Not only is today the last day of July, it also marks just 100 days until the general election on November 8th. We have come so far since we launched our campaign in early March. We could not do it with out you. I wanted to take a moment and share a couple of highlights from the past few weeks.

We had a great time at the 4th of July Parade in Idaho Falls. We had an amazing float and received quite a bit of cheering and applause. That evening we were invited to be guests of Frank VanderSloot, Executive Chairman of Melaleuca at his annual private 4th of July Gala. We had the honor of sharing a table with the Chief Information Officer for Melaleuca and enjoyed a performance by the Idaho National Guard Band. I also had the opportunity to visit with the former Secretary of the Navy as well as talk with the executive crew of the USS Idaho, the new nuclear submarine which is currently under construction.

This month we spent quite a bit of time traveling the state. We were in Caldwell with Marisela Pesina getting to know the neighborhoods in her district, as well as spending the day at the Canyon County Fair. This past Monday we spent the evening in Blaine County where we were fortunate enough to hear A'shanti Gholar, President of Emerge, speak about their efforts to elect more Democratic women. One thing that really stuck out to me from her speech was the importance of supporting candidates for multiple runs. I think that is so critical. I want to thank the Blue Girls Gather group for arranging the event.

Yesterday we were in Mackay, Idaho, where the Custer County Democrats hosted candidates for a wonderful picnic lunch. The pulled pork was amazing. There was also this great taco salad that reminded me of something my grandma used to make. All topped off with just about the best blueberry pie ever. All of which was washed down locally bottled, Proud Source Water. I did not know this before yesterday but the bottling plant that was built there providing jobs and building the economy of a small town in Idaho was supported by leveraging PILT money. PILT stands for Payment in Lieu of Taxes. This is a great example of how a community has used federal investment to build a lasting local economy. I should note that my opponent has voted against funding the PILT program leaving our rural counties out to dry so to speak.

Though we spent most of our time traveling around the state, we also had quite a bit going on virtually as well. Did you know that since the beginning of our campaign we have received 3,062 individual contributions? The majority of those contributions are very small, people simply giving what they can to help keep us on the road and moving forward. We appreciate every single one of those contributions and are grateful that they keep us moving forward.

We have also made huge strides with social media. We are extremely active on Twitter and have now passed 10,000 followers. One recent tweet received over 28,000 likes. We have assembled a great team and are continuing to work on sharing our message through social media. Be on the lookout for some improvements on Instagram and Facebook as we look to grow our campaign reach there as well.