John,

It's been a while since I shared a bit more about myself and why I'm in this race to flip New York's 17th District. I want to take a moment to tell you what this fight means to me, but if you're already fired up and ready to help me win in just over two weeks, chip in now to help flip NY-17 blue and retake the House.

I didn't have it easy growing up. My grandfather was a janitor, and my grandmother cleaned homes. Mom struggled with mental illness, and we often relied on government assistance to put food on the table. But thanks to the support and encouragement I received from my family and the Rockland community, I went from East Ramapo public schools to Harvard Law.

As someone who grew up poor, Black, and gay, I never saw anyone like me running for office, let alone the U.S. House of Representatives. In fact, someone like me had never been elected to Congress—whether from the Hudson Valley or anywhere in America.

But I decided to run anyway—and with the help of our grassroots, people-powered movement, we shocked Washington's political establishment and won.

I was proud to be part of the most productive Congress in modern history. From rescuing the American economy during COVID to lowering prescription drug costs for seniors like my grandma and defending our democracy—we accomplished a lot for working families like my own.

But right now, Mike Lawler represents my district after winning by only 1,820 votes. A career political operative, Lawler will say anything you want to hear, but do whatever Mike Johnson and the extreme MAGA Republicans tell him to do. He's slick like the Big Oil industry he used to lobby for. And he must be defeated in order for Democrats to retake the House.

We have a real chance to make that happen. The latest poll shows Mike Lawler is leading by one point. But outside groups—including Elon Musk's super PAC—are spending millions to defeat me. They know control of the House will come down to this race. We need to fight back with everything we've got in these final days.

I'm ready to get back to Congress and continue fighting for working families, but I can't get there without you. Will you chip in right away to help me defeat Lawler and his outside spending allies so we can flip this seat?