U.S. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., wrote a fundraising email for Jason Kander in his bid to unseat Sen. Roy Blunt and join the Senate.
The email was framed as an “urgent request” to help a “great guy and impressive candidate” in Kander.
“Jason’s in a race that nobody thought was going to be close a year ago,” Franken wrote. “Now it’s one of the top Senate races in the country. Not only has Jason made this competitive — recent polls show him statistically tied.”
In his appeal for contributions, Franken said being a Democrat meant being targeted by special interests.
“Of course, being a strong Democrat means one thing in today’s world: Special interests spend millions to defeat you,” he wrote. “That’s exactly what they’re doing to Jason. He needs our support.”
Franken joined the Senate eight years ago during after a tight election decided by about 300 votes that took until June to be certified by the Minnesota governor.
In the last couple of years, the former Saturday Night Live cast member has become a prominent Democratic surrogate and received a prominent speaking role at this year’s Democratic National Convention.
The Minnesotan doesn’t appear to have many connections to Missouri, but his involvement comes as the race gains more national significance. Some organizations have recently rated the race a toss-up and as races in Ohio and Florida appear to be out of reach for Democrats, the party has devoted more resources here.
