John,

I’m Tim Kaine. Many of you know me as a U.S. Senator, but my passion for service and fighting for equality started long before I entered the public eye.

In my career, I’ve been a teacher, a missionary, a civil rights lawyer, a Mayor, Governor, Senator, and on the presidential ticket as a Vice Presidential candidate. But over the decades, one thing has never wavered: my commitment to improving life for hard-working Americans.

I grew up in Kansas City, where my Dad ran a union ironworking shop. My parents taught me the value of hard work, being kind, and serving others.

During my time in law school, I took a year off to volunteer as a missionary in Honduras, where I taught welding -- a skill I’d learned during weekends and summers in my Dad’s shop. While I was there, I witnessed an economic system where too few people controlled far too much of the wealth, and there began a commitment to expanding economic opportunity for everyone back at home.

After law school, my wife, Anne, and I moved to Richmond, started a family, joined a church, and made a home together with our three children.

I began work as a civil rights lawyer, representing people who were discriminated against by banks and landlords, insurance companies and local governments, anyone who treated people unfairly. Ten years later, I ran for City Council, knocked on every door of my district, and won by just 97 votes.

Since then, I’ve gone on to become Mayor of Richmond, Virginia’s 70th Governor, and a U.S. Senator.

Today, as I serve in the Capitol and run for reelection to the Senate, I’m still fighting for the issues that matter most to our communities -- like access to affordable health care, quality education, and economic opportunity for all.

But experts at FiveThirtyEight have called my race in Virginia a “pickup opportunity” for Republicans in the Senate this November. And with a razor-thin Democratic majority, we can’t afford to lose this seat.

If you want to see more progress on the issues you and I have been fighting for together for so long, I hope you’ll consider splitting a donation between Abigail Spanberger’s leadership PAC, SPAN PAC, and my campaign today.

Thanks for reading -- and for standing with me during my campaign to keep moving our Commonwealth and our country forward.

-Tim Kaine

P.S. Like many of you, I’m a huge music fan -- and I’m not bad on the harmonica. Some of my favorites are The Replacements, Charlie Parker, and the Carter Family.