What Jessica Anderson Taught Me About Getting Back Up

The Day After Losing Is the Most Important Day

I have been thinking a lot about the moment Jessica Anderson found out she lost the 2023 election for the Virginia House of Delegates. She had knocked over 6,000 doors. She had run without corporate money, without utility company backing, without the support of her own state party caucus. She had been told, essentially, that her seat was not attainable enough to bet on.

She lost by 667 votes.

And then the next day, she went online and told everyone she was running again in 2025.

That is the thing I keep coming back to. Not the win as incredible as the win was  but that Wednesday. The decision made before the grief had even finished. I know the kind of exhaustion that follows that kind of effort. And she looked at it and said: I'll be back.

The Foundation Was Always Her Mother

Jessica did not grow up in a political family. Her mom was not a politician. What her mom was, was resilient a woman who left a difficult marriage with two kids at 16 years old, became a single parent, gave the shirt off her back to strangers, and never stopped being her children's biggest cheerleader even when the paths they chose were different from her own.

Her mom is still her best friend. They have coffee every two weeks. And while they do not always agree on politics  her mom has come into Jessica's comment section to defend her to people from the other side  she shows up. Every time.

I think that is the whole story in a way. Jessica learned early that showing up is everything.

The System Taught Her Something

When Jessica became a single mom herself, she did everything right. She found a job. She qualified for Medicaid and SNAP benefits. She kept her head down and worked hard. Then she got a $5,000 raise  and lost $7,000 in food benefits overnight.

That moment was not just frustrating. It was an education. She saw with her own eyes how a system designed to help people can punish them for moving forward. That clarity became fuel. It led to the TikTok account. It led to the campaign. It led to a seat at the table where she could actually do something about it.

Authentic Is Not a Brand. It Is a Strategy.

One of the strongest parts of our conversation was when Jessica talked about what she refused to compromise on. She turned away money. She declined support that came with strings. She ran as herself the same person who knocks on your door dripping in summer heat, the same person you see at the grocery store, the same voice you follow online.

People noticed. Including members of the opposing party, who came up to her after she was elected and said, essentially: we are glad it's you. Because you are willing to talk to us.

That is not a small thing. That is the whole job.

What the Win Actually Looks Like

Jessica was sworn in to the Virginia House of Delegates — the oldest governing body in the country, once called the House of Burgess — knowing that when that body was created, she would not have been in the room, let alone in the seat. She was part of the largest women's majority in Virginia House history. She watched the first woman governor of Virginia be sworn in, surrounded by colleagues all dressed in white.

She asked herself, in that moment: am I built for this?

And then she answered her own question.

If there is one thing I want you to take from Jessica's story, it is this: the world does make way for the dreamer. But the dreamer has to keep knocking doors.