Dear friend,

The results are in from today’s primary election in Mississippi, and I’m thrilled to let you know that I am the projected winner in the Democratic race for U.S. Senate!

Thank you, Mississippi Democrats, for trusting me to represent you in the U.S. Senate and trusting me to take on and defeat Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith in November. I am humbled by your support and look forward to being your next Senator from Mississippi.

I also want to thank Tobey Bartee and Jensen Bohren for stepping forward and running. Running for public office is no easy task, and I thank them for putting themselves forward.

Now we enter the real contest: the campaign to decide what we want the next decade to look like for Mississippi. Will we choose a decade of promise, where we fight for affordable and readily available health care? Where we fight for public education that fosters the next generation of leaders, scientists and artists? Do we fight for a fair and equitable criminal justice system that doesn't treat you differently because of the color of your skin, or do we cling to the old symbols of the past that have divided us and held so many Mississippians back from reaching their full potential?

I believe that Mississippians are reaching for that new decade of promise. I believe Mississippians are looking for a leader we can ALL be proud of, a leader who will help bring about that progress. Our current representative in the U.S. Senate, Cindy Hyde-Smith, has shown us in her brief tenure who she really is. She has shown us that she is just another hyper-partisan follower who puts party fealty above all else. Whether it's her 'jokes' about public hangings, voter suppression at the 'other universities' or her willingness to compromise election security because her party bosses ordered her to vote no, Senator Hyde-Smith has shown that she is a fixture of the past – a past Mississippians are ready to leave behind.

I am excited to begin this campaign as your Democratic Nominee for U.S. Senate. It is time for Mississippi to have an advocate we can all be proud of, an advocate that can bring people together to bring good-paying jobs to Mississippi, that can fight for quality health care from the Delta to the Gulf Coast. An advocate who will always put Mississippi before party, before ideology.

So if you are ready to join us in this campaign, if you are ready to build this new decade of promise with us, then get off the porch, get off the couch, and get involved with our campaign.

You can start by making a grassroots contribution of any amount to fuel our campaign these next seven months right now:

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Contribute, volunteer, tweet, talk to your friends about registering to vote, and do everything you can to help us win in November and move Mississippi forward!

Thanks again. Now, let’s get to work.

Mike