Here's what I'm looking at, John: 10 minutes.

A 10-minute gap of time in my schedule, right here and now. They don't come along often – and that's on purpose. In our campaign against Sen. Chuck Grassley (R), we're crisscrossing all over Iowa, talking to people about what's important to them and working hard to earn their vote. It's the way campaigns ought to be.

I know you hear from me a lot – about deadlines, fundraising and why this race is so important to expanding a broken 50-50 Senate that isn't delivering for the American people. With some spare time, I wanted to speak with you again. This time, about a place near and dear to my heart: it's a town called Sherrill.

The east Iowa town of Sherrill, population 189 – is where I grew up. They say there are more cows than there are people. It's a beautiful town just outside of Dubuque that has five churches, one bar, a post office and a school. There's no sight I love more than the view out of my parents' back window, where you can see the rolling farmlands of Iowa stretched out for miles.

I grew up in a working family: Mom worked for the public school system, and Dad was a union pipefitter-welder.

They worked hard to provide a great life for me. While they may not have been able to give me a trust fund or debt-free college, they gave me something so much better: my work ethic – seeing work to be done and doing it. It's why I carried Dad's sweatshirt with me to Congress – peppered with burn holes from when he wore it on the job, not because I needed a reminder of where I come from and who I fight for, but because DC politicians certainly did.

Well, 10 minutes went by faster than I thought. After 47 years in Washington, Sen. Grassley has turned his back on communities like Sherrill. He's forgotten where he's come from after cozying up to DC elites for nearly five decades. Well, I am proud to have grown up in Sherrill, and I believe to my core that hard-working Iowans I grew up with ought to have their voices lifted up in the Senate. That's what I intend to do when I'm elected.

If you share my belief that working families deserve better in Washington – and that we need to defeat vulnerable incumbents like Sen. Grassley to expand our Senate majority – then make a donation of $5 or whatever you can spare right now, before my next critical deadline at 11:59 p.m. tonight. When grassroots folks like you chip in, we win! Here's the best link: https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/abby-finkenauer-email

Hope you enjoy your day – talk more soon.

Abby