'Thank You Bernie': Organizers Credit Progressive Leader for 'Long Game' That Paid Off

The movement that led to at least 18 progressive victories in congressional races and 42 left-wing winners down-ballot "started with a man with 1% vote and three people at his announcement" of his presidential bid in 2015, said one organizer Tuesday night as Democrats won control of the US Senate and House, a majority of governorships, and made major gains in state legislatures.

"Bernie made the path" for progressive politicians to win crucial elections, said a labor organizer based in San Francisco, referring to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). "This wave has been a long time coming."

She was one of several observers who drew the connection from Sanders' unsuccessful but mobilizing presidential runs in 2016 and 2020, and his relentless centering of economic justice in his campaigns and legislative work, to the wave of victories Tuesday night by outspoken economic populists including Sens.-elect Abdul El-Sayed (D-Mich.) and Troy Jackson (D-Maine) and Reps.-elect Melat Kiros (D-Colo.), Donavan McKinney (D-Mich.), and Rebecca Cooke (D-Wis.).

"What a night for the movement Bernie has been building for decades," said Jeremy Slevin, Sanders' senior adviser and communications director, listing dozens of the candidates who were endorsed by the senator and ran on platforms demanding Medicare for All, housing justice, civil rights, and an end to the influence of powerful corporations on US politics.

RoseAnn DeMoro, a labor organizer and former executive director of National Nurses United and the California Nurses Association, recalled how, as her organization campaigned for Sanders in 2016 and 2020, "we educated, agitated, organized, gained the most principled allies, incredible people, like Abdul El-Sayed."

"And last night—we won!" said DeMoro.

She added: "Thank you, Bernie Sanders, for working your heart out to change this country. Your 'long game' should be very gratifying today."

A decade after he first ran for president, the proposals Sanders pushed in 2016 have been embraced by large majorities of Democratic voters, and even Americans across the political spectrum. His signature proposal, Medicare for All, dismissed then by former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton as something that would "never, ever come to pass," is supported by 66% of US adults, according to a KFF poll taken last month, with 52% of respondents still supporting the idea if it would "eliminate private health insurance companies."

The US House held its first-ever hearings on Medicare for All in 2019, and some of the Democratic Party's most popular members—Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), elected in 2018, and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, elected in 2025—are outspoken proponents of the plan.

On Tuesday night, said Josh Orton of Demand Justice, "across the country, in red states and blue, Democratic candidates adopted the fight Bernie led for years: for the people against the powerful. You lead that fight and welcome everyone to join you, you win."

Even candidates who did not campaign alongside Sanders, such as Democratic Sen.-elect James Talarico and Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa in Texas, put forward platforms that showed clear signs of Sanders' influence on US politics. Hinojosa told The New York Times that "the one fight in this country is about economic power" as she explained why she identifies as a "populist" rather than a progressive, and Talarico spoke out against "the billionaires who own the social media platforms, who own the cable news networks, who own the politicians fighting on our screens."

"The people at the top work so hard to keep us angry and divided because our unity is a threat to their wealth and their power," Talarico said, suggesting a call for the working-class solidarity Sanders has urged at his Fighting Oligarchy rallies.

Will Steakin of Politico said he was "not sure any Democratic surrogate campaigned as hard as Sanders this cycle," counting 58 rallies since the Fighting Oligarchy Tour, attended by 340,000 people, and "20 rallies in October alone."

Posting a montage of the rallies, set to David Bowie's "Starman," the senator himself said that Americans "across the country, in rural and urban areas," had "said NO to oligarchy, and YES to an agenda that fights for the working class."

"I am so happy that Bernie Sanders is with us today to be able to see the fruits of his labor. He cultivated a whole generation of young leaders through the movement he spawned who are now winning seats everywhere," historian Asad Dandia said of the 85-year-old senator. "Thank you, Bernie."