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  • From the Desk of Al Franken

Oh dear

I wish I were writing to you with something fun. A joke. A light anecdote about Ted Cruz. Instead, I’ve been doing some… let’s call it “not fun math.”

Here’s the situation:

Republican operatives just unveiled a massive, multi-hundred-million-dollar strategy to lock down the Senate — and they’re “100 percent confident” they’ll pull it off. 

And now for the “not fun math” part:

  • The GOP super PAC is already reserving ad time across the nine biggest battlegrounds: Ohio, North Carolina, Maine, Iowa, Alaska, Michigan, Georgia, and New Hampshire.

  • The buy includes $271 million for television, digital, and streaming ads, with the rest going to mail and other get-out-the-vote operations. 

  • In some states, they’re dropping eye-popping amounts: over $40 million in Maine (to re-elect Senator Susan Collins), nearly $80 million in Ohio, and over $70 million in North Carolina.

Here’s why it matters: Republicans currently control 53 Senate seats. Democrats need to flip four to take control because Vice President JD Vance holds the tiebreaking vote.

So yes, the stakes are high. And yes, the other side is spending like they mean it.

But here’s the part they’re not counting on: you.

Midwest Values PAC is supporting all of the Democrats running for these battleground seats. The more you (or supporters like you) donate to MVP, the more we can invest where it actually makes a difference: communicating with voters, organizing on the ground, and cutting through the avalanche of attack ads.

Elections aren’t decided by math alone. They’re decided by people who show up, speak out, and refuse to sit this one out.

That’s you.

Thanks for being in this fight.

Al

P.S. I won’t pretend this is easy. The financial gap is real. The GOP super PAC started the year with $100 million in the bank, which means it plans to raise roughly a quarter-billion dollars more. The leading Senate Democratic super PAC entered 2026 with $36 million in the bank. So yeah, definitely not fun math. 

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Somehow, it’s been 20 years since I started Midwest Values PAC to help Democrats win elections — from progressive organizations to state legislatures to Congress to the White House — who share the values I grew up with in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.

Since 2006, Midwest Values PAC has invested more than $4 million in 341 candidates and organizations — and counting. 

Of course, none of this happens without you (or supporters like you) who care enough to pitch in.

As we mark our 20th anniversary, the work is more urgent than ever. This year, we have a big job: flip the House, take the Senate, and win up and down the ballot at the state and local level.

To mark our 20th year, we’ve set an ambitious goal: 26,000 contributions by Election Day 2026.

DONATE HERE

Thanks for being part of this fight, and for sticking with us for 20 years (or for just joining — welcome!).

Al

P.S. Over the years, okay, decades, we’ve helped Democrats win tough races all across the country by investing early, intelligently, and strategically. That’s how you flip seats. That’s how you protect democracy. And that’s how you stop the worst impulses of a president who never should have been president in the first place.

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