John -- 

In this email, I’m going to ask you to make a donation before my final quarterly FEC deadline of the General Election. But first, I hope you’ll give me a chance to explain why your donation matters -- especially right now.

My race to flip California's 8th District has been surging in the last couple of weeks. Inside Elections just listed CA-08 as a key “Race to Watch.” We also got poll results showing that when voters hear my core message, this race is a dead heat at 46%-45%.

To sum it up, this is our best shot in decades to flip this seat, but it depends on getting our message out. That’s why my opponent Jay Obernolte has loaned and given himself over $1 million in order to drown us out on the airwaves.

So here’s the part where I ask:

We set an ambitious target of raising $50,000 in online contributions before our FEC deadline hits on Wednesday. Can you chip in $10 or more right away to help us meet this mark?

Thanks to you, we’ve been able to get our latest ad up on TV.

We’ve sent out thousands of postcards and placed dozens of barn signs too. That’s paying off in spades in terms of attracting new supporters to our campaign. But next week’s deadline is a huge test for us.

Put simply, whether or not we win hinges on persuading more undecided voters between now and Election Day.

Please chip in $10 more today. We’ll put your donation right to work converting new voters before November 3rd.

Thanks so much,

Chris