As Bernie Sanders gears up for next phase of his political revolution, Senate Democratic candidates are clamoring for his support in swing states like Ohio and Pennsylvania — where his anti-trade, populist message could give Democrats a key political edge come November.

So far, Sanders has stumped for just one Senate Democratic hopeful: Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, a former colleague in the chamber and a kindred liberal spirit. And it’s unclear at this point how much energy Sanders — a longtime independent who has never exactly been a Democratic Party stalwart — is willing to expend on behalf of the party.


And while the two camps are regularly in touch, Sanders and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee are nowhere near far enough in their discussions to map out where Sanders could stump for candidates or what kind of fundraising appeals he’ll send out.

Still, top Democrats are already eager for Sanders to mix it up in several key down-ballot races.

“I believe that Bernie will help us in any way that he will be most effective to help us,” DSCC chairman Jon Tester of Montana said during a recent interview in Washington, D.C. “I’m sure he would [prioritize liberals] and those candidates are probably going to be more inclined to have him come.”

POLITICO surveyed more than a dozen Democratic candidates running in this year’s most competitive Senate races. Five said they would eagerly campaign with Sanders.

One candidate who would happily accept Sanders’ support is Nevada Democratic hopeful Catherine Cortez Masto, the state’s former attorney general, who is battling to keep the seat in Democratic hands after the retirement of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid.

“Senator Sanders has been a leader in the fight to get dark money out of politics and helped make income inequality part of the national discussion,” Cortez Masto wrote in an emailed statement. “I would welcome Senator Sanders back to Nevada to campaign for me.” Clinton defeated Sanders in the heavily contested Feb. 20 caucuses in Nevada; she secured the delegate advantage at a rowdy state convention in May despite a revolt from Sanders supporters.

It’s not difficult to see where Sanders’ progressive, populist message could take hold: Ohio and Pennsylvania, two Rust Belt states where Democratic candidates are hammering their Republican opponents with Sanders-esque anti-trade rhetoric; and Iowa and Wisconsin, both home to liberal college towns that are deep enclaves of Sanders supporters.

Meanwhile, Sanders has stridently opposed the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a massive trade pact between the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim nations pushed heavily by the Obama administration, yet opposed by both presidential candidates and a significant swath of lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

So it’s no surprise that the two Democratic Senate candidates battling incumbent Republicans in highly competitive Rust Belt states — where past multinational trade deals have been blamed for job losses among blue-collar workers — want Sanders on the campaign trail with them.

Stumping with Sanders is “not something we’ve talked about or planned yet, but she’d absolutely campaign with him,” said Sean Coit, a spokesman for Democrat Katie McGinty, who is running against GOP Sen. Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania.

In Ohio, Democratic ex-Gov. Ted Strickland has been savaging GOP Sen. Rob Portman — a former U.S. trade representative — over the issue. Strickland campaign spokesman David Bergstein said Sanders’ “message of fighting for working families and opposing unfair, job-killing trade deals certainly resonates in Ohio. We’d be happy to have him here.”

The anti-TPP message is so potent in Senate races this fall that even Ann Kirkpatrick, the Democratic Senate candidate in Republican-leaning Arizona, said she would stump alongside Sanders, whose brand of liberal politics is markedly different from her own moderate persona.

“Senator Bernie Sanders inspired millions of Americans and I’d welcome him on the campaign trail in Arizona,” Kirkpatrick wrote in an emailed statement. “On some things I have differences of opinion with Senator Sanders, but I agree with his fight to rebuild America’s middle class and to stop unfair trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which is supported by Senator [John] McCain and sends American jobs overseas.”

Sanders’ political operation and aides at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee “talk all the time,” Tester said. The Vermont senator’s fundraising prowess, particularly in garnering small-dollar donations, will be a top strength for Senate candidates, party officials said. Democrats need to flip at least four Republican-held seats to reclaim the Senate majority in November.

