John, it’s Val Demings, and I just made a really tough call.

I just got out of an emergency meeting with my team, and they told me this: Marco Rubio has spent $15.7 million on TV ads this year, and a recent poll shows me 1 point behind. The bottom line is that I need to counter GOP spending with ads of my own — immediately.

I talked through our options with my team, and I ended up making a really difficult decision: I approved a new ad buy to reach undecided voters over the next 24 hours — even though we don’t have the budget yet.

I had no other choice here, John. Races in Florida are always decided by razor-thin margins, so running just one more round of ads could help me reach just enough voters to win. I can’t afford to play it safe — not when Senate control is on the line and our race is this tight.

I know it’s not ideal to spend the money before we raise it, but I have faith in this grassroots team. I took a gamble that we could raise $50,000 before midnight to cover the cost of our new ads — and now, I’m counting on your support.

Please, John: This race could decide which party wins Senate control, so I’m counting on every Democrat to help me close this budgeting gap. Can I count on you to donate $10 to split between my campaign and Cory Booker right now to help me pay for my new ads, defeat Marco Rubio and flip Florida blue?

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Thank you, thank you, thank you.

— Val Demings