Bernie Sanders muscled left-wing hopefuls through primaries. Democrats say he needs to do more so they can win the general

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Bernie Sanders has spent the last decade growing his political movement by muscling left-wing hopefuls through Democrat-on-Democrat primary fights across the country.

Now for the first time, Sanders’ handpicked candidates are battling it out in some of the toughest – and most expensive – races of the general election. And top Democrats privately believe that the Vermont senator and other left-wing groups are not investing enough to get them over the finish line, particularly in the costly battleground state of Michigan, according to nearly a dozen people familiar with internal conversations.

In recent weeks, Senate Democrats’ campaign arm has directly asked Sanders to step up his contributions in Michigan, where outside GOP groups have targeted Democrat Abdul El-Sayed with attack ads as national leaders seek to make him a bogeyman, according to two of those people.

Multiple House candidates that won Sanders’ coveted endorsement , too, have directly asked his team for more financial support, according to another source familiar with the conversations.

Sanders is doing more in the final five weeks to help candidates he backed in the primary – and some of his allies privately argue he’s contributing more than any other senator in Washington.

This week, Sanders announced he is giving “hundreds of thousands of dollars” from his roughly $23 million war chest to left-wing Senate and attorney general candidates in Minnesota and Florida – his largest direct candidate contributions ever. He’s used his famously robust email list to help fundraise for a trio of key House candidates. This weekend, he’s headed to an ultra-competitive House race to support his endorsed candidate, Randy Villegas, who’s challenging Republican Rep. David Valadao, and he said Tuesday he plans to campaign for all his endorsed Senate candidates, including El-Sayed — “and maybe some others.”

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“If you look all over this country, in red states, blue states, purple states, progressives have taken on establishment candidates, they’ve defeated them in the primaries, and now I want to make sure they win in the general election, as well,” Sanders told reporters Tuesday.

Yet tensions are still rising behind the scenes.

Within hours of Sanders’ announcing that he’d spend to support Senate candidates in Minnesota and Florida, many Democratic operatives were quick to note that he is not spending in Michigan, where many in the party feel the money is most needed. One Democratic operative involved in the Michigan Senate race said it was “absurd he’s spending in a safe election” — referring to the Minnesota contest — “before showing up for El-Sayed.”

Even in his fundraising email for the three House candidates, Sanders did not include the candidate that top Democrats say could use the most help – Will Lawrence, who Sanders had previously endorsed.

“At some point, the measure of success has to be bigger than beating other Democrats. It’s about beating Republicans, winning real majorities and actually governing so we can make change and hold Trump accountable. Governing majorities aren’t won in July, they are won in November,” one Democratic leadership aide told CNN.

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People close to Sanders reject the contention that he’s not doing enough. In addition to his just-announced contributions to Flanagan in Minnesota and Angie Nixon in Florida, they argue, he’s also personally raised $2.8 million for candidates he endorsed in their primaries, including $500,000 for El-Sayed.

When Sanders helps a candidate, his defenders say, he’ll barnstorm, he’ll utilize his massive listserv and deploy on-the-ground organizers — but he does not fund TV advertisements. (When progressive House candidates have asked him in the past, he’s turned them down, too, according to multiple familiar with the discussions.)

“His whole agenda is ending the corrupting influence of billionaires and special interests in politics, and it is indicative of the rot in the Democratic party that all they can talk about is money instead of actually recognizing that part of the reason you’re in such trouble because all you focus on is money,” one person familiar with Sanders’ thinking said.

There is an inherent tension in the calls for Sanders to spend more for his candidates. Sanders’ longtime opposition to big money in politics leaves him with few options beyond tapping his campaign funds to give candidates $5,000, the maximum amount allowed under federal law. For Minnesota and Florida, he chose to give to state parties, with the money set aside for his preferred candidates.

Democrats in Washington, however, see Sanders’ anti-super PAC crusade as mostly quixotic in the final weeks before the midterms.

“We’re at the point of the cycle where there’s no secret bank account,” one Democratic operative involved in Senate races said.

In the primary, Sanders and other progressive groups spent nearly $2.5 million on the airwaves and another $60,000 in direct donations to their progressive candidates. But in the general, an analysis of FEC data finds that those same progressives have spent just $384,000 as of late September to help those same candidates.

The stakes are high for both the progressive and establishment wings of the party: Democrats in Washington believe this is their chance to seize power from President Donald Trump for good. And for progressives, it’s a critical test of their ability to show they can win in competitive territory ahead of the next presidential election, and potentially rebuild their party’s brand.

“We see a major responsibility to show these races are not only ones we can win but we can win with an economic populist message, without triangulating,” said Ravi Mangla, a spokesperson for the Working Families Party, which plans to spend seven figures to help progressives it backed in primaries win in November.

