Beaudion’s Priority: Keep Raising Money to Pay Campaign Debt

Last updated on 2026-08-16

Democratic candidate Julian Beaudion withdrew his name from the U.S. Senate ballot on August 4, saying he needed to spend time with his family before investing his energy in helping fellow Democrats win their statewide races.

But first, Beaudion has bills to pay:

Before we can completely turn the page on this campaign, however, we have obligations that we need to meet. Campaigns don’t simply stop having expenses when a candidacy ends. We need to responsibly wind down this operation and pay the remaining bills from the campaign we built together.

So I’m asking for your help.

If you can contribute $10, $25, $50, $100 — or whatever makes sense for you — your contribution will help us meet our remaining campaign obligations and close this chapter the right way.

I know asking for another contribution after ending a campaign may seem unusual. But I have always tried to be transparent with you, and I want to continue doing that now. We have work left to do, bills left to pay, and I will fulfill those responsibilities.

Then we start building what comes next.

…This is still our moment [Julian Beaudion, campaign e-mail, 2026.08.14].

Our moment? Moment refers to the immediate present, right now. If we generously expand the present to include the immediate election, the moment belongs to the candidates on the ballot. If Beaudion’s our refers to anyone outside a royal we, like the voters who supported him and his lackluster carrying of the Democratic banner, their immediate priority is neither to help Beaudion dig himself out of campaign debt nor help him build whatever comes next, which remains distant and vague (earlier in his pitch, Beaudion says, “In the weeks and months ahead, I’m going to be figuring out exactly what the next chapter looks like”). To seize this moment, their priority should be to mobilize their available resources to defeat Mike Rounds and take back the Senate and help other candidates on the ballot defend democracy and the economy from Republican tyranny and blockheadedness.

Beaudion doesn’t mention that priority. Beaudion doesn’t remind his supporters of the dire stakes of the immediate battle that we all must wage to save the country. He doesn’t say, Finish the work: vote Mike Rounds out of the Senate. Vote for Brian Bengs for Senate, and vote for Nikki Gronli for House and Dan Ahlers for Governor so you have leaders you can trust to work together for you. 

No, Beaudion’s first big post-quit message is, help me pay my bills!

I appreciate Beaudion’s repeated references to responsibility. But a really responsible candidate (like both Brian Bengs and Mike Rounds, who reported zero debt on their 2026 Q2 FEC filings) builds a strong campaign message and machine that brings in a ton of money and then doesn’t spend more than he has in the bank.

You can throw your money down Beaudion’s hole if you want. But at least match those pity dollars with equal contributions to a candidate (Bengs, Gronli, Ahlers, Frank Kloucek, Liz Larson, Celestine Stadnick, Emelia Enquist, Amanda Potter, Kathleen Brudvig, Erinn Williams, Kadyn Wittman, Leslie Gerrish…) who can spend your dollars to get out the vote, not get out of debt.

Update 2026.08.16 06:40 CDT: One day after sending this fundraising e-mail, Beaudion posted on Substack that a group called “East River White Men” derailed his campaign and said, “And I will never ask working people to continue giving me their hard-earned money for a campaign when I no longer believe there is a realistic path to winning.”