I'll be honest, I never thought I'd be here, running to represent Montana in the U.S. Senate. Growing up in Montana's capital, we didn't focus much on politics. When the Big Sky is your backyard, there are more interesting things for a kid to do.

I delivered newspapers as a kid, and the governor's house was on my route. That's the only reason I even knew it was there.

Most people don't have time to think about politics. But we all want the same basic things in life -- clean air and water, good health care, and the ability to keep a roof over your head and build a good future for your family.

If we focus on the issues that bring us together, we can make a meaningful difference in people's lives. It's what we've done here in Montana during my time as governor, and it's what I plan to do as Montana's next U.S. Senator.

The fact is Washington is broken. Corporate special interests and millionaire donors use their fortunes to buy influence while working people get left behind. I'm running to make Washington work more like Montana, and we're building our campaign the right way, without any contributions from corporate PACs.

That means I'm counting on donations from people like you to win. Will you pitch in to build our grassroots campaign from the ground up?

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Long after my newspaper route ended, I came back to Montana to take a job in the Attorney General's office. I got to work representing the people of Montana in the courtroom. It taught me how our government was a place where we could come together around our common interests, our common goals, and our common dreams.

Now, we're raising our kids in the same house I delivered newspapers to as a kid. Montana provided me and my family with the opportunity to make the improbable possible. The Big Sky has always allowed people to dream.

But politicians in Washington are more interested in the partisan food fight of the day and kowtowing to their donors than in making sure this country continues to give everyone the same opportunities I had growing up in Helena.

Together, we can make Washington a place that works for all of us. It's going to take a strong grassroots movement to win this election. Can I count on your support today?

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Montanans have a healthy distrust of politicians. Always have and always will. But as we've shown over the last few months, it's a place where people would do anything for their neighbor. It's the Montana way.

That's the kind of attitude we need more of in Washington. Let's bring it there.

All my best,

-- Steve