign
interference will play

in our upcoming
midterm election.

We know that in 2018,
candidates have already

experienced foreign
hacking and infiltration

of their internal
campaign systems, and so--

- Is your campaign one of those?

- My campaign is
not one of those.

- We do agree there is
nothing more important

and nothing more sacred.

Let's just make
sure that we do it

in a measured way
and make sure that we

do it in a prudent way.

- We have children in
cages at the border.

We need to investigate that.

If we are going to be serious
about healthcare reform,

we need to bring in the voices

of patients and families.

If we have, like we
saw earlier this year,

every other day a mass
shooting in this country,

we need to put
forward common sense

gun reform solutions
that would allow

for the safety and security
of our communities.

This Congress has been
unwilling to do that

and has been unwilling
to offer that much needed

check and balance
over President Trump.

This is high stakes.

We are literally one
of the must win seats.

This is a tier one race.

Doesn't get more competitive
than what we're doing now.

- We're honored to
be joined tonight

by Congressman Randy Hultgren.

Come on up.

- Thank you, Mr. President.

God bless you all.

This is amazing.

We need your vote.

My name is Randy Hultgren.

I represent the
northern suburbs.

We've got a tough
battle running against

a very liberal who
absolutely is dying

to support Nancy
Pelosi for Speaker.

We've gotta stop that.

We gotta hold the House.

We gotta continue to fight
for this great country.

God bless you all.

Get out and vote, vote early.

Thank you.

- I have 49 days
to what feels like

take down an institution.

- Now Indiana, I
heard a rumor that I

don't wanna believe is true.

But I heard you guys ranked 50th

when it comes to voting.

So we gotta change that, and
that change starts today.

- In case you haven't noticed,

there are a lot of
people here today.

And we are here for the
very important purpose

of electing Liz Watson as
the next Congressperson

from this district.

Thank you all.

Okay, kid, all yours.

- The election in just
a couple of short weeks

on November 6th is
the most important

election of our lifetime.

Let's get to work.

Let's take our place
in history, let's vote.

Thank you.

- My name is Joe Biden.

And I'm here for
my friend, Lauren.

When we listened
to Lauren speak.

I was of reminded
a couple things.

We have more women running
for high public office

in any time in American history.

- We deserve a
representative who will be

transparent and really listen.

And Randy Hultgren does
not do that for us.

Now, now, don't boo, don't!

- 28 days out.

We have four weeks exactly
to win this election,

and we have a lot of work to do.

The fact that the
Democrat party has not

supported us is very upsetting,

because I think with even
a little bit of support

from the DCCC, we
could have raised

twice as much money
as we've raised.

But we're just plugging away.

We have so much left to do.

We've had some big breaks.

We got the endorsement of
the "Dallas Morning News."

That is the first
time in 35 years

that the paper has
endorsed a Democrat.

People start saying,
"When you win."

And I can't accept that.

I feel like you can't
assume that you're gonna

win anything, especially
in a district like this.

We just have to make it happen,
really through hard work.

- A thing that I've
always enjoyed doing,

and that I just
kinda let myself do,

is I love to talk to people
and hear their stories.

I get to talk to
people about the most

serious and sometimes crushing
things in their lives.

- Healthcare is a major,
major,

major league concern
for us.

- Okay, okay, tell
me about that.

- Especially preexisting
conditions.

- Yeah.
I'm a breast cancer survivor,

and that really worries me
that right now I'm covered,

you know, but who knows about
next year or the year after.

So that's kind of frightening.

- Every time there's
an election

somebody says it's the
most important election

of our lifetime,
but this is a time

when nobody disagrees with
you when you say that.

- This administration
that's in office right now

and the rhetoric,
there's just hate.

It's breeding this,
fueling this hate,

this underlying hate, I
guess, that's been there.

It's not doing anything
to mitigate it.

- People don't
want you to dig in

on a complicated policy answer.

They want you to dig
in on what's real.

You know.

The most important
conversations come from

those kinds of connections.

