Hello,

I come from a county – Sioux County, Iowa – that voted 83% for Donald Trump. But when I’m talking to voters in parts of the state where I grew up, I’m not afraid to tell people: “You have nothing in common with Donald Trump.”

Predatory ‘businessmen’ like Donald Trump and bought politicians like my opponent Chuck Grassley enabled the decay of workers rights, civil discourse, education, and quality of life for decades. Now, they desperately want to blame some phantom cause for why small town Iowa is slipping away – when they should be looking in the mirror.

I’m not going to win a majority of votes in red Sioux County. I know that. But I am the type of candidate who can appeal to rural voters, independents, and even some Republicans, and substantially trim away from the Republican vote. And that’s how I will defeat Chuck Grassley this November.

Republican leaders don’t like my candidacy. I’m a problem for them. That’s why Mitch McConnell is already raising millions of dollars into Super PACs to attack me, my nearly four decades of service in the U.S. Navy, and drum up whatever lies they can come up with.

Finally, we have the odds-on opportunity to defeat Chuck Grassley, send him into forced retirement, and turn Iowa blue this November. All the polling shows Iowa is ready for a change. But I’m not taking a dime of corporate PAC money, so if I’m going to be successful, I’m counting on grassroots donors like you to help fund this campaign:

Please, may I count on you to give $5 or more to my campaign right now – whatever you can afford before our fundraising deadline at midnight tonight – to help me defeat Chuck Grassley, turn Iowa blue, and protect our Democratic majority in the Senate?

I am going to work for every vote, in every county. And I welcome the hard campaign ahead.

I’m so grateful to have you on the team alongside me.

Thank you,

Mike Franken, VADM, U.S. Navy (ret.)