John,

I'm running against unelected Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R) in Georgia's runoff special election, and I need your help: While my opponent is a former Wall Street exec who has cashed in on her public office, been accused of insider trading and uses dog-whistle politics to spread hate and division, I'm a pastor who's devoted my life to service. I'm running for Senate to stand up to corrupt leaders like Loeffler and restore moral leadership to our government.

Winning this race is now the only way Democrats can take back the Senate. Right now, a new poll shows me just 1 point ahead of Loeffler – but while she's spending $23 million of her personal fortune to buy this seat, we're running a people-powered campaign that depends on grassroots support.

Unfortunately, at this critical moment, we're falling short of our next critical fundraising goal – and without your help, we won't have what we need to fund our ads, get out the vote and win this race: Please, will you give $5 or more now to win in Georgia, take back the Senate for Democrats and restore moral leadership to our government?

Mitch McConnell-aligned Super PACs are pouring historic sums of money into this race – and Mitch McConnell himself has mobilized the full force of the GOP establishment to funnel in millions more. Simply put: He's terrified that his Senate majority is in serious danger.

Well, they're right to be scared. We've proven all the pundits wrong, forced the GOP into a runoff election in battleground Georgia, and now, our campaign is surging ahead in the polls.

But here's the deal: Despite our unprecedented success, my opponent is the wealthiest member of Congress – and she continues to outraise and outspend us by writing herself staggering million-dollar checks.

In a race this high stakes, and this close, we cannot afford to fall short of our critical midnight fundraising goal – it could mean throwing away our last chance to take back the Senate and end Mitch McConnell's extremist majority.

Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight says we've got the best chance to win this race – but not without your grassroots support. So if you care about flipping Georgia blue, defeating Mitch McConnell and restoring the kind of moral leadership that our government is lacking, I'm counting on you:

Please, John, will you contribute $5 or more right now to help us meet our critical goal so we can win in Georgia and take back the Senate for Democrats?

We're on the verge of making history – because of you. Thank you.

Raphael Warnock