John,

I can't believe this is where we are in our country.

Yesterday, multiple states held their state and congressional primary elections, including Michigan and Missouri. Without a primary opponent, my re-election campaign is advancing to the general election.

But my Sister in Service Congresswoman Cori Bush lost her re-election after being targeted by a U.S.-based Israeli lobby group that suppresses free speech and funds insurrectionists, anti-abortion candidates, and anyone who is as obsessed as they are with ethnically cleansing Palestinians. AIPAC spent over $25 million to defeat Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman this summer, making their primary elections the two most expensive in U.S. history.

Cori Bush is so real that she shook Congress. She walked into the U.S. House of Representatives in 2021 completely unafraid and only had one mission: save lives now. She isn't just a Congresswoman. She is a wife, a mother, a nurse, and someone who knows how important access to abortion care and housing is because our systems failed her too.

Cori never hesitated to call out state-funded violence here at home and abroad. We are approaching the 10th anniversary of the tragic murder of Michael Brown, and his memory sparked the Ferguson uprisings where Cori got her start in activism. She met Palestinian activists in Ferguson and learned about the oppression they faced as well.

Thank you for supporting Cori’s re-election—many of you donated and volunteered to connect with voters. Unfortunately, far-right billionaires drowned out the people’s voices because they’re afraid of our growing power. AIPAC has been involved in politics for decades, but it wasn’t until after I won with other members of the Squad in 2018 that AIPAC started a Super PAC and began spending big to take down pro-Palestine progressives.

We can’t let big money stop our movement. We must continue to work to elect candidates up and down the ballot who will dare to say that Palestinians deserve to live and that our government must stop funding war crimes.

Even in the face of Cori’s electoral defeat, there is still hope and we are still building power. For example, two of our endorsed pro-ceasefire candidates won their primaries yesterday in Michigan.

Tonya Myers Phillips is an attorney for economic and social justice who protects tenants’ rights in Detroit and across the state. Tonya won her Democratic primary election for State Representative and will move on to the general election.

State Representative Dylan Wegela also won his Democratic primary. Dylan is a school teacher and one of only 24 Michigan legislators who sent a letter to President Biden last November demanding a permanent ceasefire. In a state where 93% of state lawmakers have taken money from the utility monopoly DTE, Dylan is championing legislation to ban utility corporations from giving political contributions.

I founded our Rooted in Community Leadership PAC to support fearless working class and progressive candidates who want to run for office to champion the rights of marginalized people.

We need your support today to fight back against right-wing billionaires who are trying to rig our democracy in the face of a growing movement for Palestinians’ rights and the rights of all marginalized people. Donate to our Rooted in Community Leadership PAC today to send progressive champions to serve in office and build a government that works for all of us.

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Together, we will keep fighting for an inclusive future where our communities not only survive, but thrive.

In solidarity,

Rashida