Part II: Open Letter to Campaign Family and Friends

Dear Campaign Family and Friends, 

The sacrifices you made for the 2018 Primary Election were priceless. While many people supported us by voting, volunteering, and donating, you all made sacrifices that were invisible to the eye. 

So many of you rearranged (and rearranged again) schedules so we could spend precious time together to celebrate holidays, milestones, and reunions. It meant a lot when our siblings chose a wedding date almost two months before Primary Day to make sure we could attend or family members who allowed us to celebrate birthdays several weeks later.  We’re grateful for the friends spent endless hours listening to us vent about the campaign and gave us constant check-ins to make sure we were eating, sleeping, and relaxing to reach the finish line. Some of you made meals, did chores, and ran errands for us. Others provided the emotional support we needed to maintain our well-being. And a handful of you flew in from different parts of the U.S. to be with us in the trenches.

You cared about us so much that you let the world to revolve around us just for one time period of our lives (14 months to be exact). 

Hoan and I both know it was not easy to be a part of our campaign. To the parents, siblings, in-laws, nieces, relatives, family friends, old friends and new friends who stepped in during one of the most intense times in our lives: thank you. Thank you for keeping us grounded. Thank you for the outpouring of love. And thank you for not cutting us out of your lives because of our busy campaign lifestyle.  We could not have run a political campaign without you. And now, we look forward to spending quality time again with you.

Yours truly,

Tonia

Wife of former Montgomery County Council, At-Large Candidate, Hoan Dang

Are you a former candidate and have a story to share of a family member or friend who went above and beyond for your campaign? Let Politics Within Politics know on Twitter @PoliticsWithin !

About Tonia Bui

Tonia Bui is currently a strategic communications consultant. Most recently, she served as treasurer for the Hoan Dang for County Council campaign in Montgomery County. Tonia previously served as the Communications Director for the Nguyen for Delegate Campaign (VA-67) in 2013 and led the Asian American voter outreach efforts for the Darcy Burner for Congress Campaign (WA-08) in 2008. Her efforts to build stakeholder engagement stems from her experiences serving as the Member Outreach Assistant to Vice Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, Rep. Xavier Becerra (CA-34). She also previously worked for U.S. Senator Barack Obama (IL-13) and California Assemblywoman Fiona Ma (CA-12). Her work has been published by the Harvard Asian American Policy Review and cited by scholars of the political science textbook, Campaigns on the Cutting Edge. Tonia holds a Master in Public Policy from American University and a B.A. in Mass Communications and Gender & Women’s Studies from the University of California, Berkeley. Read more of Tonia's blog Politics Within Politics.

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