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Election Results
As of the 8:16 p.m. update it's tied in a statistical dead heat.
| Siegfreid | 50% |
| Tevis | 50% |
As of the 10:28 pm, the (unofficial final) results in my district:
| McCain | 57% |
| Obama | 41% |
| Siegfreid | 52% |
| Tevis | 48% |
Unless the election office mysteriously finds a bunch of misplaced ballots, I lost by 4%. I'm a Democrat in a ruby red area. Here are how the Democrats in the districts sharing a boundary with mine did:
North: -23%South: -19%
East: -18%
I'm exhausted, both physically and emotionally. There are lots of thanks to go around, especially to you who are reading this.
We beat the spread. I'll post soon about what the last days were like - driving elderly people to the polls, dirty tricks that were played on us, and what the direct mail flyers with photos of me from friends' Facebook and Flickr accounts looked like.
Thank you again. — Sean
Comments
Sean, as of right now (11:55pm ET) I offer my congratulations on a good campaign and my hopes that you will continue to work in service of your neighbors and fellow citizens, regardless of today’s results in Olathe.
Thank you.
Sean,
Congratulations on running an innovative, progressive, unabashedly intellectual and pro-science campaign. We “internet Spartans” are proud of you. I, for one, will be there if you need support for a future run.
Best wishes,
One of the 3000+
I was really hoping you’d pull it off, as a voice of reason down there. You had people rooting for you up here in the great white north.
I was hoping you’d win, and you had a good run. Best of luck to you, in your future.
Aw heck. I was tracking your race from the north, too. All things considered you did incredibly well. I hope you are proud of yourself way deep down inside. You tried to make a difference and you nearly captured the flag. And you did it without special interest money or backing. That is huge.
Recharge and regroup and know you have supporters. I have great faith you’ll get that seat. Please don’t give up. Our government has a new face. A face of hope. Stay the course and you will persevere.
Congratulations on running a clean race and running hard. Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!
Best always,
Nita
Sean, as an Overland Park resident I’m sorry to see you lose - I wish I could have voted for you.
You’ve made huge strides toward name recognition and have a great foundation to run next time. Don’t give up - remember almost half of the voters wanted you in there.
Sean, congratulations on a strong race. I told as many people about you as I could and encouraged even my right leaning friends to give you the benefit of the doubt. I hope you run again and would enjoy the opportunity to volunteer for your campaign if you do.
I tracked your progress from MA. I’m sorry to see you lose, but I’m inspired by the effort you put in. You may not have been chosen, but offering to serve the public, your state, and your country is honorable and commendable. Personally, you’ve inspired me to consider ways that I can contribute to politics in my community, and I’m sure others feel the same. I’m very much looking forward to more stories from you about the campaign.
Best wishes to you and your family.
Sorry to hear about the result but you’ve still got my congratulations and respect for across the ocean. You caught the eye of many, even here in Ireland who were rooting for you. The results speak well for a future run but now I guess its time to maybe catch up on sleep. Good luck in whatever you set your hand to in the future.
I’m sorry to hear that you lost. You fought a good campaign, though, and coming from a very red county/district myself, I appreciate your achievement - a 4% difference is really remarkable. Congratulations and good luck in your future endeavors.
Thats a great showing by you, Sean. Don’t be disheartened and I hope you will run again! Even Obama lost his congressional race just 8 years ago and look at where he is now.
As a former Kansas resident, I watched your campaign with great interest. Congratulations on pulling a huge share of votes and good luck in future elections.
Sean please turn your web site into a resource for following the struggle for progressive politics in KS. Perhaps this is not the end of something but the start of something.
Better luck next time
Bummer.
Well, everybody in this UK/ German/ New Zealand mini-family was behind you.
Have a good break, a good cry, probably some sex and maybe the odd beer. You will feel better afterwards and tomorrow you will wake up in a country that has Barack Obama as President-Elect.
That’s not so bad either, eh?
Best wishes from the UK,
FB
I cared more for your race than for who won governor here in Washington. I’m sorry you didn’t make it, and I hope you don’t get soured on public service. Good job, win or lose. Go take some time off and recover!
Congratulations on coming so close to winning. I’m in a red district in NY, and the local Democratic candidates didn’t work half as hard as you, and the results reflected it. I hope you get another chance to run, and good luck!
Congratulations on a much better result than seemed possible in the beginning—and yes, yes, yes, please run again! You’ve got a big chunk of internet geekdom behind you. I’m still fool enough to think that’s a good thing.
Now, how to top the XKCD-style cartoon…maybe you could get John Hodgman to endorse you?
