When eight-year-old Martha Kennedy Morales ran for class president and lost – by a single vote – to a popular boy, it resonated with someone who’d had a very similar experience.

That would be Hillary Rodham Clinton, who lost the so-called popular vote (which veteran MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell constantly reminds his audience is, in most other countries, simply “the vote”) by a mere 3 million, to a more popular boy back in 2016.

Recognising a kindred spirit, the former presidential candidate penned a personal letter to Martha.

“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, according to The Washington Post. “The most important thing is that you fought for what you believed in, and that is always worth it.”

Martha had decided to run in her combined class of third- and fourth-graders during a study unit on US government, against a “popular fourth-grade boy,” The Washington Post said. Six of the ballots were rendered invalid because they were not correctly filled out, and when all the eligible votes had been counted, the boy garnered one more, making Martha vice president.

But the last thing she expected was a note from the first woman ever to be nominated by a major political party for the office of President. Running against Donald Trump, Clinton lost the 2016 election after a contentious campaign.

"It was really touching to know that Hillary Clinton herself sent me a letter," Martha told CNN. "That doesn't happen every day."