Is your inbox filling up — even more than usual — with fundraising emails right now? And is everyone of them slightly panicked about an impending deadline and urgently asking you to “rush” a donation?

I’m guessing yes, because tomorrow — Tuesday, September 30th — is the last day of Q3, and every federal candidate is legally required by the FEC to file a public campaign finance report of everything they raise, every single quarter.

These finance reports might seem kind of arbitrary, but they have wide-reaching implications for campaigns. Strong reports can lead to additional support, positive press coverage, larger investments from allies — even a cooling of your opponent’s attack efforts, if they feel like you’re in such a good position that attacking you wouldn’t be money well-spent.

Weak reports have the opposite effect. The reality is, people don’t really enjoy supporting candidates they don’t feel can win, so a weak finance report throws cold water on any momentum they might’ve had. Plus, it can be like blood in the water for an opponent — if they know someone isn’t raising enough money to compete, they’ll treat it as an opening to escalate, spending more and pushing harder.

So as much as I shudder at overly dramatic political emails that try to scare people into donating with false urgency and fake deadlines — this end-of-quarter FEC deadline is very real.

I don’t talk about these deadlines as often as other candidates because many times, I’m in a good spot with campaign fundraising and I want to keep my focus with this team on talking about the issues that matter to all of us.

This deadline, though, I am coming to you. Right now, my team is fighting on three fronts:

We’re on the ground working hard to help get Prop 50 passed in California so we can fight back against the GOP’s rigged redistricting efforts.
We’re preparing for my own re-election — because under these new maps, CA-51 will become more competitive for Republicans.
We’re mapping out all the ways we can support other Democrats around the country next year, from vulnerable incumbents to exciting new challengers looking to flip seats.

All three of those things take resources, and what we raise by this FEC deadline on Tuesday will have an impact on how much we can do.

So if you can afford to contribute, will you chip in today? Our average donation to emails this month is $31, but any amount will make a difference.