[Ricky Hurtado] I didn't anticipate running in 2020.

I've really been focused on, how do I become part of the solution to many of the challenges that I saw growing up?

Part of an immigrant family, I grew up living paycheck to paycheck.

Some months, we weren't sure, you know, whether we were going to have enough to pay the rent, pay the car bill, and pay for groceries.

It's those sorts of challenges and, of course, why I'm doing anything that I do.

I'm Ricky Hurtado.

You want to take one of these?

We're just dropping them off at folks' houses.

If you want to take one, this is...

I'm really running to be a different type of representative to actually fulfill that word that says "representative."

I'm really accessible.

Here's my phone number and my email.

If there's anything going on that you want me to know about, you're more than welcome to call me.

[man] I ain't never had anyone tell me that.

Alright.

You know where to find me.

[laughs] Alright.

Okay.

Absolutely.

But-- I'll go with you.

I'll go with you.

I appreciate that.

I appreciate that.

I'll do that.

And if there's things on your mind or things you think I should know about the neighborhood, let me know.

[Ricky] I'd actually be the first Latino Democrat to ever win an election at this level and be the first one to serve in the North Carolina General Assembly.

White power, mother#*#*#*!

[yelling] White power!

All lives matter!

All lives!

[honking] [Ricky] When you begin to learn the true history here and hear stories of people like Wyatt Outlaw that were lynched in the same place where the Confederate monument currently stands, we know that that very much is in the water of Alamance County.

We think about some of the policies of our sheriff.

[TV presenter] A local sheriff in North Carolina is on trial over racial profiling.

[TV presenter 2] The Justice Department is looking into "allegations of discriminatory policing and unconstitutional searches and seizures" by members of the Alamance County Sheriff's Office.

The people that we're trying to hold here are criminal illegal immigrants... that is... actually raping our citizens in many, many ways.

[Ricky] My parents fled a civil war in El Salvador, in Central America, in 1980.

My parents decided to settle in rural North Carolina, like a lot of other Latino immigrant families in the South.

I just really had to learn how to adapt as a kid, as a student in my public schools, an English world and a Spanish world, a world where I was trying to understand sort of the racial tensions of America and what it meant to be different, what it meant to be Latino in the rural South.

Hi, I'm Representative Steve Ross.

As a lifelong resident of Alamance County, it is an honor to serve the citizens of House District 63.

[Ricky] So, my opponent is Steve Ross, who is the incumbent Republican here in District 63 and is running for-- I believe it's his fifth term.

I've worked hard to help bu ild-- rebuild Main Street.

I've worked hard on economic development.

I brought jobs to my district.

On the 29th, I will be driving to an appointment with USCIS, which is basically Immigration.

And I will be finalizing the last step for naturalization.

And if everything goes well, I will be becoming a citizen that day.

So, I'm pretty-- pretty excited.

It's been in the works for-- for years.

I've been a permanent resident for over three years now.

And I hope that...

I'll be able to feel a little bit safer.

Um... Because it's definitely... the last four years have been very heavy, especially since the last presidential election, because a lot was on the table in terms of safety and feeling that I could plan ahead and... and have a life, you know.

Early voting ends on October 31st.

So, if I become a citizen on the 29th, it's just perfect timing.

Otherwise, I would not be able to vote.

[man] Hello, young man.

[woman] All right.

Hi, how have you been?

[Ricky] Hey, good to see y'all.

[man] Good to see you.

Like, the gang is back.

[laughs] Hey, again.

[laughing] There's 24 doors, and they're all right here on Apple Street.

Oh, really?

Yeah.

Oh, yeah, that's perfect.

I'd love to do that.

I thought it would be too.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It is "get out the vote" time, so we are canvassing Democrats and unaffiliated voters that haven't voted yet.

And so, we have a list of folks who haven't voted and folks who have voted.

We're talking to as many people as possible right now.

Do you have a plan on voting this election?

Yes, I do.

Okay.

Do you know what day you're heading out to the polls?

I'm actually going to go this Thursday, as a matter of fact.

Oh, that's great.

That's great.

No sé si usted o gente en su casa puede votar esta elección.

Mi hermano.

Okay.

Okay, okay.

ÉÉl ya puede votar.

Sí.

Yo todavía no.

¿Todavía no?

Sí, sí, mis papás... so n de San Salvador y hasta el 2016, hace cuatro años, pudieron vo tar por la primera vez.

¿De San Salvador, o...?

Sí.

¿De qué parte de El Salvador son?

De San Salvador.

¿De la misma capital?

Sí, de la capital.

Yo, de San Vicente.

Oh, ¿en serio?

Oh , guau.

Yo, mi hermano.

Todos.

Allí viven varios.

Aquí está inundado de salvadoreños.

¿Sí, aquí?

Trabajo con dos, tres, diez salvadoreños.

Nunca hemos tenido sa lvadoreños en la política aquí, en Carolina.

Entonces, dígales qu e ahora es tiempo, ahora es el chance.

[r íe] I was telling my wife this yesterday that I, you know, try to pretend like I'm okay with the outcome either way, but...

I obviously really want to win.

[laughs] And so, yeah, caring and having hope feels scary right now.

Vulnerability, period, is difficult, but for an entire community to be watching, it's like, I'm not going to lie, it's a little nerve-wracking.

Hey, babe, do you want bread or do you want tortilla?

Do you want bread, ¿o quieres tortilla?

[Yazmin answers in background] Okay, cool.

I've been counting the days for this, for this time to come, but I also feel...

