I’m asking for your help to seize this moment of crisis and turn it into a movement for historic change.

I went to war 3 times as a US Marine and a diplomat before realizing the courage to pronounce these wars as unjust and immoral. In 2009 I resigned from the State Department over the surge of troops to the war in Afghanistan, and started speaking out against the endless war machine and the growing rot in our political system.

I realized that the oligarchs who control the US government had been waging war on working class people and our planet at the same time they were waging endless war abroad.

I love this country. I love our people, and I see them suffering. We need real change now.

People are sick and tired of politics as usual. They’re hungry for a new kind of politics. In fact, over 60% of US voters now agree that the Democratic and Republican parties do such a terrible job representing us that we need a new major party.

I’m running for the US Senate because I believe we can – and must – empower the majority of people who want real change. We need to retake, reimagine, and rebuild our political system.

It’s time to declare our independence from the corrupt parties of war and Wall Street that serve the oligarchs. The same parties that created the crises we face today are not going to solve them.

• To solve the democracy crisis, we will end political corruption and build a truly democratic government for the people.

• To solve the climate crisis, we will stop the war on our planet with a real Green New Deal to revive our economy and fight climate meltdown.

• To solve the economic crisis, we will guarantee economic human rights to working class people including a livable wage, a right to housing, debt cancellation, union rights, and healthcare for all.

• To solve the crisis of endless war, we will forge a new foreign policy based on diplomacy, human rights, and respect for international law, and bring the war dollars home for real human needs.

• To solve the crisis of injustice tearing our society apart, we will end rampant police violence, mass incarceration, and abuse of immigrants, and overhaul our broken systems to guarantee justice for all.

Our vision is not unrealistic – the changes we want are popular with voters. They are the norm in many countries around the world. We have the resources. What’s blocking progress is the corrupt two-party system bought by the ruling class.

That ruling class is so afraid of campaigns like ours that they create unfair obstacles to participation in democracy. Just to get on the ballot, we need to collect 14,000 signatures – not easy for a grassroots campaign that doesn’t take corporate money.

We can overcome this anti-democratic hurdle, but we need your help. To fund our ballot access petition drive, we need to raise $60,000 by mid-May.

If you believe in our vision of politics for the people, please pitch in what you can to help us meet our goal and get on the ballot.

Once I’m on the ballot, we can get our winning message into the media and the debates, and turn voters’ disgust with politics as usual into an unstoppable movement for historic change.

But I can’t do it without you. Please contribute today to help turn our vision into reality.

I decided to run because we urgently need to take our destiny into our own hands. The time is now to build a new system that puts people, planet, and peace over profit.

Thank you for joining me on this journey. Now let’s change the world.

With gratitude,

Matthew Hoh