Sisters and brothers -
As you know, our political revolution was never about electing one person to become President of the United States. We are a movement to elect progressives at every level who will fight for a government that represents all of us, and not just the 1 percent.
Melat Kiros is one of those candidates.
Melat ran a strong, exciting grassroots campaign for Congress against a 30 year Democratic incumbent in Colorado -- not New York or California, but Colorado. Powerful special interest super-PACs spent millions trying to defeat her. We supported her campaign, rallied activists and raised thousands for her in small-dollar contributions. They have the money. We have the people.
And last night... she won.
Picture from previous campaign event
We will learn more about her victory in the coming days and weeks, but from every indication she won strong support from young people and working class voters in the district. Very similar to what we saw in New York City last week, and in elections across the country: when young people and working class voters turn out, progressive candidates win.
Sisters and brothers -- when I look at Melat's victory; when I look at the election results in New York City including Zohran Mamdani's victory and the job he's done since; when I look at recent primary victories in New Jersey, Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, California; when I look at Abdul El-Sayed's lead in Michigan; when I look at Graham Platner running a grassroots campaign and defeating a sitting Democratic governor in Maine; when I look at Peggy Flanagan’s strong campaign in Minnesota; when I look at the huge turnouts for our Fight Oligarchy rallies and No Kings events across the country; when I look at a billionaires' tax qualifying for the ballot in California; when I look at worker organizing campaigns sprouting up and succeeding across the country; when I look at public support for unions at an all time high ... I believe it may just be possible that this country is on the brink of the political revolution we have been demanding for a long time.
Now I do not have a crystal ball to tell you what will happen next, but last night and the last several months have given me hope - and should give you hope.
It has given me hope that all across the country people understand that, given the dangerous and unprecedented moment in which we live, we need to rethink, rebuild and fundamentally reform the Democratic Party.
We need a party that is not just in opposition to Trump and his disastrous policies. We need a party that is prepared to take on the greed and ideology of the Oligarchs who now control the economic and political life of our nation, and create an economy and government that works for all and not just the few.
We need a Democratic Party that opens its doors to new people, new energy and new ideas. We need a Democratic Party that is truly a grassroots party, where decisions are made from the bottom up, not from the top down. We need a Democratic Party which becomes the political home of the working people and young people of this country, black and white, Latino and Asian and Native-American ... all Americans.
And here is the good news. The agenda that we are fighting for is the agenda that the American people want. The vast majority of Americans understand that:
- We must pass Medicare for All because healthcare is a human right, not a privilege.
- We must raise the minimum wage to a living wage so that no worker lives in poverty.
- We must make it easier for workers to join unions.
- We must end Citizens United and reform our corrupt campaign finance system.
- We must demand that the wealthy start paying their fair share of taxes.
- We must put a stop to endless wars and a bloated military budget.
- We must build millions of units of low income and affordable housing.
- We must address the existential threat of climate change.
- We must make AI work for all of us, not just billionaire Big Tech owners.
So what do we do now?
Short-term, we build on our extraordinary successes by doing everything possible to win the August Democratic U.S. Senate primaries in Michigan and Minnesota for Abdul and Peggy and the remaining primaries that our progressive congressional and down-ballot candidates face.
And then, after the primaries end, we build the strongest grassroots political movement this country has ever seen for a general election. Let me be very clear. At a time when the wealthiest people in this country will spend billions to elect right-wing Republican candidates the only way we win is to knock on millions of doors as we reach out to the working class of our country, to the young and disaffected.
And finally, in January 2027, after gaining control over the U.S. House and U.S. Senate we begin the process of transforming our country.
Let's get it done.
In solidarity,
Bernie Sanders