I just want to get there and come out and know that it happened.

If it does.

[laughs] I'm just, like, nervous about something going wrong.

We need one more vote.

[laughs] Green card, passport.

It's in my purse.

[door slams shut] [Yazmin] It was very emotional.

It was a big step in a way like it didn't feel real.

This is... a major event that I know that means that I'm safe, that I have that stability, that many people should be able to get as well, and they're not given that opportunity.

And earlier this year, I lost my dad to COVID-19.

And so, that was, like, in my mind, that he didn't get to hear and see and know that this was happening.

And when he passed, that was the first thing that I thought of, like, he's not going to be here for my major life events anymore.

That felt really... [voice breaking] just really hard.

[cheering and clapping] I passed.

I answered all the questions.

You now get a play card.

Ma'am, may I give you a play card?

There are some awesome candidates on here.

[woman] Hey, vote Ricky-- vote Ricky Hurtado, baby!

The hardest vote I've ever worked for.

[laughs] Even this morning, I was like, "Okay, are you going to make breakfast?"

[laughs] Earn my vote?

[Ricky] Go vote now.

Go vote!

[woman] Go vote, mama!

Go vote!

[all cheering] [Ricky laughing] [Yazmin] Have a good one.

[cheering from afar, Yazmin laughs] You voted.

I did.

I've been waiting for this.

[cheering] [woman] I love that shirt.

I like, checked and went back, and doublechecked and went... [laughs] [woman] I know.

That's what I did too.

[woman cheering] [Yazmin laughs] I think it's 50/50 right now.

I mean, my gut is, it's 50/50.

I know we've worked-- I know we've worked really hard, but we're in Alamance County.

Ricky's a first-time candidate, and he's Latino.

And, you know, we've had to overcome his lack of name recognition against a four-term incumbent.

There's a part of me that really wants to believe it's going to happen this time.

It's the day before the election.

Monday night.

I just finished my last Lit Drop to get folks out to the polls for tomorrow.

We just had a really rough weekend in Alamance County, [all chanting] where peaceful marchers heading to the polls were pepper sprayed.

It was a use of force by the law enforcement here that was so unnecessary and so unprovoked.

And it sort of shows you this battle of an old Alamance versus a new Alamance, and... Yeah, I believe a new day will come, regardless of the outcome tomorrow.

[water running] [Ricky] Good to see you.

Y'all want some doughnuts?

[woman] Oh, I would love one!

Of course.

[man] Right up here.

[Ricky] Y'all want some doughnuts?

Just making sure we're keeping the volunteers happy.

Y'all are working hard today.

We're trying to.

Hey, how are you doing?

Pretty good?

You know, I'm feeling good.

We've worked hard.

[laughing] We've worked hard for...

The voting's looking good.

We need one more good day, and I think it's ours, so... And we've been to about four or five precincts, and turnout has been pretty light.

Lower turnout on Election Day might be good for us, because we currently, at least on paper, have the edge.

If this is a light turnout, it might... it might be in our favor.

This will be the longest day of our lives, so... [laughs] Can you believe it, babe?

It is election night!

We've been waiting for this day for like 500 days.

...the Research Triangle and the Triad.

These are communities that have... Well, I've got to go look at some of these results coming in.

[Yazmin] Yeah.

I mean...

Early voting should drop in about 10 minutes, right?

8:15.

Yeah?

[Yazmin] What's up, dear?

How do you feel?

Excited.

To see?

[Yazmin] ¿Sientes en la p...?

It's close.

How much percentage is reported?

[Elaine] Right now, this is the early vote coming in, but there's a lot of votes.

Right now, it looks like-- I think I saw that he's leading by maybe a couple thousand.

We just need to have enough cushion so that when the rest of the vote comes in from Election Day, that we-- we cover whatever was cast on Election Day.

[Ricky] Oh, complete report.

Yes!

Oh, that's good.

That's good.

Yes, that's good.

[woman] It updated.

Look, it's my number.

You hit our win number.

I don't have my glasses on.

It's 2264?

What's the actual vote difference?

A percent.

One percent?

It's like 400.

Is that everybody in?

It says 100%.

I calculated it last night.

That's okay.

Do we have to count provisionals?

Unofficially.

Oh, my freaking God!

Thank you!

I'm happy.

[cheering] Oh, my God!

I'm so excited!

Unofficially, unofficially.

[laughs] Unofficially.

[laughs] [all talking] Girl, we did it.

[Elaine] Say something.

What are we doing, a picture?

What are we doing?

[Elaine] Say something.

It's too close to concede, and it's too close to declare a victory.

It's 400 votes, but we're up, and I'm winning, so... [all cheering, Ricky laughs] [Ricky] So... there's still mail-in ballots to count and provisionals, so, this is probably going to drag out for another week or two.

But if it stays the way we are right now, we should win.

So... [all clapping, Ricky laughs] [all cheering] [Ricky] No one can take this vote away from us.

[laughs] [woman] The first Latino.

Yeah, we made history, y'all.

We made history.

[Elaine] We did a good job.

[cork pops] Couldn't have done it without y'all.

Yay!

Okay.

I've got... [laughs] I'd better... [woman] Cheers for Hurtado!

[laughs] [woman] Cheers!

Cheers, y'all.

[glasses clinking] [Ricky laughs] Cheers to y'all too, to Cindy, Elaine, Emma, and Yaz, and the partners, Louise here.

It felt so good.

[laughs] Our wives were used to it.

[Ricky laughs] Yeah, I think one of the main reasons I wanted... ♪