A pretty wild story, if you have a minute

Back when I was that kid sleeping on the floor of our apartment, I never could’ve guessed this is how things would turn out. When I was a Marine in Iraq, I never could’ve guessed that I’d have to fight to defend our democracy at home. Hola, {NAME}. It’s Ruben. You might be wondering how this kid… [Ruben as a baby]( …ended up here, running for U.S. Senate, in one of the most competitive races in the entire country. [Ruben speaking to a crowd of Arizona voters]( Well, it started back in the apartment I shared with my mom and my sisters after our dad left. It was tough. I was sleeping on the floor because that’s all we could afford. [Ruben and his sisters as kids]( I knew I had to do whatever it took to build a better life for us. I worked a bunch of jobs all through school to help make ends meet. [Young Ruben at work]( Thanks to my family, my community, and a lot of hard work, I got into college. But before I graduated, I enlisted in the Marines to serve the country that gave me so much. [Ruben as a Marine]( I deployed to Al Anbar, Iraq with my brothers in arms. They called us “Lucky Lima”, but our luck turned eventually. We ended up the hardest Marine hit unit of the entire Iraq war, and I lost some of my best friends over there. [Ruben with his Marine unit]( You’re never the same person after something like that. And I knew I had to do something to improve things for the guys I served with, for people who grew up like me. So, I ended up running for Congress — and I won. [Ruben speaking to supporters]( Then, on January 6th, everything changed. It became clear to me that public service wasn’t just about improving the lives of the people in my community anymore — it was about defending our democracy, too. [Ruben on January 6th]( So now, I’m running for U.S. Senate. My opponent Kari Lake, continues to spread the same lies and conspiracies that caused January 6th in the first place, and she’s one of the greatest threats to our democracy — after Trump himself. [Trump and Kari Lake]( Back when I was that kid sleeping on the floor of our apartment, I never would’ve guessed this is how things would turn out. When I was a Marine in Iraq, I never would’ve thought I’d have to fight to defend our democracy at home. When I launched my first campaign, I never would’ve imagined that hundreds of thousands of people would back me up and donate to support me, either. And I never, ever would’ve thought I’d need to ask supporters like you, people who have already done so much, to do a bit more. But to defeat Kari Lake and win in Arizona, that’s what I have to do. I need you to do a bit more. [Please — if you can afford to make a split donation of $25 or anything you can to my campaign and Fight for Progress, it would mean the world. A fundraising deadline is right around the corner, and we’ve got a ton of progress to make on our goals between now and then.]( [CONTRIBUTE $5]( [CONTRIBUTE $10]( [CONTRIBUTE $25]( [CONTRIBUTE $50]( [OTHER AMOUNT]( Thank you. I couldn’t do this without you and the team we’ve built together. Semper Fi, Ruben --------------------------------------------------------------- Paid for by Fight for Progress PAC and not authorized by any candidate or any candidate's committee. Fight for Progress PAC PO Box 15320 Washington, DC 20003 United States [CONTRIBUTE NOW]( [CONTRIBUTE MONTHLY]( Emails are crucial for communicating with top members of the Fight for Progress PAC team. However, If you would prefer to receive fewer emails, [click here](. If you would like to stop receiving email communications from us, please [unsubscribe]( This message was sent to {EMAIL}