Hello,

Do you know what “red-boxing” is? I’d never heard of it until today.

Red-boxing is when a political campaign posts detailed instructions on their website (usually inside a red box) of what that candidate wants Super PACs to do for them.

Well, today my Democratic primary opponent, Abby Finkenauer, posted a “red box” on her campaign website – explicitly asking corporate Super PACs to run TV & radio ads against me here in Iowa and inviting dark money into our Democratic primary process.

For crying out loud! We are Democrats. We are better than this.

Abby’s “red box” tells Super PACs exactly where she wants the ads against me to run and what she wants them to say… she even wrote an entire TV script and provided the video she wants them to use.

If Abby were to privately ask her Super PAC buddies to run ads against me, it would be illegal. She would be committing a federal crime. But because she’s doing it in “public” on her website, she skirts the law – much like the way Trump did to find dirt on his opponent.

No candidate should be asking corporate Super PACs to get involved in Iowa’s Democratic Senate primary. We need to be focused on taking on Chuck Grassley and the Republicans!

In order to fight back against Mitch McConnell’s (and hopefully not Abby Finkenauer’s) Super PACs, I’m counting on grassroots donors like you to chip in now. I’m not taking a dime from corporate PACs or Super PACs, so I have nowhere else to turn:

Please, will you chip in $5 or more right now – every dollar you can afford – to help me defeat Chuck Grassley, turn Iowa blue, and expand our Democratic majority in the Senate with a progressive who won’t bow down to Super PACs?

I’m running for the U.S. Senate to defend our democracy and do what’s right for Iowans and this nation… free from the demands of corporations and their Super PACs. But I’m counting on you now more than ever.

Thank you for being a part of this team,

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