Progressive organizations throw support to Sanders ahead of Michigan primary

A slew of progressive groups announced their endorsement of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Monday ahead of several key primaries Tuesday.

The Working Families Party, which had initially endorsed Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), announced its backing of Sanders on Monday after Warren’s withdrawal from the race last week.

“We were lucky to have two strong progressives in this race who changed the conversation and shifted the limits of the possible,” Working Families Party Director of Strategy and Partnerships Nelini Stamp said in a statement.

“There is no waiting for next time, because working class families and marginalized people can’t wait for next time,” she added. “Climate change won’t wait, spiraling inequality won’t wait, and white supremacy won’t wait. Bernie Sanders is our best chance of making this a country that works for the many, not the few.”

Meanwhile, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC), a group that had also allied with Warren, has called on voters to vote strategically for Sanders in Tuesday’s Michigan primary to ensure that the race continues.

“If your top priority is defeating Trump, and you want to ensure both remaining Democratic candidates are tested so we know the eventual nominee can go the distance, vote for Bernie Sanders on Tuesday to stop the premature ending of this primary election,” the group said in a statement.

In the statement, PCCC suggested a quick end to the race could benefit President Trump in the general election.

“Whether or not we believe Michigan is make-or-break, many pundits are saying that,” the group said. “Joe Biden’s wins on Super Tuesday in states that he never set foot in shows that pundit chatter sways voters and could end this race prematurely.”

“That helps Trump because we need a candidate who can campaign competently and withstand scrutiny in this new one-on-one environment,” it added.

The two groups’ announcements come the same day Justice Democrats, the progressive organization that recruited Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) to challenge then-Rep. Joe Crowley in 2018, announced Sanders as its first presidential endorsement.

Sanders “has the vision to unite and govern America in this time of crisis,” Alexandra Rojas, executive director of Justice Democrats, told Politico, adding “there is no question that if Bernie Sanders had not run for president in 2016, organizations like Justice Democrats would not exist.”