But Sanders wants to activate his own post-campaign operation before he wades too far deep for down-ballot candidates. First step is the formal launch of his new political group, Our Revolution — a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization that will focus on backing candidates and promoting liberal policies championed by Sanders during his campaign. Sanders plans to boost all sorts of down-ballot candidates, from those vying for a seat on the local school board to congressional hopefuls.

Though its website is already live, an official launch for Our Revolution is expected this month. No new endorsements are expected until after the new political operation is up and running, but Sanders is looking for like-minded candidates who have espoused a similarly liberal agenda in their own races, an aide said.

The senator is also working on the Sanders Institute, a likely 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit focused on policy. There could be a third Sanders-driven political group aimed at harnessing grass-roots support.

“What we’re seeing in Philadelphia are people who have been brought into the political process for the first time,” a Sanders aide said last week. The senator’s political ventures, the aide said, is about “finding a way to channel that energy into something that is constructive.”

Sanders has already taken sides in a number of Democratic primaries in House races in New York, Washington, Nevada and Michigan. But the Sanders endorsement that has garnered the most attention is Tim Canova, who is challenging ousted Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz in her Aug. 30 primary.

An official with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which does not plan to spend resources to aid Wasserman Schultz, said while “certainly Senator Sanders could be a positive influence in many House races,” the two sides haven’t discussed whether he’ll play a role for the DCCC.

In the Senate races, only Wisconsin’s Feingold — a liberal who’s on the same ideological wavelength as Sanders — has gotten the Vermonter’s formal endorsement. Sanders blasted out a fundraising appeal to his expansive email list on Feingold’s behalf May 26, praising his ex-colleague for his stances on health care, the PATRIOT Act, the war in Iraq and campaign finance reform.

Meanwhile, Feingold refrained from picking sides in the Democratic primary until June 23, which was well after Clinton had won enough delegates to secure the presidential nomination.

A Feingold spokesman declined to comment on how much cash Sanders’ missive fetched for the campaign. But Feingold’s second-quarter fundraising this year was his heftiest haul of the cycle; the former senator reported raising $4.1 million in the quarter that ended June 30.

A top Sanders adviser said following Wisconsin’s April 5 presidential primary that the senator could help drive out younger voters for Feingold. In Dane County — where the University of Wisconsin-Madison is located — Sanders walloped Clinton, 62.2 percent to 37.3 percent.

“Look how many young people we had in Wisconsin — more 18-to-29-year-olds than voters 65-plus,” Sanders senior adviser Tad Devine said in an MSNBC interview that month. “If Russ Feingold wins in November, in part he should thank Bernie Sanders for registering all those young people.”

Similarly, Iowa Democratic Senate candidate Patty Judge could tap into Sanders’ reservoir of support among young voters in the state, which narrowly went for Clinton over Sanders in its Feb. 1 caucuses. The liberal Johnson County, home of the University of Iowa, voted for Sanders, 59.5 percent, over Clinton, who got 40.2 percent of the vote there.

“We’re running an aggressive, statewide campaign,” said Sam Roecker, Judge’s deputy campaign manager. “Engaging Bernie Sanders supporters and tapping into the activity and enthusiasm behind his campaign will be critical to defeating a 36-year incumbent like Chuck Grassley.”

Another Senate candidate who could fit the Sanders mold is Deborah Ross in North Carolina. The former executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina, who is challenging GOP Sen. Richard Burr, has been aggressively talking up shielding Social Security from cuts — a key Sanders priority — during her campaign.

Though there’s been some rumbling already about whether Sanders is doing enough to promote down-ballot Democrats, he’s talked up the need to elect a Democratic majority in Congress this fall, particularly to ensure the party’s platform, in which Sanders exercised plenty of influence, can actually become reality.

“Our job now is to see that platform implemented by a Democratic Senate, a Democratic House and a Hillary Clinton presidency,” Sanders said during his Democratic National Convention speech last week in Philadelphia. “And I am going to do everything I can to make that happen.”

Burgess Everett contributed to this report.