John – This year has been a wake-up call for the progressive movement.
 
We know that when we can get progressives into office, they have real staying power. Look no further than the recent primary victories of BNC’s Cori Bush, Jamaal Bowman, and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick – each of whom faced stiff competition in their first reelection campaign since taking office.
 
The challenge is getting our candidates elected in the first place. And John, that’s getting harder every year.
 
This year our candidates have raised more money on average than in years past, but in almost every case they’ve also been vastly outspent by establishment candidates and dark money groups.
 
In a recent op-ed for Salon, Nida Allam’s campaign manager Maya Handa got straight to the point: Grassroots organizing is no longer enough. Progressives need money to win.

Maya, a seasoned campaign staffer who has also worked with Elizabeth Warren, Mondaire Jones, India Walton, and the New York Working Families Party, wrote:

 “On Nida Allam's campaign in North Carolina this year, we vastly out-organized our opponents, knocking on more doors and making more calls than any other campaign, by far. We were also supported by a $200,000 canvassing independent expenditure, and were endorsed by Sanders, Warren, the Working Families Party and the Sunrise Movement.
 
But we got outspent almost 10 to one on mail, TV and digital advertising by super PACs. It was a similar story for progressive Erica Smith in North Carolina's 1st district, who was outspent almost six to one and lost, as well as for many other defeated progressives this year and previously.”

Here’s the hard truth, John: The establishment didn’t take progressive candidates seriously before. Now they do, and they’re coming for us with millions in dark money. 
 
Brand New Congress is always looking for new ways to support our candidates and help them to victory. Our plans depend on the money we raise from emails like this one. Can you contribute $100, $50, or even $25 today to help is fight back against the dark money onslaught?

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Candidates cannot do it alone. No establishment candidate depends entirely on the funds raised directly by their campaign. They benefit from a vast array of corporate PACs and special interests dumping millions of dollars into the race on their behalf.
 
The only way to counter that is for the progressive movement to build our own resources. That’s why BNC is working on a new strategy to be able to support our candidates with mailers and TV ads.
 
But we can only do it if we raise the funds. And like our candidates, BNC doesn’t take money from corporate PACs. Instead, we depend on contributions from people like you.
 
As Maya said in her piece, “we must organize money as much as we prioritize organizing people.”
 
We’ve proven that progressives have staying power once they’re elected. Now it’s time to step up our game to get more bold progressives into office. Can we count on you for a contribution today?
 
In solidarity,
 
Brand New Congress