Progressives to run for office

Bernie Sanders partners with Run for Something to train candidates

The Vermont senator is adding organizational heft to his appeal for progressives to run for office.

By Holly Otterbein

Bernie Sanders, who has been calling for progressives to run for office on his “Fighting Oligarchy” tour, is putting more organizational muscle behind his appeal.

The Vermont senator is teaming up with the liberal group Run for Something and other outside organizations to provide support to potential candidates, according to plans shared first with POLITICO. The effort, if successful, could help push the party at least incrementally in Sanders’ direction. And it is almost certain to draw the ire of some Democrats, as Sanders and some of his allies help both Democrats and independents run for office.

More than 5,000 people have signed up with Sanders’ operation to explore campaigns, his team said.

“We want to make sure that we’re not just going into these spaces and holding rallies and disappearing, and we’re not just asking people to run for office,” said Jeremy Slevin, a top Sanders adviser. “We’re giving them the tools they need to actually do it.”

Sanders has long encouraged people to run for office, but some progressives in his orbit have complained in the past that he hasn’t done enough to prepare those in his movement for a post-Sanders future. Sanders, who is 83, appears to be attempting to burnish that part of his legacy, including by touring the country recently with younger progressives and populists such as Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.).

“It is really exciting to see Bernie model bringing in a new generation of leaders for all other older Democrats,” said Amanda Litman, president of Run for Something. She argued that “it is not enough to just be at the front — you got to build power that sticks behind you.”

Sanders sent an email to his supporters recruiting candidates and held a Zoom call with people who are eyeing a run. Potential contenders 40 and under are being connected with Run for Something, which focuses on younger candidates, while others are working with the organizations Contest Every Race and National Democratic Training Committee, Sanders’ team said.

Slevin said the groups will provide candidates “with resources and trainings of how to file, how to hire a staff, how to set fundraising deadlines and comms goals — basically, how to run a campaign.”

Sanders has openly encouraged both Democrats and left-leaning independents to run for office, and a questionnaire from his team asked potential candidates which of the two they consider themselves.

Litman said that all candidates in her organization’s pipeline, regardless of party, have access to resources. Run for Something currently endorses Democratic candidates only. But she said that the group is weighing changing that to include independents, as a growing number of Democrats and liberal strategists consider whether shedding the party label could help some candidates in battleground and red states.

“We’re considering it because there’s certainly some places where it might be a more valuable way to move forward,” said Litman. “I actually don’t know where we’ll land.”