John, in a moment I'm going to ask you to rush a donation to Rep. Barbara Lee's campaign for California's Senate seat, but first I want to explain why I've decided to personally endorse her campaign. 

Barbara Lee’s progressive leadership has been shaped by a lifetime of organizing. As a teenager, she joined forces with the NAACP to integrate her high school cheerleading squad and become her school's first Black cheerleader. As a young adult, Barbara found her way to Washington, D.C., where she worked all the way up from an intern to chief of staff at a time when so few leaders were women, and even fewer were Black. And then, in 1998, Barbara Lee was elected to represent the 9th District of California.

Barbara Lee is truly a champion for justice – and nowhere is that more clear than throughout her 25-year voting record in the House of Representatives.

When our nation suffered through the tragedy of 9/11, Rep. Lee was the only Member of Congress courageous enough to vote against giving George W. Bush unlimited war powers. In the years that followed, Rep. Lee continued to be a trailblazer for progressive policies – voting for climate action, cannabis legalization, fair housing, abortion rights and more before the Democratic Party had even took up those fights. 

John, it's for all of these reasons and more that I am honored to call Barbara Lee a colleague, a mentor and a friend. And it's for these reasons that I am endorsing her run for Senate now – because I know she will make the state of California proud.

But right now, Rep. Lee is facing a steep fundraising deficit that she must make up if she has any chance of making it to the Senate. So I have to ask: Please, will you rush a donation to Barbara Lee's campaign to help send her to the Senate so she can build a progressive future for all?

Thank you for taking the time to understand why I've decided to endorse Rep. Lee. With your help, we can help her become just the third Black woman ever to serve in the Senate. 

Thanks,

Rep. Ilhan Omar