Bernie Sanders’ major endorsements
Bernie Sanders has not amassed the volume of congressional endorsements his rival for the nomination, Hillary Clinton, has but the Vermont senator does have support from key unions.
Here is a look at the congressional and union endorsements he does have, along with one from an outspoken musician.
Rep. Raúl Grijalva: The Arizona representative gave Sanders his first congressional endorsement in October. The move was significant because it was Sanders’ first endorsement from a sitting member of Congress despite his insurgent candidacy that has seen him take the lead over Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire.
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard: Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard rejected the notion that intra-party squabbles with the Democratic National Committee led to her resignation from the organization and her endorsement of Sanders. Gabbard, an Army soldier and veteran, called her decision “incredibly personal and it’s incredibly important because I think this is the most important job of a president is to be our commander in chief.”
Rep. Peter Welch: Vermont Congressman Peter Welch’s endorsement in February pushed back on the narrative that Hillary Clinton had a monopoly of support among the top Democrats in Sanders’ home state of Vermont after Gov. Peter Shumlin and Sen. Patrick Leahy as well as former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean endorsed Clinton. Welch said “as a superdelegate, I’ll follow through and vote for him when we get to the convention in July.”
Former NAACP President Ben Jealous: “I recall the words of the late great Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who said a genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus,” Jealous said in a press call organized by the Sanders campaign in February. “And that brings me to why I’m here today. Bernie Sanders has been a principled, courageous, insistent fighter against the evils that Dr. King referred to as the giant triplets of racism, militarism and greed.”
American Postal Workers Union: President Jack Dimondstein praised Sanders’ advocacy of a $15 minimum wage, free public college tuition and veterans’ benefits when the union announced its endorsement in November. “No other candidate has his record of fighting to defend and expand Social Security, promoting ‘Medicare for all,’ and opposing ‘fast track trade authority’ and rotten deals like the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP),” he said.
National Nurses United: The Sanders endorsement in August wasn’t a surprise: The NNU has long been a militant outlier among labor unions. It opposed the Affordable Care Act because it wasn’t single-payer, and in 2000, its predecessor union, the California Nurses Association, endorsed Ralph Nader over Al Gore for president. At the AFL-CIO’s executive council meeting last month, NNU Executive Director RoseAnn DeMoro was among Sanders’ most vigorous supporters. “We do unconventional things,” DeMoro said.
Communications Workers of America: The CWA — which represents about half a million dues-paying members in telecommunications and information technology, news media, broadcast and cable television, and airlines — endorsed Sanders in December.
Alan Grayson: The Florida Democrat and Senate candidate announced in February that he is endorsing Sanders and would vote for him as a super-delegate at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. “Last summer, my 16-year-old daughter asked me whether I felt the Bern. ‘Did you leave the stove on again?’ I asked her,” he wrote in a post on his blog. “Now, after listening to We, the People, I feel the Bern.”
Killer Mike: “Smoking a joint and reading his tweets,” led rapper Killer Mike to not only endorse Sanders but work the spin room for him after debates and stump for the Vermont senator on the campaign trail.
