Today, I conceded the race in our NJ-11 special election primary. While this is obviously not the result we wanted, I want you to know how grateful I am to you for believing in me and for your support and encouragement these last few weeks.

The winner of the race, Analilia Mejia, deserves unequivocal credit for running a positive campaign and for inspiring so many voters on Election Day. I hope you will support her in special general election in April. It is essential that we send a Democrat to Washington to fill this seat, not a rubber stamp for Trump.

Unfortunately, the outcome of our race cannot be understood without also taking into account the massive flood of dark money that AIPAC spent on dishonest ads, which falsely accused me of supporting Trump’s immigration crackdown, during the last three weeks. I wanted so much to be able to tell you today that this effort, which was meant to intimidate Democrats across the country, failed in NJ-11.

But the huge difference between the early vote, which we were winning comfortably, and the Election Day vote, suggests that it had a major effect. I met several voters in the final days of the campaign who had seen the ads and asked me, sincerely: “Are you MAGA? Are you for ICE?”

I come away from this experience believing even more strongly that unlimited dark money poses a threat to our democracy — whether it’s being spent by AIPAC or by special interests like the cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence lobbies. These groups demand that members of Congress pledge 100% fealty to their unpopular positions or risk being destroyed by a massively funded deluge of personal attacks. Our Democratic Party must have the courage to stand up to these groups. We must remember that they need us — so that they can pretend to be bipartisan — much more than we need them. The American people will be with us if we do.

My beliefs don’t change based on who is supporting or attacking me. I’m proud that we ran a campaign that stayed true to our convictions, and thankful to everyone who volunteered, donated, and voted. I trust you will continue to pour your heart and soul into the cause of restoring decency and democracy to the country we love, including by supporting good Democrats in this year’s midterm elections. My work, too, is far from finished. I look forward to seeing you on the trail!

Thank you as always,

Tom