Democrats’ most critical contest is Michigan, where El-Sayed is being buried by outside spending from GOP groups and facing regular attacks by the president and vice president as he tries to defend the party’s Senate seat. Republicans are currently on track to outspend Democrats $43 million to $24 million on advertising in the final five weeks of the Michigan Senate race, according to AdImpact. Senate Majority PAC is shouldering a large majority of the Democratic spending – $18 million.

Privately, Democratic party operatives argue that they are the ones who are forced to respond to the GOP’s increasingly nasty attacks on El-Sayed on the airwaves. And they fear it could get worse for El-Sayed and Democrats if Trump’s own super PAC or the powerful crypto groups currently pummeling Sherrod Brown in Ohio decide to pile on. That could turn a winnable seat in Michigan into a “catastrophe” for Democrats, one operative said.

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El-Sayed’s campaign said Sanders’ support is “critical as we build a broad coalition to beat Mike Rogers in November.”

“We look forward to having [Sanders] back to Michigan,” El-Sayed campaign spokesperson Roxie Richner said in a statement.

In Lansing, Michigan, Democrats are also worried about a House race that once stood as one of their top pickup opportunities of the cycle. The race between Sanders-endorsed Will Lawrence and GOP Rep. Tom Barrett has worried top Democrats , with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and his allies fearful that Lawrence – a one-time democratic socialist who has made disparaging remarks about the leadership of older Black Democrats – has made the seat much tougher to flip.

Sanders endorsed five House candidates in their primaries who are now in toss-up races, according to the Cook Political Report: Villegas in California’s 22nd district, Lawrence in Michigan’s 7th district, Rebecca Cooke in Wisconsin’s 3rd district, Bob Brooks in Pennsylvania’s 3rd district and Brian Poindexter in Ohio’s 7th district.

Some – but not all – have welcomed his help.

Cooke’s campaign is in talks with Sanders’ team about a potential visit to her western Wisconsin district. Cooke said in a statement she has heard from many “Bernie-Trump crossover voters who feel like our political system is broken and want the kind of independent perspective Bernie Sanders has.”

In California, an aide to Villegas’ campaign said its polling shows Sanders’ populist economic messaging is “popular with swing voters” in the heavily working-class district.

One Democratic operative working on a competitive race where Sanders endorsed in the primary said the senator may not be as helpful in the general election – but he still has value. His anti-establishment, working-class message aligns with the case that Democrats are increasingly making against Republicans in battleground districts, the operative said, and he remains a turnout booster for young people who are hard to galvanize in any election.

In Montana’s 1st Congressional District, which is more of an uphill battle for Democrats, Sanders endorsed Sam Forstag in the primary. But since then, Forstag removed Sanders’ endorsement from his campaign website as part of a section on national endorsements that was entirely scrapped.

Republicans have put Sanders in some of their ads in these races, showing how the GOP still sees him as an effective boogeyman.

One ad from Ohio Republican Max Miller opens up with a clip of his general election opponent Poindexter embracing Sanders during a rally from the primary. A narrator calls Poindexter a “socialist,” and then the ad shows an Ohio man named Marty.

“Bernie — he belongs in a nuthouse,” Marty says.

The Poindexter, Lawrence, Brooks and Forstag campaigns did not respond to requests for comment on whether they would want Sanders’ help in their races at this point.

Nixon’s campaign in Florida has been especially appreciative of Sanders, who endorsed her two days after her upset primary victory. Nixon is challenging appointed Sen. Ashley Moody for her full term in a state that Trump won by 13 percentage points in 2024.

“Sen. Sanders sees the opportunity here and is willing to help us seize it,” Nixon campaign manager Eunic Epstein-Ortiz said in a statement. “He knows Florida is competitive, believes Angie can win, and understands this is a race worth investing in.

基纳·贝坦库尔/法新社/盖蒂图片社

过去十年，伯尼·桑德斯通过让左翼候选人在全国各地的民主党初选中奋力拼搏，不断壮大自己的政治运动。

如今，桑德斯亲自挑选的候选人首次在一些竞争最激烈、耗资最大的选战中展开角逐。据近十位知情人士透露，民主党高层私下认为，这位佛蒙特州参议员和其他左翼团体投入的资金不足以帮助他们赢得大选，尤其是在竞选成本高昂的摇摆州密歇根州。

据两位知情人士透露，最近几周，参议院民主党竞选机构直接要求桑德斯加大对密歇根州的捐款力度，因为在密歇根州，共和党外部团体针对民主党人阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德投放了攻击性广告，而国家领导人则试图将他塑造成一个“恶棍”。

