People Power for Bernie
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 30, 2020

Nine Groups that Endorsed Sanders Join Forces to Drive Black, Brown, Working Class and Young Voter Turnout in Primaries

WASHINGTON -- Four days before the Iowa Caucuses, the most powerful organizing networks that have endorsed Bernie Sanders are coming together to announce a joint campaign to bolster his candidacy. The campaign, called People Power for Bernie, marks the largest independent mobilizing commitment for any candidate ahead of the 2020 primaries.

The organizing groups, which represent a total of 2.2 million primarily Black, Brown and working people and young people, include the following groups:

• Center for Popular Democracy Action
• People’s Action
• Dream Defenders
• The Sunrise Movement
• Make the Road Action
• Our Revolution
• Democratic Socialists of America
• Progressive Democrats of America
• Student Action

In the past few months, Bernie Sanders earned the largest endorsements from grassroots and labor groups organizing in Black, Brown, youth and working class communities. Through joint organizing, the groups hope to drive strong turnout for Bernie Sanders in the primary from a multiracial coalition. They will knock doors, text, phone bank, host rallies, organize on campuses and online to turn out voters.

The groups have a shared goal of mobilizing an additional 1.4 million voters for Sanders in the primaries. They’ll be working in key states and districts across the country, including early voting states like Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, delegate-rich states like Texas, California, Florida, Pennsylvania and New York, and battlegrounds like Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.

Statements from the grassroots groups that are a part of People Power for Bernie:

“This is the political revolution in action,” said Natalia Salgado, political director at the Center for Popular Democracy Action. “Black, Brown and working people are the core of Sanders supporters. Together, this powerful network of organizations will ensure that Sanders becomes our nominee. When he does, we will work together to ensure that our political future includes us all -- Black and Brown people, women, immigrants, working people, queer, trans and gender non-conforming people.”

“People’s organizations from coast to coast are flexing our political muscle together to help elect Bernie Sanders,” said Angélica Romero, a member of Make the Road Action in Nevada. “With his commitment to stopping deportations that are tearing communities apart, standing up for workers and tenants, and ending the school-to-prison pipeline, Senator Sanders has struck a chord with immigrants, Black and Brown, and working-class voters across this country. We will be knocking on thousands of doors in critical primary and caucus states like Nevada to make sure our voices are heard.”

“Progressive Democrats of America proudly was the first organization in the country to call for Bernie Sanders to run for President as a Democrat back in 2013,” said PDA Executive Director Alan Minsky. “Now we couldn't be more thrilled to partner with this broad array of progressive groups to help elect the candidate with the broadest support among the working class, Black and Brown people, women, immigrants, the LGBTQ+ community; and the strongest platform for a truly inclusive America.”

“Bernie Sanders’ campaign is about more than one election. It’s about changing politics and shifting power from corporations and billionaires to the working class.” said Megan Svoboda, DSA National Political Committee member and Chair of the DSA for Bernie Campaign.  “But Bernie cannot do this alone. To win this election and the demands that he’s running on, it will take a movement. A movement that will mobilize historic numbers of young people, union members, and working families across the country and keep fighting to the election, and then every day after.”


”The Dream Defenders are excited to be combining forces with some of the most powerful grassroots organizations in the country to get Bernie Sanders into the White House,” said Rachel Gilmer, the group’s co-director. “This election, we have a chance to undo decades of harmful policy and build a future that puts the needs of working people first and our young members are working hard to make that happen.”

"Sunrise members voted overwhelmingly to endorse Bernie Sanders because he has the strongest Green New Deal plan of any candidate and has spent his entire career taking on big money and fighting for the health and dignity of all people," said Stephen O'Hanlon, Sunrise Movement Communications Director. "Our movement is mobilizing to turn young people out in record numbers to nominate Sanders, defeat Trump, and back up Bernie as he fights for Green New Deal from the White House. This is just the beginning.”

“In the general election, Trump and his allies will try to use racism and bigotry to divide us and keep hurting our people,” People’s Action’s Ryan Greenwood said. “That’s why we have to nominate the candidate who has already united the multiracial working class. That’s Bernie Sanders. This coalition represents people who know who’s responsible for the pain people feel--and it’s not each other. The millions who make up our membership are organizing together to take the fight to Trump and the corporate forces behind him.”

"Bernie Sanders has been the north star for our movement from the beginning,” said Sam Rosenthal, Political Director at Our Revolution. “With his values as a guiding principle, we've been able to endorse progressive candidates up and down the ballot, from city council to Congress, from San Francisco to Nashville to New York. We're proud to endorse Bernie Sanders, not just for president, but as the leader of our movement. His message has been an inspiration to our organization and our candidates, and has equipped us to keep fighting well past 2020."

"Simply put- as young people, this is the election of our lifetime. In this cultural and political moment we are seeing and experiencing the rise in white nationalism, authoritarianism, the climate crisis, and the way our public institutions are not working for us. In response: we need bold leadership. There is a lot at stake this year and we know that in order to shape the future of this country we need to be able to create the political conditions possible for us to win on our issues like Free College for All. We need Sanders leadership that shares our vision of what this country can be. Leadership that shares our values that center people and communities first and is committed to being held accountable and co-governing with us.” Said Adiel Pollydore, Program Director for Student Action. "Winning in 2020 will be dependent on inspiring, engaging and building with young people across the country, and Sanders is the candidate who is doing that"