Bernie Sanders

Senator Bernie Sanders has endorsed more than five dozen candidates for local and state offices nationwide as he seeks to remake the Democratic Party in his image and build a progressive bench as part of his legacy.

Mr. Sanders said in an interview that at 84, his days as one of the defining faces of progressivism in America are numbered, so he is working to help elect as many like-minded allies as possible up and down the ballot, from county commissions to the Senate.

“By the time I’m 104 and serving my 8th term in the U.S. Senate — that’s a joke,” Mr. Sanders said, pausing for effect. “Yes of course, we’re building a movement for the future.”

Mr. Sanders has run for president in the last two open Democratic primaries, in 2016 and 2020, and twice finished as the runner-up. Yet even in defeat, the Vermont independent emerged as one of the country’s leading voices on the left. Now, he is asserting that power in the 2026 elections.

His endorsement list this year includes the most state and local selections since he issued a similar list in 2020. It reflects a heightened desire to wield more influence in primary elections; his last such effort came in October, far after primary elections had ended. And the range is wide: He is backing candidates in 20 states, focused heavily on those running for state legislatures.

Mr. Sanders had already announced his support for a trio of Senate candidates — Graham Platner in Maine, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan and Peggy Flanagan in Minnesota — who have been at least initially opposed by the more moderate wing of the party. Mr. Platner’s leading rival, Gov. Janet Mills, dropped out, making him the presumptive nominee.

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