“Don’t stop believin’.” – Jonathan Cain, Neal Schon, and Steve Perry of the band Journey

When it comes to predicting election winners, I possess no special powers. If I see a political poll from a reputable organization, I assume it is as good of a guess as anything else.

So, if you woke up to any surprise electoral victories or losses on Wednesday, I will not try to fool you into thinking I knew it was coming.

Instead, I am going to channel my inner Ted Lasso and talk to you, beloved reader, about belief.

This election will mark the end of my father, Bob Fincher’s, time in public service, at least in an official capacity. He decided not to run for a fourth term in the Alabama House of Representatives.

For someone who made his living as a high school history teacher, it tickled me that Dad was able to create a tiny piece of history for himself by becoming the first Republican elected to his House seat since the days of Reconstruction following the Civil War – a span of more than 125 years.

And those who know him are acutely aware he was never a Johnny-come-lately Republican. Dad was a bright red dot in a bright blue state long before it was fashionable.

He can remember trying to convince family members to vote for Richard Nixon for president when Nixon lost to John F. Kennedy back in 1960, which would have made him 11 years old during that fall’s election season.

It might be unusual for a little boy to be interested in politics at that age. After all, my nine-year-old daughter teases me about how boring this column is every week. But for a boy to be interested in politics as well as insist upon voting Republican in the Solid South of 1960 was probably downright odd.

And yet he had belief in his convictions.

After moving to the Fincher ancestral homeland in Randolph County as a young adult, he had to ask the poll workers to find and unbox the Republican ballot when he voted in his first primary election as a county resident.

The poll workers were not being difficult. They just figured they were more likely to be raptured that day than have a voter ask for a Republican ballot.

Dad likes to say that even though ballots are supposed to be secret everyone knew how he voted in that primary since his was the only Republican ballot turned in at that box.

And yet he had belief in his convictions.

Voting Republican was one thing, but his goal was to build a functional party in the county. During those early years, there were only a handful of people in the county who would publicly admit to being a Republican. Finding people willing to run for local offices was borderline absurd.

He ran as a Republican himself a couple of times and lost. A friend once asked him why he did not just run as a Democrat. Outside of his political affiliation, many folks liked and respected him, so he could probably get elected. The answer was simple. He is not a Democrat.

To be sure, Dad had help from many people along the way. Some of them did not live to see the county flip Republican.

He also benefitted from a national political realignment far beyond his control that unfolded through the course of his life, but none of that was guaranteed. He was comfortable with letting people know where he stood even when he would not be standing with the crowd.

He had belief in his convictions.

So, I think I can speak for our family in saying that while we are proud of his legislative accomplishments, we might be most proud of his unshakeable principles and his determination to keep chasing them.

If we are being honest, had Dad been born a decade earlier, the political climate may have never provided him with the reward of representing a slice of east-central Alabama in the State House. Still, that would not have changed his values, and that is what makes him special.

I don’t know if the results of this week’s election left you feeling warm and fuzzy or feeling lower than a worm’s belly.

No matter your political views I hope you follow Dad’s example of staying involved in the process even when the results appear to be far removed from your own preferences. Your vote and your actions still count. Democracy is healthier when more people get involved in the process.

Have belief in your convictions.