Dear Friends --

We received a tremendous response again this morning from voters across the district. Our volunteers and I, as we have been for many weeks, were out early this morning greeting commuters at Metra train stops as they headed into the city. I can't tell you how many people said, "You have my vote," or, better yet, "I early voted for you!"

I have a great feeling about tomorrow.

While we were working this weekend to get out the vote on Tuesday by running phonebanks and canvassing door to door, Dan Lipinski was trying desperately to make up for lost time by taking cheap shots at our campaign and our supporters, volunteers and staff.

(cross posted at PrairieStateBlue, DailyKos, Booman Tribune and OpenLeft)

There's more...

early voting ends tomorrow, january 31st.  if you intended to vote early, time is quickly running out.

the financial disclosure reports are out.  here's a summary of how much the four democrats in this race raised and spent:

Candidate Name	Net Receipts	Net Distributed	Cash on Hand	Debt
Mark Pera	$612,932	$538,918	$74,014	$261,404
Dan Lipinski	$464,812	$191,014	$377,675	$0
Jerry Bennett	$183,737	$153,389	$30,343	$49,523
Jim Capparelli	$12,865	$8,467	$4,397	$0

There's more...

the most important news at this point is that early voting has begun. for those who live in illinois' 3rd congressional district, the ballot positions are:

Mark N. Pera      #9
Jim Capparelli    #10
Daniel William Lipinski    #11
Jerry Bennett    #12

all the democrats in this race have filed their voter guide questions.  lipinski's response states"I have also been a leader in the battle to responsibly bring our troops home from Iraq." pera's response argues that"More than anything else, voters are tired of politicians in Washington D.C. who are beholden to special interests and they are fed up with the nepotism and corruption that we see from the Lipinskis and the Strogers of Cook County." bennett's response observes:

During those 27 years [as mayor], I've worked with my fellow mayors and other public officials to transform the town and our region. We've come up with innovative solutions for building infrastructure, improving law enforcement and securing a safer environment.

There's more...

Looking at ActBlue early this morning before heading out to meet voters at a train station in suburban Oak Lawn, I noticed that, in the wee hours of the night, the contributions were still flying in from across the country. It's great to know that when the campaign closes up shop for a few hours every night, our supporters are still hard at work, drumming up more contributions and spreading the word about our campaign for change here in Illinois' Third U.S. Congressional District.

As of this morning, our campaign has received a total of 1,029 new contributions for almost $35,000.

There's more...

You all have probably heard of the IL-03: 5000 challenge for the netroots, to get 5000 contributors for Mark Pera.  

Well, I'm announcing a IL-03: 3333 'Mini-Challenge":

As I write this we stand at 3016 contributors on ActBlue.  If that total reaches 3333 by midnight tonight (Pacific), I'll kick in another $333.33 from my own pocket to Mark's campaign.  

Your $10 or $20 or $5 if that's all you can spare could get us there.  Chip in if you haven't already.  Then bug any other Democrat you know who likes progressives and tell them to act now.  

Giving to Mark will help support scientific research efforts in medicine
Giving to Mark will help the cause of reproductive rights
Giving to Mark will help bolster our constitutional rights
Giving to Mark will strike a blow to the Chicago political machine
Giving to Mark will hold a Bush appeasing war supporter accountable

and a new one

Giving to Mark will make Rahm Emmanuel cry

Take a couple minutes and donate yourself if you haven't already.  Or nudge someone else if you have.  I really want us to make it to 3333 and have folks make me open my wallet for Mark.  

There's more...