What Remains After Election Day

a novella of politics and love

Claire Whitman has spent her career doing everything by the book. As Ohio’s sitting Attorney General, she’s respected, prepared, and relentlessly controlled. But as her re-election campaign tightens, polling reveals a problem strategy alone can’t solve: voters don’t feel connected to her.

Daniel Reyes has built his life far from politics, leading disaster-response efforts rooted in trust, presence, and community. When the campaign asks him to appear as Claire’s partner, the arrangement is supposed to be simple—temporary, contained, and purely strategic.

It isn’t.

As public appearances blur into shared days, late conversations, and quiet choices made without cameras, the line between performance and reality begins to erode. The campaign gains momentum. The scrutiny intensifies. And both Claire and Daniel are forced to confront what it means to choose each other when the world is watching—and when it finally isn’t.