Hey, friend – it's Sherrod.

This isn't the email I wanted to write, but I really have no other choice. Unfortunately, a brand-new poll shows me neck and neck with my millionaire GOP opponents.

So my team just set an urgent end-of-month goal to raise $300,000 to make sure we have the resources we need to fight back and pull ahead. But if we fail to reach this, we could fall behind, right as the election year starts.

So please, friend, will you rush $5 right now to help me reach my end-of-month goal, take the lead, and win in Ohio?

Look, winning this race will be anything but easy: Mitch McConnell has personally named me a top target for defeat – and my GOP opponents are writing themselves multi-million dollar checks to try and buy this seat.

My campaign relies on $5 donations, not million-dollar checks, friend. Now, I'm proud of that, but it also means I need folks like you chipping in what you can, when you can, to power our campaign to victory.

So if I'm going to surge ahead in the polls, I need everyone reading this email to help me reach my fundraising goal now.

I know you care about keeping this seat blue and defending our razor-thin Senate majority, so I'm counting on you to make your first gift: Will you rush $5 or more right now to help me hit my goal and win in Ohio?

Thanks for chipping in.

– Sherrod