One of the things
that I worry about

is that our party
affiliation right now,

it's almost like a religion.

So regardless of whether
the person in office

is clearly ripping you off,

you're willing to
vote for that person

just because they have
an R behind their name.

Here in Indiana,
yes, we need to bring

Democrats to the polls.

But we only win if we also win

Independent and
Republican votes.

And I hope that we'll
have enough people

who see through and see
that actually, you know,

you ought to vote
for the person,

the person who's actually
gonna fight for you.

And that's what we'll
see in this election.

- A
record number of women

are running for office this
year, including nearly 500

who have their sights set
on the nation's Capitol.

- Good morning!

Okay.

- Oh, hold on.

Thank you!

gentle piano music

- Good, how are you?

Good, sorry, I
know it's raining.

Whoo!

- People that look
around their community

and see a need can take action
and do something tremendous.

My grandmother, when she was 95,

she was telling me the
story about the school house

that she went to
as a little girl,

and how that school
house was purchased by

three African American
men three years

after the end of slavery.

And I said, how could
that be, just three years

after the end of
slavery, that those men

had the resources and the
wherewithal to buy land,

build a school house
and have the gall

to put on the side
of it that they

were educating black
children there.

My grandmother stopped
me short and she said,

"Jason, those black children
didn't have a school.

"They needed a school house."

The people of that
community looked around

and they saw that need,

and they were
doers, and doers do.

So I'm so happy that
Lauren has been a spark

and that you've been the fire.

So please join me
as we're about to

take on these doors, let's
clap it up for each other,

to be those doers that are
gonna bring the change.

Okay, let's do it!

Today's the day!

- Today's the day!

Welcome to our office!

We're on an Airstream tour.

I decided that, you know,
let's take it old school,

go around the
district in a way that

brings people to us or at
least can welcome them in.

You wanna come in?

- Let's check it out.

- Yeah, check it out.

Had like big Lauren
Underwood for Congress signs,

we take pictures in
front, invite people in.

We've been going to every
County in the District

over the course of
the final three days

of get out the vote, and
having pop-up events.

- We're going to breakfast now.

- Going to breakfast.

To remind people that
the representative

is supposed to show up.

- You ready to roll?

- Ready.

- Let's do it.

acoustic guitar music

- Hi.
- Hello!

Yes!

Thank you so much.

- Next Congresswoman.

- Hi, Lauren.

I'm so happy.

- Nice to meet you!

- There I go.
- Thank you.

I love that, thank
you for your support.

Okay, we have to fist bump.

Fist bump, thank you.

- Underwood,
Underwood, Underwood.

- Okay.

- Good job, guys.
- Thank you.

- Thank you!
- Good to meet you!

- Good to meet you too.

- So Mitch, you have
to make me a promise.

- Yes.

- When you grow up
and you see something

happen in your community
and you know it's not right,

then you step up on day two.

- Yes.
- You promise?

- Yes.

- Thank you.

- Thank you, it was
very nice to meet you.

- Of course, nice to meet you.

- God, we thank you for today,

we thank you for the food.

We thank you for the
opportunity to be here.

We ask for you to
continue to watch over us

as you remind us to
serve the least of these.

You have called us for
a time such as this.

And you have called your
daughter, Lauren Underwood,

right now to serve the people.

We know that she is
ready for this moment.

So we reflect and we say,
thank you in advance.

Thank you for the opportunity.

Thank you for family,
thank you for friends.

Today shall be the
ultimate victory.

In the name of the
Father who created

the heaven, the moon,
the sun, and the stars.

In the name of the Son
that went up on Mt. Calvary

to give us chance
for life everlasting.

In the name of the Holy
Spirit, we say amen.

- Amen!

- Amen!
- Okay!

- I have all my friends
here from just life.

Not just D.C.

It's really special to
be able to share my home,

my community with people.

Thanks for coming,
how are you doing?

Very rarely do you get to
see where someone's from.

- I'm just so excited for you.

- Thank you for being
here, seriously.

- Thank you for having me here.

- Seriously, I love you so much.

