Hi John,

I know you’re probably receiving more fundraising emails than usual right now, so I wanted to take a moment to explain what these messages mean to our campaign, and why you're seeing more of them from us (and likely many others) than usual.

Tomorrow we close the books on our quarterly FEC fundraising deadline. When it ends, we all report how much money we've raised between April 1st and June 30th, and those results will be looked at with a fine-tooth comb by the press, our opponents and even potential allies.

What we report is widely viewed as an indicator of our campaign's strength. These numbers will invite attacks if opponents think we are weak or encourage our allies to do more to help us win if they are strong.

We’ve set an ambitious goal of raising $15,000 before this month’s FEC deadline, and John, my campaign is powered by small donations from folks like you who give what they can, when they can. Can I count on you to chip in $5 – or any amount – before our end-of-quarter deadline on Sunday at midnight?

Thank you for your continued support – I couldn’t do it without you, John.

– Valerie Foushee