Hi, friend – I know your inbox is probably full of emails, but with just hours left until the most important election of our lifetimes, it's the best way I have to reach you.

At the end of this, I'm going to ask you to make a contribution to our people-powered campaign so we can flip Georgia blue and take back the Senate for Democrats. But if you'll give me a moment, I'd like to explain why your support is so critical today.

I never once imagined I'd run for U.S. Senate. You see, I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth – not even close. I had 11 brothers and sisters and grew up in public housing on the west side of Savannah, Georgia.

With hard work, determination and support from my family and community – including a Pell Grant – I went from public housing to Morehouse College, where I became the first in my family to earn a college degree. I've devoted my life to service, and I'm proud to serve as the senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church, the spiritual home of Martin Luther King Jr. But the opportunities that made my journey possible are growing further and further out of reach for too many of my fellow Georgians.

I'm running to change that – so that ordinary people, like you and me, can have a voice in our democracy and a path to prosperity.

I'll be honest – it's not going to be easy. The U.S. Senate has only had 10 (!) Black senators in its entire history. If I win, I'd be the first Black senator elected from Georgia.

But in this difficult year, during which a pandemic has ravaged our country and peaceful protesters have taken to the streets to call for racial justice, I know that folks are ready for change.

Stacey Abrams planted the seeds for transformation here in 2018. In her historic bid to become the first Black woman governor in our nation's history, she built the most powerful grassroots movement in all of Georgia politics – and came within just 50,000 votes of victory in an election plagued by GOP-led voter suppression.

We can finish the fight this year, but we're facing the same obstacles Stacey faced, from voter suppression to cynical politicians who sow racial division. 

My opponent, unelected Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R), has attacked the Black Lives Matter movement, sat for interviews with white supremacists and embraced supporters of QAnon. And earlier this year, she was caught cashing in on the coronavirus crisis – dumping millions in stocks after receiving a private, senators-only briefing on the dangers of the disease.

Now that Kelly has voted to confirm the GOP's extremist nominee to the Supreme Court, retaking Senate control is the only way to protect our most fundamental rights. And to win the majority, analysts at The Washington Post say we have to flip Georgia blue.

That's why Kelly has upped her spending to $23 million of her personal fortune to buy this seat – and it's why Mitch McConnell is mobilizing the full force of the GOP establishment in the final moments of this race to flood Georgia with attack ads. 

A new poll shows our people-powered movement with 48% of the vote, putting us within striking distance of winning outright tomorrow – which means I could be sworn in immediately and help STOP Trump and McConnell's post-election plans.

But the polls don't mean anything without the grassroots support to back them up – and that's where you come in, friend. 

We're doing everything we can to keep our ads on the air, reach undecided voters and fund our final GOTV efforts – but all of that takes resources, and I refuse to take a single dime from corporate PACs. So I'm fully depending on folks like you pitching in what you can, when you can, to win this race.

That's why I'm personally reaching out, friend. We can prove everybody wrong and accomplish what was once thought a far-off dream: We can flip Georgia blue, end McConnell's toxic majority and restore true, moral leadership to our government.

But I can't win this fight alone. So please – join me: Will you give $5 or more right now so we can flip Georgia blue and take back the Senate for Democrats?

Thanks so much for reading – and for fighting with me for a brighter future.

Raphael Warnock