Steelman: I would do it all again

In a message to supporters, State Treasurer Sarah Steelman said "we fought hard and I would do it all again." The complete message is printed below:

The best thing about campaigning is the people you get to meet along the way. I have met so many Missourians with remarkable stories. I have met entrepreneurs overflowing with vision and determination, farm families willing to work long hard days to provide food for the world, teachers who willingly sacrifice extra time and their own resources for their students, moms who are taking care of their kids and balancing their lives between work at home and a career or a job they need, dads who are worried about making ends meet and providing the spiritual leadership that kids need today, and groups of people who are providing a helping hand to those in need physically and spiritually without ever asking anything in return - just to name a few.

How fortunate I am to get a glimpse of this amazing state we call Missouri. It is my privilege to thank each and every one of you for your support in this effort. I regard campaigning and governing as a partnership between you and me and your support for me has most certainly lifted me up financially, emotionally and intellectually. Our message of putting principle over politics and putting people first resonated throughout Missouri. And even though we lost, we fought hard and I would do it all again because those are ideas worth fighting for - those are ideas that - for many who have gone before us - were worth dying for.

I have always believed that every one of us can make a difference if we choose to. Every one of you has made all the difference for me and I thank you for that. It has truly been an honor and a blessing to have this opportunity to run for Governor of the great State of Missouri and you provided me with that chance. Please accept my heartfelt thanks for all you have done for me and for Missouri and remember what that great football coach, Vince Lombardi, said - “The spirit, the will to win, and the will to excel are the things that endure. These qualities are so much more important than the events that occur.”