Received this e-mail today from U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I. VT) in support of former NAACP Chairman Ben Jealous’ (D. MD) gubernatorial campaign:
I am happy to bring you some great news about the progress of our political revolution. Last night, taking on almost all of the Democratic political establishment, our friend Ben Jealous won Maryland’s Democratic primary for governor.
Ben’s victory is yet another sign that candidates who run progressive, grassroots campaigns are not only winning the battle of ideas, they are winning elections. In Democratic primary after primary across this country, candidates are running and winning while supporting ideas like Medicare for all, a $15/hour living wage, progressive taxation, free tuition at public colleges and universities, rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure and promoting racial, social and environmental justice.
Starting way down in the polls, Ben pulled off a huge upset last night and is now the Democratic candidate for governor of Maryland. But that's just the beginning. Ben now has to compete in the general election against an incumbent Republican governor who already has more than $8 million in the bank. I am absolutely confident that Ben can win this election, but he's going to need our continued help to make it happen. So I am asking:
These are, to say the least, unusual and unprecedented times for our country. We have a president who is unfit to hold his office and whose policies are the most anti-working class in the modern history of America.
One of the ways we can most effectively oppose Trump’s right-wing extremism is by electing strong progressive leadership at all levels of government.
Former NAACP President Ben Jealous is one of the great progressive leaders in the United States of America. If elected, he is going to set a shining example of what is possible when an executive officer in this country works relentlessly to create an economy and a government that work for everyone, and not just the 1 percent.
Ben needs us. Help get his general election campaign off to a strong start.
Thank you for continuing to fight for our political revolution. It is just as important today as it was when we launched our campaign for president three years ago.
In solidarity,
Bernie Sanders