- I love you.

- My friends know the
true desires of my heart,

which is to serve.

And they know that
I really care.

And they have been
literally supportive

in every way that they could
along this whole journey.

- All right, oh this
is, oh, this is good!

- They're here
because they care,

and because we're real friends

and I love them
and they love me.

- Oh, this
is the other friends!

D.C. folks.

D.C. Delegation!

- D.C. Delegation!

Whoo!

- Underwood!
Underwood!

- When you have friends
that believe in you

and what you're doing,
and will literally

do all that they can,
including non political people,

do everything that they can to
help you achieve your goals.

I mean, that's
like the best gift.

- How did
you feel after Sunday?

- Sunday was crazy.

So I walked out, you
know, we were there early.

And I heard
everybody's cheering.

- The next representatives
from Illinois,

Sean Casten and
Lauren Underwood.

- I'd never experienced
anything like it before.

You walk out and
it just hits you.

Let me just say, if you
get invited to the cookout

at the house, girl,
I will lose my mind.

ominus music

- Good girl.

Good girl, are you having fun?

Are you having fun?

Fundamentally, people
have to want change

and they have to want
to go out and vote.

Hi ladies, are
y'all voting today?

- Are ya'll voting?
- You guys voted yet?

- Have ya'll voted?

- Um, we haven't voted yet.

- What are you waiting on?

Hi, are you voting today?

Have you ladies voted?

Have y'all voted yet?

Have y'all voted yet?

- No.

- If you don't go
vote, you're letting

80 year old privileged white
men decide your future.

- Oh, okay, okay.

- Do you think they have
your interests at heart?

- No.
- No they don't.

- The turnout isn't great
today in Tarrant county.

Which is, I was hoping
for some great turnout,

so it's not looking good.

That was my consultant.

He said we've run a good
campaign and he's optimistic.

And he thinks all
those new voters

in Ellis County are my voters.

I had a text on
my way and saying,

"You're the first
Democrat I've voted for

"since Bill Clinton,
I hope you're happy."

Hi, can I ask ya'll
to vote for me please?

I'm Jana Lynne Sanchez
running for U.S. Congress.

I'd really appreciate your vote.

- Yes, I'm a Democrat.

But I also have a
lot of people who are

really right wing
Republicans who are

friends of mine and family
members who have said,

"I just couldn't vote for you

"because you're
just too liberal."

I think we'll know at seven
o'clock how likely it is.

It was always a very tough race.

People literally
thought we were insane

when we started this campaign.

I'm getting very
emotional now.

- I am a very
realistic person.

On Nate Silver it says we
have a one in four chance.

So, that means one in
four times you win,

and three in four
times you don't.

We talked about what are
the sort of hallmarks

of where you could see an upset.

And it's a great
candidate who's working

their tail off, who's
raising the money

and meeting the
voters and connecting.

And it's an incumbent
who's asleep at the wheel.

And I think we do have
those two situations here.

The only way we
take the House is if

we have some upsets
in races like mine.

- Yeah, I
gotta go inside.

We are seeing an elevated
turnout, even in early vote.

I think these are the right
conditions for an upset.

But it would be an upset, right?

And upsets are hard.

- Tell them we were
here, that we said hi,

and go back in.

- All right, good.

- Hi folks.

- So my mom called
me very upset this morning.

- Why?

- She's like, well,
'cause she saw the ad.

She's like, "What do you think?"

And I was like, "I think that
means he thinks he's losing."

- But also like,
can you fact check?

Like
just a little bit.

- Oh, I don't think
that she really is

who she says she is.

I'm gonna call a
press conference

the day before the election.

I don't wanna just
win, I wanna whup him.

- Posturing as a
practicing nurse,

when in reality that's
not what you are

or what you've done
is a real concern.

Hultgren doesn't dispute

that Underwood is
a licensed nurse.

He claims that her time
working in Washington

makes her nursing
claims disingenuous.

- It's really unfortunate
that he can't even

tun on his record,
and he wants to try

to discredit me in this way.

