Familiar faces and feelings at Tsongas fund raiser
Last night, in spite of a chilling sleet that did not feel even remotely like spring, a good number of folks ventured out to attend the first public fund raiser for congressional candidate Niki Tsongas. Held at the Olympia restaurant in downtown Lowell, it was an emotional coming home of sorts for someone who has been on the Lowell scene in one way or another since 1969. The room was packed, and although I didn’t recognize a lot of people and will probably leave out names of familiar faces I did see, here’s a short list of attendees: George Duncan, Brian Martin, Mike Demaras, Patty Kerwin-Kielty, Maria Vejar, Brenda Costello, Carole Cowan, Maria Cunha, Lura Smith, Mehmed Ali, Elena Zohdi, Effie Dragon, Marina Schnell, and Karen Frederick.
As I listened to Niki speak about being embraced by the Lowell community nearly 40 years ago and learning lessons on campaign trails that spanned the gamut from city council to a presidential race, I couldn’t help but think about my own first experience as a candidate and how she had met with me and encouraged me. As I was leaving to attend another event (UTEC fund raiser, see separate post), I commented to Niki that hearing her speak reminded me of how scared I felt as a first-time candidate, and I was glad it was her in this race and not me. She responded by reminding me of what I said that day in her office nearly four years ago. I had confessed to her how scared I was and then I told her the story of how I made the decision to run: I had been waiting at a red light, staring at city hall, and thinking about the people who had been encouraging me to run. In that moment, I realized the only thing stopping me was fear. In the seconds it took for the light to change, I decided my life was not going to be based on fear. Niki told me she remembered my story and that she also does not let fear get in her way. Somehow I felt comforted and encouraged all over again.
Last night’s event was the first in what promises to be a quick and harried pace of events as the candidates race to raise funds, gain support, and get out their messages before the primary election on September 4. Good luck to them all. They have earned my respect for having the courage to run.