I wanted you to be the first to know, John:

This week, I officially filed for reelection in Illinois’ 13th district.

Before I explain more about the significance of this moment, will you become a Founding Donor and help kick my campaign off strong by splitting a contribution of $10 or more between my campaign and HER Time?

I was born in Peoria, Illinois where my parents taught me from a young age the importance of family, community, and service to others.

Thanks to the values instilled in me by my family, I’ve spent my entire life fighting on behalf of working families.

After graduating college, I traveled the country fighting to get hardworking people the pay and workplace safety conditions they deserve. I worked for the International Association of Fire Fighters’ union to help look out for our first responders who put their lives on the line for us every day and make sure they have the equipment, training, and health protections they need. Then I stood with United Food and Commercial Workers International Workers union, helping successfully secure a fair day’s pay and workplace protections at dangerous processing plants.

As a senior advisor to Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, I successfully brought workers, small businesses, and elected officials to the negotiating table and secured a $15 minimum wage so that all working families across Illinois can maintain a decent standard of living.

But I knew I needed to do more. So I took my fight to Congress to build on my accomplishments and ensure that every family across the country has access to affordable education, reproductive healthcare, and accessible child care — leaving no one behind.

This grassroots movement supported me all the way through Election Day and helped me make history by electing me as the first woman to represent IL-13 and flipping this seat blue for the first time in decades.

Since then, I’ve cut through the noise and gridlock to build bipartisan relationships in Washington to lower everyday costs for working families, invest in economic development for rural communities, and make quality healthcare more accessible. And my work is just getting started.

That’s why I am so grateful to you and our entire movement for powering my campaign’s efforts to gather the required signatures needed to get my name on the ballot to run for election here in Illinois.

It is because you’ve opened emails, chipped in when you can, and offered your support by knocking door to door that I was able to file moments ago and can now officially kick off my reelection campaign.

It was no easy feat to get my name on the ballot. But with National Republicans already eyeing our district and looking to spend big to expand their narrow House majority, this is just the beginning of our fight to reelect me in 2024.

If you can, please split a contribution between my campaign and HER Time today to become a Founding Donor and help us start my official reelection campaign with momentum:

If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your split donation to Nikki Budzinski and HER Time will go through immediately:

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for being an important part of this team.

— Nikki