Sen. Bernie Sanders is campaigning for his former Senate colleague Russ Feingold, who is running to retake his seat from incumbent Sen. Ron Johnson. | AP Photo Sanders fundraising for Russ Feingold

Bernie Sanders wants Russ Feingold back in the Senate with him and is fundraising on behalf of the Wisconsin Democrat in his bid to unseat incumbent Republican Ron Johnson, his campaign announced Thursday.

“We are going to have to elect candidates up and down the ballot who recognize that it is too late for establishment politics and economics,” Sanders wrote. “Candidates like my friend, former U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold. Russ led the fight with me to make the Affordable Care Act much stronger in 2009. He voted against the USA PATRIOT Act and the war in Iraq. He authored and passed landmark campaign finance reform legislation and his campaign is powered by small-dollar contributions like ours.”


Sanders has also sent out fundraising appeals on behalf of congressional candidates in Nevada, New York and Washington, and in Florida to Tim Canova, the primary challenger to Democratic National Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, with whom the Sanders campaign has quarreled over various issues throughout the cycle. On Tuesday, Sanders issued a similar call for candidates running in state races.

“Bernie has always said this movement is about something bigger than him,” Sanders’ campaign manager, Jeff Weaver, said in a statement. “Electing more candidates like Russ Feingold means progressives in the Senate can ensure the debates in Washington put working families ahead of corporate profits.”