Heather Mizeur, a Democrat trying to unseat Republican Andy Harris in the deeply conservativev1st congressional District, reminded supporters Tuesday night they knew it was going to be an uphill fight. She compared it to her run for governor in 2014 when she was told some of the things she advocated would never happen in Maryland, but they have. She told supporters at a Kent Island banquet hall it was about planting seeds. And despite the loss they’ve started something.

“And what we've done in this race is plant the seed, that party affiliation doesn't have to be the thing that separates us, that we don't have to look at the world as Republicans and Independents and Democrats,” she said. “That we truly can come together and just want to help each other out again, and solve problems.”

She said they had given Harris the challenge of a lifetime in this race and forced him to “defend his indefensible positions.”

The Associated Press called the 1st District race for Harris with 60% of the vote on Tuesday night. Mizeur garnered 37% of the vote, or roughly 87,500 votes.

And at the end grew nostalgic.

“And so, instead of going to Washington,” she said, choking back tears, “for now at least I'll be heading back to the place that…the place I love the most in the world, my farm.”

It’s not about giving up hope, she said. It’s about missing her organic farm in Kent County.