When we ask Donna Edwards for something, she listens, she thinks and she responds. Blue America was the first to ask her to consider running for the Senate seat being vacated by the "dean" of Senate women, Barbara Mikulski.

And after due consideration, she said yes! We could not be more thrilled to be among the first to endorse Donna Edwards for Senate.

It has been a long road to get here. Going all the way back to 2006 when Donna first took on a corrupt, Democratic insider who was backed by the leadership and rolling in special interest money all the way to her victory in 2008 and beyond.

Every stop along the way, Donna has proved she is a Real Deal progressive; no apologies, no equivocating, no nonsense. Donna said this week:

"Blue America has been with me since my first campaign, and we have fought to promote forward thinking ideas and progressive values together. Today, that fight is for the United States Senate, and I need your support now more than ever. I need your support to protect and expand Social Security and Medicare, provide science, technology, engineering, and mathematics training for our young boys and girls, and ensure equal pay for equal work. This campaign is not about me, it is about we, and I know that together we can make history."

Donna needs our help to win this:

• She won’t be getting any money from the Koch brothers. They don't see her as an ally in their cause— and for good reason.
• She won't be supported by the moneybags on Wall Street. They know she's a member of the Elizabeth Warren wing of the Democratic party and will fight their plutocratic agenda every step of the way.
• The “Third Way” think tanks aren't especially fond of her since she is a fervent defender of the public safety nets which they are intent upon dismantling.
• And defense and intelligence contractors won't step up since she's not someone who will blindly defend their interests over the cause of peace.

But Donna has something nobody else has. She has you. And if you step up, that's all she needs. There are millions of Americans all over the country who are desperate for political leadership that puts them first instead of the 1%. And those Americans are the only "special interest" Donna listens to.

This is a huge race for the progressive movement. We obviously need to have more strong women in the boys club that calls itself the Senate. We must have more African Americans in the mostly all white Senate. And it's essential that we have more Real Progressives to continue to chip away at the center right Senate.

We need Donna Edwards in the US Senate.

This is a big one. Please give what you can.