Sisters and brothers -
Apologies for not writing more frequently. Pretty crazy and busy times.
Let me begin by thanking you all for making possible the extraordinary successes that we’ve been having over the past year. As a result of your volunteer efforts and financial contributions Progressives have been taking on establishment candidates in Democratic primaries all across the country - and winning. We are changing the face of American politics. You are helping to make it happen.
It began in November with Zohran Mamdani’s incredible campaign to become Mayor of New York City. And then the wins kept on coming. Here are some of our more recent victories:
U.S. Senate Michigan - Abdul El-Sayed
U.S. Senate Minnesota- Peggy Flanagan
U.S. House OH-07 - Brian Poindexter
U.S. House PA -7 - Bob Brooks
U.S. House NJ - 11 - Analilia Mejia
U.S. House NJ -12 - Adam Hamawy
U.S. House CA - 22 - Randy Villegas
U.S. House - MT - 01 - Sam Forstag
U.S. House - NY 10 - Brad Lander
U.S. House - NY 7 - Claire Valdez
U.S. House - CO -1 - Melat Kiros
U.S. House - AZ - 7 - Adelita Grijalva
U.S. House - MI - 13 - Donavan McKinney
U.S. House - MI - 7 - Will Lawrence
U.S. House - TN - 9 - Justin Pearson
U.S. House - WI - 3 - Rebecca Cooke
California Insurance Commissioner- Jane Kim
Sisters and brothers. I do not need to tell you that running as a progressive in this country is never easy.
Oftentimes we are taking on the local Democratic Party establishment. We are taking on the national Democratic Party establishment. We are taking on super PACs and big money interests who have unlimited resources to elect their candidates. And if we make it past them, we are then taking on Donald Trump, the Republican Party and more super PACs with unlimited money.
In Michigan last week, we supported two candidates for the House -- Will Lawrence in Lansing and Donavan McKinney in Detroit In the case of Will Lawrence, he was outspent and the national Democratic Party establishment rallied around his opponent. In the case of Donavan McKinney, he was taking on an incumbent Congressman who had the support of the cryptocurrency industry. Both Will and Donavan were victorious.
Statewide, we endorsed Dr. Abdul El-Sayed for United States Senate. We raised more than $500,000 in small-dollar donations for his campaign. We held large rallies for him in Michigan and grassroots meetings for him online. We ran ads in the state and turned out our volunteers for phone banks and door knocks everywhere.
Abdul was taking on everyone. Including, in a way that I had never heard of before in a Democratic primary -- $60 million in super PAC funding from AIPAC and other organizations. He was outspent by 10-1. Didn't matter. He won.
Peggy Flanagan’s victory in the Minnesota Democratic primary followed a similar course. In her case, she faced a 7 to 1 disparity in outside spending with super PACs spending a record-breaking $20 million against her. Minnesotans saw through the ugly ads. She won by 20 points.
How did Abdul and Peggy do it? How did they manage to win against all that opposition? And what lessons can be learned from their campaigns for other progressives running for office?
First, like Mamdani did in New York City, they both ran extremely aggressive grassroots campaigns. They traveled up and down their states, holding hundreds of town meetings, talking to anyone who would attend. In other words they did effective, old fashioned people-to-people politics. But it was not just the candidates who worked hard. Abdul and Peggy mobilized thousands of volunteers who did the grunt work that every good campaign requires - knocking on doors, distributing literature, making phone calls, doing social media and making sure that voters got to the polls.
Further, Abdul and Peggy did something that too few Democrats running for office do: they gave people something to vote FOR rather than just vote AGAINST. In other words, they treated their constituents as intelligent human beings, honestly described the serious crises facing our country and outlined an agenda that addresses the pain that millions of working class families are experiencing. In their campaigns they made clear that it’s too late for tinkering around the edges. We need real change NOW.
Both of them had the courage to take on the Oligarchs who wield such enormous power over our economy and political life, and the greed of corporate America. They campaigned on raising the minimum wage to a living wage and their support for the trade union movement. They demanded an end to poverty for seniors, children and the disabled, making housing affordable and creating millions of good paying jobs by combatting the existential threat of climate change. They made clear that the time is long overdue for the billionaire class to start paying its fair share of taxes.
Over and over again, they described our current healthcare system as broken and dysfunctional, that healthcare is a human right and that we must move to a Medicare for All single payer program which guarantees health care to every man, woman, and child in this country.
They also spoke out forcefully against our disastrous foreign policy, the need to end “endless wars” and the cessation of all military aid to the extremist Netanyahu government in Israel.
Sisters and brothers - I look across this country at the rallies we've held and the elections we won and I believe we may very well be on the brink of the political revolution we have been fighting for over the last decade.
If I had told you eleven years ago when we launched our first campaign for president that we'd have socialist mayors in New York City, Seattle and Washington, DC; that the people of California would put a billionaire tax on the ballot this November, that progressives and democratic socialists would be defeating establishment candidates in House and Senate races everywhere... I am not sure many of you would have believed me.
But that is what is happening right now in America.
And it's not because of me...
It's because of US.
What all of us - together - have done over the years is to fight for government that works for all, and not just the few - a government based on the principles of economic, social, racial and environmental justice.
Needless to say our work is not finished. Far from it. We’re just beginning. Winning a primary is one thing. Winning a general election is something else.
During the next two and a half months I intend to do everything I can to see that progressive candidates win their elections and that Democrats gain control over the House and the Senate.
We’re in this together. Let's get it done.
In solidarity,
Bernie Sanders
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