据另一位知情人士透露，多位获得桑德斯力荐的众议院候选人也直接向他的团队寻求更多财政支持。

在最后五周，桑德斯正在加大力度帮助他在初选中支持的候选人——他的一些盟友私下认为，他为之做出的贡献比华盛顿任何其他参议员都多。

本周，桑德斯宣布将从他约2300万美元的竞选资金中拿出“数十万美元”捐赠给明尼苏达州和佛罗里达州的左翼参议员和总检察长候选人——这是他迄今为止对候选人的最大一笔直接捐款。他还利用自己庞大的电子邮件列表，帮助三位重要的众议院候选人筹款。本周末，他将前往竞争异常激烈的众议院选区，支持他支持的候选人兰迪·维勒加斯（Randy Villegas），后者正在挑战共和党众议员戴维·瓦拉道（David Valadao）。周二，桑德斯表示，他计划为所有他支持的参议院候选人助选，包括埃尔-赛义德（El-Sayed）——“或许还会支持其他一些候选人”。

贾斯汀·沙利文/盖蒂图片社

桑德斯周二告诉记者：“如果你放眼全国，无论是在红色州、蓝色州还是摇摆州，进步派都挑战了建制派候选人，他们在初选中击败了他们，现在我也想确保他们在普选中获胜。”

然而，幕后的紧张局势仍在加剧。

桑德斯宣布将拨款支持明尼苏达州和佛罗里达州的参议院候选人后几个小时，许多民主党人士就迅速指出，他并没有在密歇根州投入资金，而党内许多人认为密歇根州最需要这笔钱。一位参与密歇根州参议院竞选的民主党人士表示，“他先在一场稳操胜券的选举中花钱，然后再去支持埃尔-赛义德，这简直荒谬至极”（他指的是明尼苏达州的选举）。

即使在桑德斯为三位众议院候选人筹款的电子邮件中，他也没有提及民主党高层认为最需要帮助的候选人——威尔·劳伦斯，而桑德斯此前曾支持过劳伦斯。

一位民主党领导层助手告诉CNN：“在某种程度上，成功的衡量标准不能仅仅局限于击败其他民主党人。而是要击败共和党人，赢得真正的多数席位，真正有效地执政，这样我们才能做出改变，追究特朗普的责任。执政多数席位不是在7月份赢得的，而是在11月份赢得的。”

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与桑德斯关系密切的人士驳斥了他做得不够的说法。他们指出，除了刚刚宣布向明尼苏达州的弗拉纳根和佛罗里达州的安吉·尼克松捐款外，他还亲自为他在初选中支持的候选人筹集了280万美元，其中包括向埃尔-赛义德捐赠的50万美元。

桑德斯的支持者说，当他帮助候选人时，他会四处奔走拉票，利用他庞大的邮件列表，并部署基层组织者——但他不会资助电视广告。（据多位知情人士透露，过去进步派众议院候选人也曾向他寻求资助，但他都拒绝了。）

一位熟悉桑德斯想法的人士表示：“他的整个议程是终结亿万富翁和特殊利益集团对政治的腐蚀性影响，而民主党内部的腐败之处在于，他们只会谈论金钱，而不是真正认识到，你们陷入困境的部分原因就是因为你们只关注金钱。”

要求桑德斯增加对候选人投入的呼声中存在着固有的矛盾。桑德斯长期以来反对政治中的巨额资金，这使得他除了动用自己的竞选资金向候选人提供5000美元（联邦法律允许的最高金额）之外，几乎别无选择。在明尼苏达州和佛罗里达州，他选择将资金捐赠给州政党，并指定用于支持他属意的候选人。

然而，华盛顿的民主党人认为，在中期选举前的最后几周，桑德斯的反超级政治行动委员会运动大多是徒劳的。

一位参与参议院竞选的民主党人士表示：“我们现在所处的阶段，已经不存在秘密银行账户了。”

在初选中，桑德斯和其他进步派团体在电视广告上花费了近250万美元，并向其支持的进步派候选人直接捐款6万美元。但在大选中，联邦选举委员会（FEC）的数据分析显示，截至9月底，这些进步派团体仅花费了38.4万美元来帮助这些候选人。

对于民主党内的进步派和建制派而言，此次选举都至关重要：华盛顿的民主党人认为这是他们彻底从唐纳德·特朗普总统手中夺取政权的良机。而对于进步派来说，这是一次关键的考验，检验他们能否在竞争激烈的选区赢得胜利，从而为下届总统大选奠定基础，并有可能重塑民主党的形象。

“我们认为我们肩负着重大的责任，要证明这些竞选我们不仅可以赢得胜利，而且我们可以凭借经济民粹主义信息赢得胜利，而无需采取其他策略，”工薪家庭党发言人拉维·曼格拉说道。该党计划花费七位数资金，帮助其在初选中支持的进步派人士在 11 月赢得大选。

