John,

In case you missed it: last night Spotlight candidate Fabian Nelson won his runoff, coming one step closer to securing his place in history as the first out LGBTQ+ person ever elected to the Mississippi state legislature.

Fabian is a phenomenal candidate, and he earned this victory. I know he'll stand as a shining example for Mississippi's underrepresented LGBTQ+ community. But that's not the only reason this win is so satisfying: Victory Fund went all-in to support Fabian's campaign. Here's how:

• At the beginning of Fabian's campaign, we deployed staff on the ground, helping him draft his narrative, campaign messaging strategy and literature;
• Victory staff organized phone banks and joined Fabian on the campaign trail, knocking doors and organizing volunteers;
• We promoted his campaign to our national network, ensuring access to new supporters (like you!) and encouraged other organizations to show their support;
• Thanks to our national network of advocates, we were able to raise over $50,000 that went towards Fabian's campaign!

Fabian put in the work - and we ensured it paid off. But I’ll be honest. We do not have the resources to provide this level of support to more than a handful of candidates (and we've endorsed over 200 candidates!). Many of our candidates this cycle have faced homophobic and transphobic attacks and with additional resources we could do so much more. Will you contribute $20, $40, $100 or whatever you can afford so we can expand our team and help more candidates like Fabian?

This victory represents the time, effort and countless hours it takes to help our candidates win. But these efforts are worth it: we're showing people that LGBTQ+ candidates can win in unexpected places. They can win in states like California or Massachusetts, and they can win in states like Texas and Nebraska. They can win in the Deep South, where anti-LGBTQ laws are rampant. They can win anywhere.

We want to keep working, to ensure that LGBTQ+ candidates like Fabian can shatter rainbow ceilings and bring much-needed representation to their states. But we can't do it alone. Donate today so we can do this for all our LGBTQ+ candidates and secure more victories!

Thank you for all you do,

Mayor Annise Parker
Pronouns: she|her|hers
President & CEO, LGBTQ+ Victory Fund