- Of the two candidates,
I'm the only one

who owns property in the 14th.

I've lived here, been here,

been a part of the community.

My family is here and
I'm back and forth

every single week.

We've been incredibly
accessible.

- I was so angry and I
couldn't identify why

or what it was about
it that made me mad.

And then I saw Kamara
from CBC posted

this picture.

And obviously I'm very
familiar with this photo,

and I think it's
very powerful photo.

But it just like hit me.

That is what yesterday was.

And it's painful and
difficult and unpleasant.

What they were
saying is that I am

not who I claim to be.

And it had nothing to do
with the qualifications

to be a member of Congress.

Nothing.

It is not equivalent, but
it's from the same place

as Barack Obama birther,
birth certificate stuff.

It's from the same place as,
like you are an outsider,

you don't belong here,
you couldn't possibly be

who you say you are,
because I don't believe you,

and I am an entitled,
privileged

white person.

- Have you
thought of what happens next?

- Yup, if I win, I'm
gonna get a whole lot

of phone calls tonight.

And not entirely sure I
want to answer them all.

Um,

and if I lose,

probably won't get a lot
of phone calls tonight.

It starts tonight if I win.

There's a lot of work to do.

And if I lose, we
have to begin to shut

this whole thing down.

My staff gets paid through
the end of the month.

I'm gonna have to find a job

and I'm gonna sleep a lot.

That's okay.

It's okay.

You know, I used to
carry the campaign

on my back in my
backpack every day--

- I know, but now I'm here

- Oh thanks.
- Okay.

- When it mattered,
we stepped up,

we mobilized a community.

We created space for
so much hope and joy

among people who
have been absent

from our political
endeavors for so long.

Hi.
- Hi, oh you're here!

- We did it!

Thank you, everybody so much.

Thank you so much, seriously.

Thank you, thank you.

- Lauren,
Lauren, Lauren, Lauren!

Lauren, Lauren--
- Thank you, thank you.

- Cute, rignt?

- Hi Tina.
- Hey!

- I didn't really get
to say hi yesterday.

- Oh, honey you don't
have to worry about me.

Are you kidding?
- No, seriously.

This is so huge, I really
appreciate your help.

Thank you for physically
being here, too.

- No, no, you've
got a great team.

How are you feeling?

- I'm excited.

- You look great, I
mean you look rested.

- Oh really?

I'm like ready to--
- You do!

You look like much better
than most candidates

do at this stage, so
you're looking good.

- I couldn't sleep last night.

- Yeah, I know.

- Yesterday was
just like intense.

It was like the worst
day on the campaign.

- Yeah, but that's--

- This is what they do,

at the end.
- No, this is what they do.

Well that should
tell you something,

that they're doing this.

I mean, that's really
what this is about.

- Yeah, yeah.
- You know.

They're scared because
you're doing something here.

- Yeah, what happened
to Stacy Smith?

Oh, they've got like,
oh, election machines

that don't have power cords.

So the batteries are
running out, you know?

And so there's long
lines, you know,

people are waiting for hours,

and having to leave the lines.

And the election judges
didn't show up on time.

It's all like the little
dirty tricks just to make

voting really hard today.

- Yeah, that's right.

It's awful, it's awful.

Thank you.

We're gonna do it.

Hope to make you proud.

- You already have, hon.

- Thank you, Tina.

- You already have.

inspirational music

Voting is still underway

tonight in most of
these United States

in the much-awaited
midterm elections.

But soon enough, results
will begin to come in,

as the nation has its say
about these candidates

and about the past two
years and looks ahead.

- Each time we see
more women running for office,

it expands the idea of who a
political candidate can be.

- I don't want anyone to
elect me because I'm a woman.

But we need to elect
me because I'm better.

- Democrats
think they have a shot

to win the House, polls
suggest they might.

But none of that of course,
as we pollsters stress,

is certain.

- Tarrant
County, really this

entire district is
staunchly Republican.

- Well, I'm gonna
argue about that.

