--- title: Wendy Davis Moving On After 2016 Election description: Find out why Wendy Davis, known for her Texas filibuster, told women not to wallow after the 2016 presidential election. canonical: https://time.com/4626117/wendy-davis-moving-on-election/ author: Samantha Cooney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-06T17:49:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:04:19.197Z og:title: Wendy Davis Says Not to Let Post-Election Blues Ruin Your 2017 og:description: 'There's too much at stake' og:url: https://time.com/4626117/wendy-davis-moving-on-election/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt713818a4265167a7/6988b49f428a9e7b78cd5668/wendy-davis-donald-trump-essay.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Wendy Davis is running for gov. of Texas og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Wendy Davis Says Not to Let Post-Election Blues Ruin Your 2017 twitter:description: 'There's too much at stake' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt713818a4265167a7/6988b49f428a9e7b78cd5668/wendy-davis-donald-trump-essay.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Wendy Davis Says Not to Let Post-Election Blues Ruin Your 2017  by [Samantha Cooney](https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Jan 6, 2017 5:49 PM UTC  Wendy Davis Wendy DavisFort Worth Star-Telegram—MCT via Getty Images  by [Samantha Cooney](https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Jan 6, 2017 5:49 PM UTC [Wendy Davis](http://motto.time.com/4383983/wendy-davis-supreme-court-abortion/?iid=sr-link1), the former Democratic Texas state senator who gained national prominence for [her 11-hour filibuster](http://time.com/3318582/wendy-davis-filibuster-memoir/) against a bill on abortion restrictions, doesn’t want women to wallow during [Donald Trump](http://motto.time.com/4538293/donald-trump-partial-birth-abortion-third-debate/)‘s presidency. Davis wrote [an essay for Bustle](https://www.bustle.com/articles/201335-why-we-cant-wallow-in-2017-thats-a-good-thing-according-to-wendy-davis) about how women should respond to the disappointment they may feel due to [Hillary Clinton’s loss](http://motto.time.com/4361320/hillary-clinton-democratic-nomination-women/) and [President-elect Donald Trump’s](http://motto.time.com/4565567/donald-trump-women-election/) upcoming presidency. Davis never refers to Trump or Clinton by name, but she warns of a potentially “hostile” administration and a lost hope of seeing “a woman raise her right hand..to assume the oval office.” As Trump prepares to take office, many women are concerned with what’s at stake for [women’s healthcare](http://motto.time.com/4624230/planned-parenthood-federal-funding-obamacare-repeal/) and [reproductive rights](http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/14/politics/trump-gay-marriage-abortion-supreme-court/). “So …… What to do?” The answer to that question, according to Davis, shouldn’t include being complacent. “I could continue to reel in the disappointment that we still have so far to go. But I know the danger in that. Wallowing is a luxury we can’t afford,” she said. “There’s too much at stake.” But Davis says women shouldn’t be complacent. “I could continue to reel in the disappointment that we still have so far to go. But I know the danger in that. Wallowing is a luxury we can’t afford,” she said. “There’s too much at stake.” Davis has criticized Trump before, [calling his statements](http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2016/09/30/wendy-davis-hits-donald-trump-mind-boggling-criticism-former-miss-universe) about [Former Miss Universe Alicha Machado](http://motto.time.com/4512911/the-new-yorker-turns-donald-trump-into-a-beauty-queen/) “mind-boggling” and other comments about women [“derogatory.”](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/wendy-davis-donald-trump-sexism%5Fus%5F56b14f76e4b08069c7a576f2) She told [_Rolling Stone_](http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/wendy-davis-on-abortion-rights-win-and-why-women-should-fear-trump-20160627)in Junethat a Trump presidency would likely unravel progress on women’s reproductive rights, civil rights and immigration. “We are our actions. And in 2017 we’ll give meaning to our words through the actions we will take. One by one by one. Until, finally, we’ll make the change we want to see,” Davis said. \[[Bustle](https://www.bustle.com/articles/201335-why-we-cant-wallow-in-2017-thats-a-good-thing-according-to-wendy-davis)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4626117/wendy-davis-moving-on-election/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4626117/wendy-davis-moving-on-election/"},"headline":"Wendy Davis Says Not to Let Post-Election Blues Ruin Your 2017","datePublished":"2017-01-06T17:49:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:04:19.197Z","description":"'There's too much at stake'","url":"https://time.com/4626117/wendy-davis-moving-on-election/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt713818a4265167a7/6988b49f428a9e7b78cd5668/wendy-davis-donald-trump-essay.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Cooney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt713818a4265167a7/6988b49f428a9e7b78cd5668/wendy-davis-donald-trump-essay.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Wendy Davis is running for gov. of Texas","caption":"Wendy Davis is running for gov. of Texas","creditText":"Fort Worth Star-Telegram—MCT via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4626117/wendy-davis-moving-on-election/","name":"Wendy Davis Says Not to Let Post-Election Blues Ruin Your 2017"}}]}] ```