民主党最关键的选战是密歇根州，埃尔-赛义德正面临着共和党团体的巨额外部资金投入，以及总统和副总统的持续攻击，他正努力保住民主党的参议院席位。据AdImpact的数据显示，在密歇根州参议院竞选的最后五周，共和党在广告上的支出预计将达到4300万美元，而民主党为2400万美元。参议院多数党政治行动委员会承担了民主党支出的大部分——1800万美元。

私下里，民主党人士认为，他们才是被迫回应共和党在广播电视上对埃尔-赛义德日益恶毒攻击的人。他们担心，如果特朗普的超级政治行动委员会或目前正在俄亥俄州猛烈抨击谢罗德·布朗的强大加密货币团体也加入战局，埃尔-赛义德和民主党的处境可能会更加糟糕。一位人士表示，这可能会让民主党在密歇根州原本有望获胜的席位变成一场“灾难”。

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埃尔-赛义德的竞选团队表示，桑德斯的支持“至关重要，因为我们需要建立一个广泛的联盟，在11月击败迈克·罗杰斯”。

“我们期待桑德斯重返密歇根州，”埃尔-赛义德竞选发言人罗克西·里奇纳在一份声明中说。

在密歇根州兰辛，民主党人也对一场众议院席位争夺战感到担忧，这场选举一度被视为他们本轮选举周期中最有希望拿下的席位之一。桑德斯支持的候选人威尔·劳伦斯与共和党众议员汤姆·巴雷特之间的竞争令民主党高层忧心忡忡，众议院少数党领袖哈基姆·杰弗里斯及其盟友担心，劳伦斯——这位曾经的民主社会主义者，且发表过贬低年长黑人民主党领导人的言论——使得民主党更难翻盘。

据库克政治报告显示，桑德斯在初选中支持了五位众议院候选人，他们目前正处于势均力敌的选战中：加利福尼亚州第 22 选区的维勒加斯、密歇根州第 7 选区的劳伦斯、威斯康星州第 3 选区的丽贝卡·库克、宾夕法尼亚州第 3 选区的鲍勃·布鲁克斯和俄亥俄州第 7 选区的布莱恩·波因德克斯特。

有些人（但并非所有人都）欢迎他的帮助。

库克的竞选团队正在与桑德斯的团队商讨他可能访问库克位于威斯康星州西部的选区。库克在一份声明中表示，她听到许多“从支持伯尼·桑德斯转而支持特朗普的选民的声音，他们认为我们的政治体制已经崩溃，他们想要像伯尼·桑德斯那样独立的视角。”

在加利福尼亚州，维勒加斯竞选团队的一名助手表示，民调显示，桑德斯的民粹主义经济信息在工人阶级占多数的选区“受到摇摆选民的欢迎”。

一位在竞争激烈的初选中获得桑德斯支持的选区工作的民主党人士表示，这位参议员在大选中可能作用不大，但他仍然有价值。这位人士说，桑德斯反建制、代表工人阶级的理念与民主党在摇摆选区日益强化的反对共和党的论点相符，而且他仍然能够激发年轻人的投票热情，而年轻人在任何选举中都很难被动员起来。

在蒙大拿州第一选区，民主党候选人面临着更大的挑战，桑德斯在初选中支持了萨姆·福斯塔格。但此后，福斯塔格从其竞选网站上删除了桑德斯的支持声明，而该网站原本计划设立一个全国性背书板块，但后来被彻底取消。

共和党人在这些竞选广告中加入了桑德斯的形象，这表明共和党仍然把他视为一个有效的“假想敌”。

俄亥俄州共和党候选人马克斯·米勒的一则竞选广告以一段他在初选集会上与桑德斯拥抱的片段开场。旁白称波因德克斯特为“社会主义者”，随后广告画面切换到一位名叫马蒂的俄亥俄州男子。

“伯尼——他应该被送进精神病院，”马蒂说。

波因德克斯特、劳伦斯、布鲁克斯和福斯塔格的竞选团队目前尚未回应是否希望桑德斯在他们的竞选中获得帮助的置评请求。

尼克松在佛罗里达州的竞选团队对桑德斯尤为感激，桑德斯在她意外赢得初选两天后就公开支持了她。尼克松正在挑战现任参议员阿什利·穆迪，争取完整的任期。在2024年特朗普以13个百分点的优势赢得佛罗里达州的选举。

尼克松竞选经理尤尼克·爱泼斯坦-奥尔蒂斯在一份声明中表示：“桑德斯参议员看到了这里的机会，并愿意帮助我们抓住它。他知道佛罗里达州竞争激烈，相信安吉能够获胜，并且明白这是一场值得投入的竞选。”