The Tarrant County
part of this district,

Hillary won it by 3,000 votes.

Our projections showed
us to be pretty much

where we are tonight.

So we're just waiting now
for election day results,

which we expect to be
heavily Democratic.

- I feel like Texas and
people all over the country,

states all over the country,
we are stepping forward

in ways that say no.

I'm not going to accept
this as the status quo.

- I think that many
of those House seats

are gonna be flipped
and they're gonna be

flipped by women.

I'm feeling hopeful.

- In the last
presidential election,

so many of our young people
simply felt disconnected.

Enraged or engaged, we
are seeing the youth

in this country get in
the game and that is

democracy working.

The record number
of people voting,

that is good news.

- Among the many
numbers I've read today

the most startling
to me was that 65%

of the American people
think the country's

headed in the wrong direction.

They just don't think the
country is functioning.

People are challenging the
structure of government

and its relevance to
their lives itself.

- There was another
option to look at.

- A better option.

One that works in favor
of us, the people,

not just the upper
crust rich ones.

- Just regular old people,
just regular people.

- Hard-working folks.

- Hard-working,
that us, exactly.

- A lot has been said about
the fact that, you know,

there are very few black
people who are here,

and there are a lot
of Caucasians here,

but that's not the only
way we define commonality.

And Lauren is just like
everyone in that room

and we believe we're gonna
have good outcome tonight.

- I met Lauren at a conference

right after the 2016 election.

And at the time she
was saying like,

"Maybe I wanna run for
an office someday."

And I was like, "Maybe I wanna
work on a campaign someday."

She just had this, she
makes you believe in her.

She's got this passion and
she's got this charisma.

For a really long time,
it was just her and I

figuring it out.

And she had never run
for office before,

and I had never worked
on a campaign before.

So we really had no roadmap
for what we were doing.

It was just like, this is
what we need to accomplish,

and let's start
getting things done.

- There are just so
many city councils,

boards, commissions,
just elected positions

in this country where a
woman has never served,

where a woman of color
has never served.

I don't look at a map and
see red, blue, or purple.

All I see is opportunity.

- The
most similar election

that we had recently, we
had a 27% voter turnout.

As of about 5:00 p.m. today,

we had an over
50% voter turnout.

- It was or wasn't,
and he was and wasn't.

- Well let's hope there's
no problems, right?

- We'll go for
it, we'll take it.

- But people are
involved, so I think--

- I think this counts
as a problem, but--

- The
Justice Department will be

keeping a very close eye
on interim election voting

in multiple states tonight.

- Okay, thank you, bye.

They ran out of ballots because

our voter turnout was so high.

And they didn't anticipate
it, and so they had to

rush ballots to the polling
places and people left.

- Some of
the stuff we're reading about

now in Georgia and
elsewhere, it's just,

a modern nation
should be able to vote

with a little bit
more confidence than

what we're seeing right now.

- We don't know how
many votes it was.

I need to do well
in other counties,

but we need to blow it
out of the water here.

- Right.
- Yeah, it's critical.

Democrats must pick up

22 Republican seats.

That brings it, to get
to the magic number

of 218, become the majority.

- And this is good news
if you're a Democrat.

You're watching this
and you're thinking

they're leading in 16.

They've already picked up one.
- Yes.

- It's early yet, it's only
8:00, it would have to be--

- I'm so nervous
right now.

I'm having anxiety.

- It's okay.
- Alabama.

- Did you hear that Beto's
first numbers were awesome?

They were only from Dallas,
but they're awesome.

We must have our numbers soon.

- 60%.

- Tell
us how you're feeling.

- Well, it's very exciting.

We have been working
the polls all day today

and we saw the tremendous
turnout in Democratic areas.

I need some results.

I need to know what's happening.

It's really hard to talk,
'cause I don't think I'm up.

It's not good.

- If he
is, what does that do?

The reason I was
just about to talk--

- I need a calculation,
I need a calculation.

52 into 98.

- Once
you got outside the city

in the suburbs
they are changing.

And so it's one of the
things you're watching.

