Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., announced Tuesday his endorsement for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Perriello. Perriello previously served as a representative for the fifth congressional district and is running against Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam for the Democratic nomination.
Sanders announced his endorsement in a press release Tuesday.
“We need to elect progressives at every level of government if we are going to beat back the dangerous agenda of the Trump administration and its Republican allies,” Sanders said. “Now more than ever we need people in elected office who will fight for middle-income and working families. That’s why I am so pleased today to endorse Tom Perriello for governor of Virginia.”
Sanders also said he supports Perriello’s plans to raise the minimum wage to $15 and work toward sustainable energy in the state.
Perriello said he plans to tackle unifying the Democratic party throughout his campaign and has looked to Sanders’s efforts, according to a press release.
"Bernie Sanders has spent his career fighting for working families against a rigged system," Perriello said in a press release. "Bernie has electrified a movement of Americans ready to take on our biggest challenges, including inequality and corruption, and I'm proud to have his support in my campaign."
Sanders is the first major figure to endorse Perriello, while Northam has received endorsements from both Sen. Tim Kaine (D) and Sen. Mark Warner (D), as well as Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring (D) and Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D), who currently works closely with Northam as his Lt. Gov.
Like Sanders during the 2016 Presidential Election, Perriello has recently focused on accessible education. One of his goals as Governor is to offer two free years of community college to Virginia residents. His campaign website states that he supports “common-sense gun safety reforms.” He is pro-choice and says he will work to decrease the pay gap between men and women.
According to a Mar. 29 poll conducted by Christopher Newport University’s Wason Center for Public Policy, Perriello is tied with Northam at 26 percent of their party’s support, the remaining two-thirds being undecided. The Democratic candidates are running against Republicans Ed Gillespie, Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart and State Sen. Frank Wagner (R-Virginia Beach).
At the University level, the University Democrats remain neutral about the endorsement because it is still so early in the season.
“We don't endorse candidates before primaries, so we have nothing to say for or against Perriello,” Virginia Chambers, first-year College student and communications coordinator for UDems, said in an email to The Cavalier Daily. “We are, however, always excited to see Virginia's gubernatorial race getting attention from outside the commonwealth.”
Chambers said the University Democrats hope the early attention given to candidates will mean increased voter turnout in the Virginia primary, which will take place June 13.
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