I 1up Marty in Boise’s idea. Befriend Mr. Hodgman. 
Sean,
Just adding my voice to those who were rooting for you from afar. Job well done, even though I’m sure those words are scant comfort. I hope the experience hasn’t soured you on politics and trying again—you really almost pulled off the impossible, and in hindsight I think you’ll be as proud of yourself as all of us are of you.
Congrats on a race well run. You pulled off an amazing bit of work given the circumstances. I hope you think of this as a beginning rather than an ending.
I live in a small island of blue in the vast sea of red Texas. But last night, more islands popped up. Change is what we make of it and I believe you will make the most of it.
I’m so VERY proud to have been even a little part of your campaign.Just wish I had gotten in on it sooner. You and Your staff (Andrew,Tom,Brandy and Michelle)all deserve a great round of applause. It was great fun and a life long memory I will never forget. It was my first campaign to work and if YOU want to do it again in the future, I’LL BE THERE FOR YOU! I believe in your message. Myself and fellow district 15 patrons give YOU 500+ THANK YOU’s!!!! I hope you have opened the eyes of the GOOD OLE BOYS (Dinosaurs) or at least put a fear into them that us Little Guys are on to their back door politics. Anyway, WAY TO GO SEAN, ANDREW, TOM, MICHELLE, and BRANDY! Look forward to more of your website and You Tube Videos. Best Wishes on the future even though, you don’t need it! Just sign me your friend. Jeff
Sean,
Wonderful, wonderful work. Don’t give up hope. The “series of tubes” world needs more smart guys like you.
-Dan
sean, we’re so incredibly proud of you. and, to be honest, we’re more excited by your next adventure.
go dote on your wife.
we love you, kristen and phil
This was a really incredible campaign; the kind of work you put in was really inspiring. If you decide to run again, you already know that there are a bunch of us behind you!
You´re an example to be followed. Like it or not, you´re a true maverick.
Nice try, I was following the race all night. I thought you might pull it out too. Shame you didn’t win but it was awesome you put up such a strong fight.
I hope your incredibly proud of yourself. You fought a good fight and came so close. I was shocked when I heard, because I really thought you had it! I would have been more excited to be in district 15 if you had won.
They don’t know what they missed out on Sean. You would have made a great Rep!
Remember, most dirty tricks aren’t played on politicians, but on voters. This affects more than your own self-interest in your campaign, after all.
Congratulations on running an honest campaign. The “3000 internet spartans” will always be willing to fight another day with you.
I hope you run again! You did an amazing job and I’d hate to see the public miss out on your brains, passion, and compassion. We need people like you in office, so don’t give up!!
This time was an intro. You’ll get them the next time ‘round.
Review: A+++ would donate again.
As one of “The 3000,” I just wanted to write and say that I think you did an extraordinary thing. You battled honorably against very long odds, and came much closer to winning than I’d bet any experts in your locale’s political scene ever expected. I was disappointed to find out that you did not win, but I am glad you ran and proud to have participated even in a small way.
Keep fighting the good fight!
Warm regards,
G
I live East of I-35 so I couldn’t vote for you, but I would’ve if I could’ve! Congratulations on a great race! I hope you’ll consider running again!
Running for Office: It’s Like A Flamewar with a Forum Troll, but with an Eventual Winner
As usual, Troll wins.
I’m an optimist and a cynic. The troll almost always wins, but day by day tomorrow always gets slightly better than yesterday was. Thanks for the noble effort against impossible odds. I look forward with interest to reading your report on the dirty tricks that were thrown at you.
P.S.
I’m a bit surprised and disappointed that your site required me to type in a bogus e-mail address to post—Sincerely yours Mary Anne Jones, Lutheran, born Sept 26 1970, divorced, home value $287,300
It’s pretty fantastic that people all over the world know who you are. I was hoping for people who understand the importance of research in Kansas (as a physics student here). I know the whole campaign thing must be exhausting, but I think we could really use someone like you representing. If you have it in you, maybe try again?
I’m a Californian who wore your t-shirt on Election Day in the Bahamas…and somebody there knew you/your campaign! Keep up the good fight in whatever you do!
I love the idea of A sequel to The Comic Strip! How about showing the hardworking volunteers putting out signs on a busy corner while a passerby shouts “That’s illegal!” and the volunteers’(unnamed)driver takes off so as not to be seen. LOVE IT! or the volunteer who was phone canvassing and got hold of the opponents good friend only to be led on and then chewed out. Lots of DURING the campaign possibilities. Thanks!, a volunteer who would do it all again.
