Hey everyone,
 
   By now you’ve probably heard that we are suspending our campaign for Congress. This last Sunday following the CD6 convention, Tawnja Zahradka won the DFL nomination, and I have always been direct about my willingness to abide by the endorsement.

   Not to be melodramatic, but this is a bit of an end of an era for me. I’ve been campaigning since I separated from the Air Force in 2017, and as we close up shop, I really do feel like I’m losing a piece of myself. The campaign was such a massive part of my life, and it’s surreal for it to end.

   I don’t want anyone to worry about me, though. The campaign has also been a heavy weight I carried with me everywhere I went. It was all encompassing. I was proud to bear the burden, though, because I was doing it for all of you. It always felt right, and I will always look back on these years with great pride and as a source of inspiration for future endeavors. Now I have the chance to stop for a second, take inventory, and press forward once again in a different direction.

   I’ll continue working on my Biochemistry and Molecular Biology degree. Science is my other great passion in life, so I’ll be giving that the focus it deserves. Denise and I are also trying to start our family. Perhaps it’s best that we won’t have two life-altering events going on in our lives at the same time, right? I will also continue posting and sharing my opinions through various media. I may not have received the DFL endorsement, but I’m no less opinionated, verbose, or passionate because of it.

   I want to thank all of you again for everything you’ve done for this campaign and for me. Most of you on this email list are donors. That makes this list a valuable commodity in the political world, and strangely enough, it belongs to me personally now. I won’t sell it. I’ve always been a bit disgusted by the act of selling personal information, and now that I have the opportunity to benefit from such an act, I won’t take it. I think that’s the respectful thing to do for all of you that have been so kind and generous to me. Also, your inboxes are probably full enough as is.

   However, I will keep this list and continue to expand it. I cannot say with any certainty exactly what our new “This is Ian Todd” brand that we’ve been switching campaign social media accounts into will be, but I will use this email list to tell you about it as we slowly figure it out. Now, I understand everyone on this list signed up to learn about, follow, and/or support a candidate for political office and not to hear from some guy who does political podcasts or what-have-you. If you choose to unsubscribe (bottom of every email), I completely understand. However, I will use this list if I run again, and while that may be a while from now, I’d love to still have all of you here for that.

   Once again, thank you for everything. I’ve been blown away by how passionate you all are about the issues that matter to you. I showed up for another run against Emmer this time because of that passion and conviction, and I know it hasn’t gone anywhere. Keep up the fight! It will always be worth the struggle.
 
Your friend,
Ian Todd