Dear Friends and Supporters,

I am writing to thank each of you for all of the encouragement, hours of work, generous contributions and support that you have given to my campaign over the last 18 months.  Your involvement made a tremendous difference throughout the campaign, and I am humbled and very grateful.

For the last year and half I have been privileged to travel throughout the 4th district, to meet the many fine Hoosiers in our communities who share a common belief: That our government can and should be better, and that we can make that happen.

In communities like Bedford, Frankfort, Crawfordsville and Lafayette, I was inspired by the idealism, courage and determination of the many supporters who worked tirelessly on this campaign.

Like you, I was disappointed by the outcome of the election.  However, I am incredibly proud of the manner that we ran this campaign.  Over the course of eighteen months we were supported by more than three thousand local volunteers, developed strong community relationships in six field offices, had direct contact with over 100,000 voters, created a widely used and praised multimedia website, and developed an innovative radio and TV campaign.  Our campaign achieved widespread earned media attention, including receiving the endorsement of the Lafayette Journal and Courier — the first time in 12 years that the largest newspaper in the district chose not to endorse my opponent.

Thanks to your efforts we were able to raise significant issues and carry a strong message to voters here in the 4th district about the need to change Washington.  Although we ran in one of the most Republican districts in the nation, and even though the Republican Party turned out a huge and historic number of voters, together we achieved the strongest finish of any challenger race of either party in Indiana, receiving over 128,000 votes.  Thanks to bipartisan support we carried Tippecanoe County, including Lafayette and Purdue University, by a 10 percent margin, and received more votes than President-Elect Obama or any other democratic candidate in several counties in this district.

These results are astounding, and reflect the amount of hard work by so many here in the 4th District.  Over the coming weeks and months I look forward to thanking each of you personally, and I hope that you will keep in touch and continue to fight for the change we need here in Indiana and in Washington.

With sincere gratitude,

Nels Ackerson