Election day starts with manual labor and breathing exercises. Our team brought our own tables, folding chairs, and election materials to the Soiree, and spent the first hour of the event setting up our campaign table–the unglamorous side of running a political campaign.
A recurring theme throughout the night was the idea of solidarity and taking care of each other: as a campaign team and cohort, we had to rely on each other to make it through a six-hour slog of campaigning, networking, and promoting. In particular, our team’s candidate, Haley, was extremely nervous going into Soiree, knowing that she would have to give a campaigns speech in front of mayors, assemblymembers, and House representatives. Robinson, our team’s finance director, and I took her outside and together, we practiced her speech together until she had it down pat–and we all let out a little sigh of relief. When it came time for the candidates to give their speeches, Haley blew us away with her confidence, grace, and eloquence while facing insurmountable pressure.
Team Haley campaigning at Soiree
The rest of the voting period passes in a blur–walking between tables, introducing myself and Haley over and over again, talking to more people than I could ever hope to remember but giving the same pitch again and again. I checked in on everyone in the cohort, bumping into them by chance and taking a moment to catch our breaths. Occasionally, the conversation would open up to outside election-related topics, and those were my favorite moments of the night: connecting with community leaders and former alumni, hearing their stories and sharing mine. It was a far cry from the first-ever networking event I attended with the CAUSE team, where I stood nervously in a corner, not recognizing anybody there.
I was so preoccupied with conversation that I forgot to vote myself until the very last minute–I ran up to the voting booth a split second before Andrea announced the closing of the polls!
CLA interns speaking with CAUSE Board Chair Charlie Woo after mock election results
To get to the point, Team Haley won, and by a narrow 10 votes at that. The reaction from our team was muted. Of course, we were ecstatic that we won and bursting with pride for Haley, but the victory was bittersweet, since it came at the expense of the rest of the cohort on Ryan’s campaign. As we celebrated on stage, we were cheering for Haley, for each other, and for the weeks of work we spent on the campaign–not for the victory itself.
Still, we celebrated after that, and we celebrated with the entire cohort and CAUSE team. Although not everyone won the mock campaign, the Soiree was a victory for our teams, organization, and community as a whole.
The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not reflect the views or positions of CAUSE or the CAUSE network.
Written by Grant Li, Leadership Academy 2024 Intern.
The CAUSE Leadership Academy (CLA) for students is a nine-week, paid, internship program that prepares college undergraduates to lead and advocate for the Asian Pacific Islander community on their campuses and beyond.