I serve in the military. I serve our state by hunting down fraud on the taxpayers and corrupt politicians as State Auditor. And I serve our community by volunteering with my wife and three kids in our church. 

So I want to tell you why: because I want our country and state to be the safest, best possible place for raising families like mine. Doing that will require courage both on the battlefield and on the ground here, taking on the political establishment that steals our hard-earned money. 

You've probably heard about the Mississippi welfare scandal. Over $100 million in federal money meant for the poorest families in America was misspent. Some of it went to famous people. Some of it went to political donors. Some of it went to a retired professional wrestler. My office caught it all. We are still chasing the money six years later. I tell you that story because it is the single most heartbreaking story I know. Powerful people decided poor kids didn't matter. A small office full of accountants — auditors — said: yes they do. And people will go to jail because of what we found.

That is what I do for a living. Fraud is not a partisan issue to me. It is a moral one. The federal government wastes hundreds of billions of dollars a year. Mississippi wastes hundreds of millions. Every dollar of it was somebody's paycheck before it became somebody's grift.

Last year, a group of state senators tried to gut my office for asking too many questions. I won that fight. They retired. But there will be others.

I'm asking you for $25 — or whatever you can do — because I cannot win this fight alone. Together, though, we can win.

We will soon need a war chest big enough to scare the people who tried to kneecap my office last year. Big enough that the political establishment who walk our state thinking poor kids' money is their money thinks twice.

That's the favor.

— Shad White