Progressives want Sanders to remain force in congressional primaries

Progressive leaders are urging Bernie Sanders to keep up his fight in primary battles across the country even as his campaign winds down. 

{mosads}Sanders has refused repeated calls to drop out and endorse presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. But he signaled a shift in priorities toward leaving a mark on the Democratic Party instead of contesting the nomination during a Thursday night address to supporters. 

Part of that shift was a call to action to bring progressive ideas to down-ballot races, which has left Sanders supporters hopeful that he’ll continue to lend his star power to ushering progressives through their primaries and take on the party’s establishment. 

“Bernie Sanders has the ability to have big ripple effects in down-ballot races helping progressive candidates both be viable in primaries and win in the general election,” said Adam Green, the co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which has endorsed in a handful of other progressive congressional races. 

“He understands the importance of not just having people who will vote progressive but be first out of the gate on issues and have the fire in the belly. The more allies that he can help elect — the more successful he’ll be in his next chapters.” 

That strategy served as a major piece of Sanders’s address to supporters Thursday, when he called for them to “give serious thought to running for statewide offices and the U.S. Congress” as well as local races. 

Ben Cohen, the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream maven-turned-progressive advocate and Sanders supporter, told The Hill that Sanders was “excited” about the prospect of continuing to campaign for progressive candidates when the topic came up during a Vermont meeting with his inner circle last week. 

“There’s a very conscious realization that this movement needs to encompass local elections and state elections. We essentially need to build the farm team in local and state elections,” he said. 

“He’s already begun that broad-based national campaign on the congressional levels by throwing his support to these various candidates.” 

The most high-profile of those candidates is Tim Canova, the Florida law professor challenging Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz for her House seat. 

But there’s also Pramila Jayapal in Washington state, as well as Zephyr Teachout and Eric Kingson in New York, more progressives who won the prized Bernie nod. And Sanders has also endorsed a handful of statehouse candidates, as well as another congressional candidate with a clear path to the general election. 

All of those congressional candidates have their primaries in front of them. Sanders’s other congressional primary endorsement, Lucy Flores, lost her bid this past Tuesday. 

Like Canova, those congressional candidates share a common thread: They all are taking on what Sanders calls the party’s establishment. 

And he already proved vital to their efforts, awarding the candidates with a major prize — a fundraising email sent to one of the most powerful donor lists in political history. 

Canova raised more than $225,000 off that email directly, and the momentum from the Sanders endorsement has helped him hit more than $2 million in donations this week, his campaign said.

Flores raised about $600,000 in the two months following Sanders’s endorsement, and Kingson told The Hill that he received 7,000 separate contributions in the first 28 hours after Sanders’s fundraising email earlier this month.   

“What he did for congressional candidates, raising six figures, is nearly unprecedented,” Green said. 

“Even if his list has half the energy or a quarter of the energy leaving the presidential primary, that could still be a game-changer for many down-ballot races.” 

The Sanders campaign did not return requests to elaborate on his down-ballot plans, and aides to Kingson and Canova told The Hill they do not have any firm commitments from the senator for the remainder of the primary season. 

But progressives say there are a handful of ways he can mobilize his supporters and become a force in party primaries. 

Neil Sroka, communications director for Democracy for America, noted how his progressive group was founded in the wake of fellow Vermonter Howard Dean’s failed presidential primary bid. 

The group has encouraged Sanders throughout the race to actively endorse candidates — its executive director appealed to Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver to convince Sanders to endorse Flores — and will continue to do so. 

Sroka said that whether Sanders decides to set up a major organization like his or like President Obama’s offshoot, Organizing for America, or chooses to work with existing groups, he’s “excited” and convinced that Sanders will remain a force on the campaign trail. 

“There isn’t any doubt in my mind, given how Bernie Sanders has embraced and pushed forward candidates over the last few months of this race, that that’s exactly what he’s going to be doing in the months to come,” Sroka said. 

But continuing to play in those races could have a drawback. As Democrats preach party unity to stop presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, Sanders is defying the party’s establishment with a handful of his endorsements. 

He’s outwardly advocating for Wasserman Schultz’s ousting at the DNC, while supporting Canova’s bid to unseat her in Florida’s primary. 

Jayapal’s victory would cut down former Rep. Barney Frank’s (D-Mass.) endorsed candidate after Sanders pushed for Frank to be kicked off a top Democratic National Convention committee position for a series of critical remarks against the presidential hopeful. 

And both Teachout and Kingson are running against the Democratic House fundraising arm’s picks.