- That's what we
needed in Tarrant

and we're already
there in early voting.

That's good.

- Oh, that's awesome,
that's awesome.

Yeah, that's what
I'm looking at.

- Right now, we're getting
our asses kicked.

- We
need the map up there.

- Are you sure?

- Positive, absolutely positive.

- You got
25% of the vote still out.

By the end of the
day, a lot of votes.

What we're talking about is 75%.

- Okay, so it's
narrowing, always on.

- It's narrowing, but not much.

- Yeah.
- Okay.

- "New York Times"
still hasn't called it.

band playing

- No, but that's
too big of a gap.

I think I should probably go

make a concession
speech pretty soon.

- You feel like it's that too?

- Yep.

We're at like
eight points back.

We're not gonna make that up.

This district was
a lot more winnable

than people gave it credit for.

I think if we'd had
the resources and if

we've had support, we
probably could have won.

That's pretty incredible.

That's pretty remarkable.

And by quite a distance.

- No we, percentage-wise,
I mean we did really well.

Yeah.
- That's pretty remarkable.

- I mean, I always
knew that this

was a long shot, you know?

- Yeah.

- I wanted to help
save our country.

- Yeah, I think in a way I did.

- I think so.

somber piano music

- I'd like to welcome a
friend, a deep inspiration,

and someone that I am
proud to have known

this entire time.

Liz Watson, thank you
so much for everything

that you have done.

The posse that you have built,

and this party that
is much stronger

for your presence in this race.

Liz Watson!

Thank you.
- Thank you.

- We love you!

- Liz,
Liz, Liz, Liz, Liz!

Liz, Liz, Liz, Liz,
Liz, Liz, Liz, Liz!

Liz, Liz, Liz, Liz,
Liz, Liz, Liz, Liz!

Liz, Liz, Liz, Liz,
Liz, Liz, Liz, Liz!

- You all are such
an inspiration to me.

I am so proud of
how hard you worked.

How many doors you knocked,
how many phone calls you made.

You simply could not
have done anything more.

I could not have asked
for a better team.

Thank you so much from
the bottom of my heart.

- Our country is facing a
lot of challenges right now.

And maybe the biggest one of all

is that the people
who are in charge,

the people who call
the shots, are doing

every single thing
they can to divide us

from each other and to
make us fear each other.

We see opportunistic politicians
demonizing immigrants,

demonizing people in
the LGBTQ community,

demonizing people
so that they vote

based on fear instead of love.

It's nothing new under
the sun and it's not

what makes America great.

Diversity makes America great.

People who have no
advantages and are

striving for opportunity.

Our love, our compassion,
our generosity

makes America great.

This country is too
strong and too good

to let hate and bigotry win out.

We are the United
States of America

and anyone who tries
to divide us will fail.

And we will continue
raising hell

to fight for what is right.

- We're up like
2K in King County.

We're down only 1K in McHenry.

- But how much of
the vote is in?

Well, huh.

- Oh
shit, Kevin says

"Politico" called us.

- What?
- What?

- Text Lauren.
- "Politico" called us.

- Get her in here.

And CNN projects--

- Oh, and Dems take
control of the House.

- "Politico" called it for her.

"New York Times" has 93%
of precincts reporting.

Lauren Underwood 51.6%,
Randy Hultgren 48.4.

- We gotta go.

- Oh my god!
- Where is she?

She came upstairs?

- Oh my god.
- They said she came upstairs.

- Oh my god!

- She's not here yet.

- They called it!
- Did they really call it?

- Did they really call it?

- They really called it!

- Are you serious?

- You are the next
Congresswoman.

- Stop.

- Lauren!

- For real?

- For real, it's for real.

- Oh my god!

- I can't believe it.

I can't believe it.

Is this for real?
- Give me your plate here.

- It's for real.

- I have Randy Hultgren's
cell phone number.

This is incredible.

This is incredible.

- No way.

- Three points.

- No way, no way.

- Lauren,
Lauren, Lauren!

- You hear that?
- No way.

- Oh my god!

