Dear John,

The results of Tuesday’s election were more than a little disappointing to me. While we widely beat both of the other Democrats challenging Pelosi, we appeared to stand behind a Republican based on the first day’s results.

This morning, we learned that tens of thousands of ballots may yet remain to be counted. We eagerly await updated results from the Board of Elections later this afternoon, and recall being in a similar position in 2018, when we beat several competing Democrats to win over 17,000 votes only to be edged (by less than a single percentage point) by a GOP candidate who went on to the general election.

We left it all on the field for the primary, and are keeping our campaign operation active until the results are finalized. Can you join us today to continue paying our staff and hit the ground running for the general election cycle?

On Tuesday, I was excited to rejoin The Young Turks to discuss our race and some of the issues that define it. We discussed ending corruption in Washington, prohibiting insider trading by policymakers, stopping gun violence, ensuring police accountability, and my proposal to check and balance the Supreme Court to protect our rights.

I hope to continue informing the public debate, and appreciate your support putting me on the proverbial field.

As I hang by a political thread, can you join us once more to help us stay in touch with supporters and share updates about the rest of the ballots being counted at City Hall?

We launched our campaign in order to defend the future from the past that Pelosi represents. During the 24 hours that I thought we were out of the race, it was the future for which I felt most sad.

Pelosi’s role in engineering the climate crisis and enforcing bipartisan corporate rule goes widely overlooked but has been sadly consistent. That's why her re-election—which would be effectively assured if she faces a Republican in November—would only further entrench the whims of pharmaceutical companies, fossil fuel firms, and weapons dealers.

If San Francisco voters had any idea about that record, our city would have chosen a new voice a long time ago. But between actively obscuring the record of career politicians, and fabricating narratives to kneecap aspiring agents of accountability, journalists in San Francisco have unfortunately implicated themselves in Pelosi’s corruption. That’s why I recognize the press establishment as part of our opposition.

Want a new voice in Congress? We’d like to continue sharing updates but need your support to do so.

While I’ve felt disappointed in the many voters who chose to ignore Pelosi’s record, as well as in journalists who abandoned their profession’s ethical commitment to transparency and accountability, those disappointments have only enhanced my profound gratitude to you, and each of our thousands of supporters.

It was your help in 2020 that made me the only Democrat to ever win the jungle primary alongside Pelosi.

It was your help that let us go on to win 81,000 votes that November despite my character assassination.

It was your help that made possible our election integrity lawsuit against the sadly racist San Francisco Chronicle whose editors did so much to keep Pelosi in office.

It’s your help that keeps me here today.

I hope, with your help, to finish what we started together. Thank you again for standing with me!

Your voice,
Shahid