Friend: With early voting underway here in Georgia, folks are turning out in record numbers, and I need your help to raise another $50,000 by midnight so we can keep our TV ads live and fund our critical get-out-the-vote efforts. But before I ask you to make a grassroots contribution, I'd like to tell you a story about a very special early voter: my mom. 

As a Black teenager growing up in Waycross, GA, in the 1950s, my mom used to pick somebody else's cotton. She raised 12 boys and girls in public housing on the west side of Savannah. And while money was short, Mom's love was always long – always telling us we could do anything we put our minds to.

Just the other day, those 82-year-old hands that used to pick somebody else's cotton picked her son to be a United States senator from Georgia, the first Black senator in our state's history. God bless you, Mom.

Thanks to Georgians just like my mom, we are on the cusp of winning both this runoff election and the Senate majority. A grassroots contribution from you – right here, right now, in these crucial final days – will make what Mom and I never could have dreamed of a reality. Can I count on your support?

I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth, and I never imagined I'd run for U.S. Senate. But from Kayton Homes public housing, I went on to become the first in my family to earn a college degree – and then, I worked my way up to serving as the senior pastor at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s church.

But here's the problem: The opportunities that made my journey possible are becoming fewer by the day for people across Georgia, across America. We've got to change that. We've got to ensure the dignity of work and fair wages, to fight for climate justice and clean energy and leave behind a healthy planet for our children. We've got to provide access to affordable, quality health care.

All of that hinges on what happens on Jan. 5. If we lose, Mitch McConnell will put our bold, progressive agenda on the chopping block. But if we win, we can help Joe Biden usher in the progress that our nation so urgently needs. 

The polls show we can win. Political pundits believe we can win. But I'm up against an opponent who is funding this race with $23 million of her personal fortune – on top of the $100 million of spending from the GOP. Hitting our grassroots fundraising goals is the only way we'll be able to keep up our momentum and win. So truly, friend, I need your support right now. 

Will you rush a donation of $5 or more now to fuel our essential GOTV efforts, flip Georgia blue and take back the Senate for Democrats?

My mom is so proud of what this team has accomplished, friend. So am I. We're in the final stretch, so let's make it count.

Thank you,

Raphael