- No way.

- Lauren,
Lauren, Lauren!

- We did it.

- I'm so proud of you.

- We always knew we could.

Thank you so much.

- Oh my god.

- We did it!

No way.

- Lauren Underwood
has won the election.

- No way, no way!

- 51.6!

- No way!

We did it, we did it!

- Oh Lauren.

- I love you so much.

- I love you so much.

- Thank you, Mom.

- Oh, you're welcome.

- I can't believe it.

- I know.

- Oh
my god, oh my god.

I know!

- Thank you, sir.

And thank you, thank
you for all you've done

for this community.

Seriously.

Thank you, thank you.

Okay, bye.

- Oh yeah!

- That was Randy.

- Wait, did Randy just call you?

- You should of
let me talk to him,

just for a second.

That's okay, I
would've been gracious.

I would've.

- I can't even believe it.

- I can't believe it either.

Congresswoman Lauren Underwood.

- Oh!
- That's right.

Where's Ronnie Cho?

- Out here.
- Ronnie.

- What?

- Yes, I'm right next to Lauren.

- Who is it?
- Biden, Biden.

- It's Joe Biden.

- Hi, sir!

Oh my gosh, we did it!

- You did
it, congratulations!

- Thank you so much.

Thank you so much, sir,
for coming out here

and for believing in us.

Thank you.

- Hey look, when
you get to Washington,

you gotta call my house.

I'm close to the
Capitol, and you know,

so I'll buy you a cup of coffee.

- Thank you, sir, it
would be an honor.

- All right, well
I'm really, really,

really proud of you.

- Thank you.

- Go get 'em
and enjoy the night!

You deserve it.
- Thank you, sir.

Thank you.

- All right, bye bye.

- Bye.

What?

This is not real life.

Oh yeah!

This doesn't just happen.

We organized for this.

We got volunteers to help us.

We mobilized this
whole community,

and they believed we could

because you believed we could.

And I look so
ridiculous right now,

but I am so hot.

It's like waterfalls
underneath here.

But that's okay, 'cause
this does not just happen.

It really doesn't and I'm
so grateful for your help.

Thank you.

Ronnie, do you have
anything to say?

- Yeah, of course I do!

The unlikely victory
tonight, I think was

unlikely to only those
outside of this room.

Tonight you gave them hope.

And we fucking did it.

- Oh my god.

I'm so proud of you.
- What?

- You sure
you got that right, Ronnie?

- Congresswoman elect.

- Congress.

- The first nonwhite male ever!

- Ever, ever, ever.

- Well hello!

I want you to help me,
for the very first time,

welcome to the stage, the
next Congresswoman-elect

for the 14th District,
Lauren Underwood!

- Look at what we
built together.

50 years and one day ago

on November 5th, 1968,
Shirley Chisholm,

Shirley Chisholm was elected

to the U.S. House
of Representatives.

She was the first black
woman in Congress.

Tonight, November 6th,
2018, I stand before you

as this community's first
Congresswoman-elect.

If that's not standing on
the shoulders of giants,

I don't know what is.

Together on this
night, we made history.

We made history!

- A
record-breaking number of women

ran in the midterms,
and won last night.

- Tuesday
marked a turning point

as the Congressional
representation of women

got a little closer to
matching the percentage

of women in America.

- We were breaking the
model of what a politician

and what a leader could
look like when we had

so many different
examples of people

who did not look like history.

The reason why
Democrats did so well

in these Midwestern States
and winning in these

really red districts
is because of women!

I mean, that's
why that happened.

- The time for people
to not be heard

and not be seen and
not be listened to

or represented
well, changes now.

- But it's not just the
story of the women who ran.

It's the story of the women
who got behind candidates

up and down the ballot in every
state, across the country.

- This is the first
time in my life,

yeah, this is the
first time in my life

that I'm doing work
that I feel like

I'm supposed to be doing.

I thought I knew what
it was to work hard.

And I thought I knew what it was

to follow my passion before.

And all of everything
I've ever done in my life

just pales in comparison
to this feeling.

