Hi there, it's Mark Takano.

I'm reaching out to ask you to split $25 between Sharice Davids and Will Rollins’ campaign before his end-of-quarter deadline hits. But before I do, I want to share more about my coming out experience and how it relates to Will’s campaign.

In 1994, my Republican opponent outed me as gay by sending out bigoted, homophobic campaign mailers in our race.

This was before I'd even come out publicly.

Coming out is extremely personal, so you can imagine my horror finding out I had been outed so publicly -- and in such a hateful way.

And you might be familiar with the person who did it… any guesses?

That’s right – it was Ken Calvert, the same Republican Will Rollins is now running to unseat.

Calvert blamed “the times” and claims he has since changed, but his attacks on the LGBTQ+ community haven’t. He voted against the Matthew Shepard hate crimes bill. He voted against gay adoption and voted to keep us out of the military.

I can’t think of a stronger rebuke of Calvert's long-standing, anti-LGBTQ+ agenda than replacing him with an openly gay prosecutor who will uphold the law and fight for equal rights.

Will can win, but he’ll need your support to do it:

Will’s race happens to be one of the most consequential elections in the country in the Democrats’ effort to retake the House. If you can, please split $25 or more between Sharice Davids and Will’s campaign before his end-of-quarter deadline.

Thank you,

Mark Takano
Congressman, California’s 39th District