In Pursuit of Hope
Over the summer, I rewatched the movie In Pursuit of Happyness, starring Will Smith. I sat in my twin-sized bed in the dorm room provided by the internship company I was employed by. As I watched the series of unfortunate events of the single father attempting to provide stability to his young child, my heartstrings were pulled. While some may watch and admire Will Smith’s grit, I recognized that grit is not enough for that kind of survival – it’s hope. It caused me to reckon with our current political reality. What does hope look like now, and how do we sustain it?
For many Americans across the nation, something in resemblance to hope was recently found. On November 4th of this year, state and local elections were held in several states. After the presidential race of 2024, it was a question of what the smaller elections would become. To many's surprise, local and state elections became a nationwide interest. Americans from all over anticipated the results of states that they did not live in.
One Democratic candidate for the New York City mayoral election, Zohran Mamdani, piqued the interest of people with his sudden rise to relevance for his self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist stances and charismatic demeanor. Young people and millennials were particularly drawn to the candidate because he represented a change that established Democrats have refused. He advocated for policies that some people within NYC had thought to be impossible, but he insisted that real change was possible. He championed a free bus system for city residents and an affordable city for all to enjoy. Mamdani found himself throughout the campaign being critiqued for selling a dream to desperate New Yorkers. Though the millennials’ political experience was sparse compared to his biggest opponent, Andrew Cuomo, he argued that his policies were reasonable, but the city simply needed a mayor willing to fight for them.
In a separate race, the Virginia state governor position was up for contest. Democratic nominee Abigail Spanberger and Republican nominee Winsome Earle-Sears fought for a winning campaign. The election sparked some national interest because of Virginia’s recent “purple state” label, as the previous Governor, Glenn Youngkin, was a Republican. With both parties’ nominees being women, regardless of the outcome, one thing was for certain – Virginia was going to have its first female Governor. For the woman nominees, they campaigned for a more affordable state to reduce the cost of living, a concern that crosses party lines. Spanberger, who led in the polls throughout the campaign, made an argument that change is needed not later but now.
The first Tuesday night of November, the results of the awaited election were announced. Mamdani and Spanberger won. Though these wins felt different. When Mamdani originally entered his race for mayor on October 23 of last year, he had less than one percent of voter support. In a shocking turn of events, something had shifted. For the first time in history, the Governor of Virginia was a woman. People across the country rose in celebration for the various elections with a shared sentiment that a shift is happening.
On the same November 4th, election day, it was announced that the federal government had officially broken the record for the longest government shutdown, surpassing thirty-five days. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) had been paused, and efforts by local community members appeared, such as a Portland coffee shop that committed to serving free breakfast “until everyone’s benefits are reinstated, or [they] go broke doing it.” Among the stress and uncertainty that Americans were feeling, with SNAP benefits being paused, people still found space to celebrate and hold community. It cannot be mistaken for anything other than hope.
Hope is something that is created. Hope means showing up, contributing to local community efforts and actively making the choice to choose something better. Hope is not born or terminated by political elections, but it’s a feeling we must sustain. The future won’t wait for us to believe in it.