- The fact that we
had women who ran,

who didn't succeed,
but so many of whom

got incredibly close
to winning their races,

speaks volumes to
where we are headed.

- I am hoping
that that will help build

and strengthen the
pipeline and include,

bring in those women who
didn't make it this time.

- Once you
kind of break the seal

on electing a woman and
you have an electorate

that knows how to pull lever for

a non white non male candidate,

it gets easier to do it again.

So that makes a real
long-lasting difference.

- We see this year
as an exceptional year,

whether it is the beginning
of a new paradigm,

a new model for
women's participation

in American politics, we're
gonna have to wait and see.

piano music

- I get this
question a lot about

is this a movement
or is it a moment?

Um...

The hunger to know that answer

is ultimately unsatisfiable.

It is ultimately insatiable,

maybe that's the right word.

Because when we're in something,

when those of us who
want it to be a movement,

when those of us who
are invested in seeing

long term change are
putting energy, thought,

fear into this work.

We want to know that our
efforts can lead to change.

But we are the ones
who fundamentally

are responsible for the answer.

- I'm gonna say in 2018
it was not winnable,

but I do think it's
winnable now in 2020.

- No.

I'm not that candidate.

I may run for something else.

- Dear friends.

I wanted to reach
out to thank you

for your unwavering
support for our campaign.

When I reflect on
all of the people

who made this campaign possible,
it's truly overwhelming.

I wanted to share with you
some news about my next steps.

It's hard to leave, but
I can promise you this.

I will continue to be
with you in the fight

for an Indiana and a nation
that leaves no one behind.

With love and admiration, Liz.

emotional piano music

- There are a lot of
lawyers in this room,

and I'm not a
lawyer, I'm a nurse.

Madam Secretary, I
want to be very clear

about what the family
separation policy

is doing to children's
mental and physical health.

Were you aware that the
trauma of family separation

is connected to something
called toxic stress?

- I'm not familiar
with that term, no.

- Okay, were you aware
that toxic stress

can actually change
a child's brain,

because it's still developing?

There's so much
to do within this

very fixed amount of time.

So it's just how much
capacity do you have?

How effective can you be?

I am eager to use
this role to make sure

that those 720,000 people
across my seven counties

know that I have their back.

The political campaign
stuff doesn't stop.

I try to just make
the most of it.

So that I'm not the
last one, right?

Like, I'm 32, the
youngest black woman

in history to serve here.

LIke...

Let's find some other
dynamo young woman

and make sure she has a
good chance of joining me.

Or when I'm no
longer here, right?

That she can come
and have her impact

and um, that this won't
be the last surge.

piano music

soft rock music

I don't know where I'm goin'

But I know that I'm gonna be

Stronger, faster,
better than before

Aim for the sky
superwoman I can fly

And I break down walls
'cause I am a warrior

The road that I'm rollin' on

Is gonna take me
high and then low

But I know that I'm
bound for something more

Something more yeah

Working so hard
to stay afloat

But every inch I get
closer to my goals

Jump through the
fire to find my way

Can't stop me I'm
on a leap of faith

I fall but I get back up

I might crawl when
the road gets rough

But I stand like a
warrior through the fire

There's a light in the dark

Something written
in the stars

And it's calling out my
name to make it shine

Like a diamond
in the silent sky

For all the world to see

For the world to see yeah

Put your hands in the
air if you're ready

Put your hands in the
air if you're ready

Come on come on
come on all right

Put your hands in the
air if you're ready

Put your hands in the air
if you're ready come on

Put your hands in the
air if you're ready

Take that leap
of faith now baby

Put your hands in the
air if you're ready

Come on come on
come on yeah yeah

Working so hard
to stay afloat

Every inch I get
closer to my goals

Jump through the
fire to find my way

Can't stop me I'm
on a leap of faith

I fall but I get back up

I might crawl when
the road gets rough

But I stand like a
warrior through the fire

I fall but I get back up

I might crawl when
the road gets rough

But I stand like a warrior