When eight-year-old Martha Kennedy Morales lost an election for class president, the last thing she expected to receive was a letter from former U.S. presidential nominee Hillary Clinton encouraging her not to let it get her down.
“As I know too well, it’s not easy when you stand up and put yourself in contention for a role that’s only been sought by boys,” Clinton wrote in the letter, sent to College Park, Md., where Martha lives.
A Clinton spokesperson confirmed to the Washington Post and CNN that the letter is authentic.
Martha’s father, Albert Morales, told the Post that she’d run a hard-fought campaign for which he’d regularly posted updates on his Facebook page. It was there he revealed the results of the race.
The Post reported that it was through her father’s Facebook posts that Democratic political activist Bryan Weaver found out about the election. From there, someone who knows Clinton mentioned it to her, which is when the former presidential candidate decided to write to Martha herself.
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According to Martha in an interview with the Washington Post, her opponent was a popular fourth-grade boy. She lost by only one vote and was then declared vice-president.
“Now I get to be the tiebreaker if the House and Senate can’t agree, and I have meetings with the president. That’s all that I know that I do,” she told the Post.
Clinton lost the U.S. presidential election to now-President Donald Trump in 2016, though she won the popular vote by seven million votes.
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She congratulated Martha on being elected vice-president and added that while they’d both been knocked down, they weren’t out yet.
“The most important thing is that you fought for what you believed in, and that is always worth it. As you continue to learn and grow in the years ahead, never stop standing up for what is right and seeking opportunities to be a leader, and know that I am cheering you on for a future of great success.”
Martha, who will be turning nine in a week, is now working on a thank you note.
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