John,

North Carolina's newly redrawn congressional map became final yesterday. I have officially been drawn out of my district and into a deep red seat that leans Republican by 15 points. It is completely unwinnable under any circumstances.

It is blatant political corruption by a small group of politicians, but I've got news for them:

I am running to be North Carolina’s next Attorney General.

Our current Attorney General, Josh Stein, is running for Governor, so it’s an open seat.

My likely opponent will be Rep. Dan Bishop (R), also of Charlotte. You might recognize his name as the author of HB2, the bathroom bill, and as one of the members of the right-flank that’s been causing the chaos in Congress.

The election will be November 2024, just over 12 months from now.

Those are the basics. Here’s why I’m running:

The job of the Attorney General is to protect people. It’s our state’s top prosecutor, but also plays a direct role in guarding against consumer fraud, keeping kids safe online, combating the opioid epidemic, and protecting clean air and water.

I’m a former prosecutor, current Major in the U.S. Army JAG Corps, and I’ve spent many years in elected office working on all of those issues.

Put all that together, and I think I’m built for this job.

I’ve talked it over with Marisa, and we agree that - as unfortunate as it was to be drawn out of my congressional district - it also created the opportunity to serve the whole state.

I’m sure that wasn’t the intention of the politicians who redrew the map, but then again, the consequences of corruption are often unpredictable.

And in this case, they may include electing a new Attorney General who will never, ever shy away from going after political corruption, no matter which party.

Two last things I need you to know:

First, this is going to be an extremely close race. The final margin will likely be less than 2%.

Second, as I’m still a member of Congress through the rest of my term, you’ll continue to get weekly updates. Only now, they’ll also include occasional bits about life on the campaign trail.

To my surprise, this has become one of the most widely read political newsletters in the country. That gives all of you an incredible amount of power - together, you can propel a statewide campaign just by your donations through this newsletter.

If that happens, it means we can run the type of campaign I want to run: people-based and no corporate PAC money (just as I’ve taken no corporate PAC money as a member of Congress).

Our family is excited. We’re ready to roll. We’re giving this everything we’ve got, and we’d love for the very first day to be a big hit.

If you can help by chipping in here, I’d really appreciate it.

If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately:

A huge piece of this campaign will be powered by monthly contributions to our effort. It allows us to budget and plan with clarity. If you’re able, you can become a monthly donor here.

Thank you, as always,

Jeff