Dear friends, neighbors, voters, townspeople, supporters, volunteers, endorsers, organizers, well-wishers, and many others who helped make this campaign possible:

Thank you.

Thanks for your amazing energy, enthusiasm, and encouragement. I am so appreciative of the incredible amount of time, energy, attention, dedication, and commitment that you gave.

I especially want to thank my family — my wife Cassandra and our children, Cassius, Cory, and Carnegie.

Though I’m told by many experts and insiders that I ran an exceptional race, I regret to say that I lost by a 5 to 3 margin, or 64%-36%. Wow!

Some of the many volunteers, contributors, and organizers who helped make the Claude For Greenwich campaign possible.

This result was a surprise to me, because in talking to voters, even at the polls on Election Day, I felt sure the numbers would be a lot closer, or that I even had a shot at winning.

We had succeeded in identifying and defining the key issues, and had seized the narrative. Voters knew it, and so did our opposition.

We could certainly take comfort in the fact that this would have been a huge upset, no doubt.

But it is still quite painful to lose this badly after putting so much effort into it. Ouch! :-)

Still we should all be very proud.

Our campaign was organized, informative, positive, professional, and effective. It was also a lot of fun!

We had a great showing for a first time candidate in a Republican-dominated town that was already riled up by rhetoric against any Democrat on the ballot.

It just wasn’t enough to win the election at this time.  The actual margin was 5,342 to 2,977.

Yet there is a silver lining.

For one thing, I agree with many comments I have received, that the effort IS the result — having something to put your all into is worth it in and of itself.

In addition, our campaign helped get more voters to the polls than usual for a non-presidential election.  In fact, my race registered the highest voting percentage of all three local Democratic candidates.

In my home precinct — RTM District 11 — I got more votes than Richard Blumenthal for U.S. Senate and more votes than Dan Malloy for Governor, and about equaled the number of votes received by Jim Himes for U.S. Congress.

So I believe that our turnout made a difference in the re-election of Congressman Himes as well as in the election of Mr. Blumenthal and Mr. Malloy, all of whom I supported because they are good for Connecticut not just today but for our next generation of taxpayers.

Moreover, this campaign gave me a platform for identifying some concerns that many voters shared. And for sharing some ideas, information, inspiration, and solutions that many townspeople found attractive.

People found these views to be credible, valuable, and trustworthy. And we earned everyone’s respect.

In addition, I believe we showed many townspeople (and their kids) that it is possible to conduct an honorable, positive, idea-filled, inspiring political campaign that focuses on the issues as opposed to just “defeating the other party.”

We are either part of the problem, or part of the solution.

I really enjoyed the opportunity to help inspire and advocate for a meaningful collective cause on such a demanding stage. So I will continue to be involved in addressing these and related issues.

One way I will do that is by keeping this Claude4Greenwich website not only open and operational, but also active and engaging.

I want it to be an online destination for sharing and discourse on the topics that really matter to our townspeople.

I want this website to be a place where your views and thoughts and unpublished letters to the editor about local Greenwich issues and politics can find a welcoming audience.

Right now I want to invite everyone who has a written view or comment they wish to express, to email it to me for publication here.

Some readers may even wish to become regular contributors on this site.

Also, what are your ideas on the best way for us collectively to keep this momentum going?

I want the thrust behind the Claude4Greenwich campaign to continue to make a difference in our town.

So my tone is positive and upbeat.

I will write more here soon — I’ll go inside the numbers, consider how it happened, examine what the results mean for Greenwich, and look to the future. So please stay tuned!

For now I’ve got some catching up to do.

PS – Feel free to take down your Claude Johnson lawn signs whenever you feel like it! :-)

Sincerely and with gratitude,
Claude