After a petition calling for MoveOn to put out a ballot for members to vote on an endorsement, the organization followed through and opened up voting over the weekend. To earn the endorsement, a candidate had to receive ⅔ of the votes of their members. This had previously only been achieved by President Barack Obama in 2008.
On Tuesday, the organization announced that they were endorsing Sanders after he gained 78.6% of the vote of over 340,000 members participating. Hillary Clinton, once believed to be the only electable Democratic candidate, only received 14.6%, while Martin O’Malley received 1%. An additional 5.9% favored not endorsing any candidate during the primaries. The vote had the highest participation in the organization’s history, and Sanders took it by the highest percentage, beating the 70% Obama earned in 2008.
“This is a massive vote in favor of Bernie Sanders, showing that grassroots progressives across the country are excited and inspired by his message and track record of standing up to big money and corporate interests to reclaim our democracy for the American people,” MoveOn.org political action executive director Ilya Sheyman said in a statement. “MoveOn members are feeling the Bern. We will mobilize aggressively to add our collective people power to the growing movement behind the Sanders campaign, starting with a focus on voter turnout in Iowa and New Hampshire.”
The organization has stated that they intend to mobilize nearly 75,000 of their members in Iowa and New Hampshire to get out the vote for the Vermont Senator.
Following the announcement, Sanders put out a statement saying that he is “humbled” by the massive support from the group.
"I’m proud to have MoveOn and its community of millions of members join our people-powered campaign,” Sanders said in a statement. “MoveOn has spent more than 17 years bringing people together to fight for progressive change and stand up against big money interests. MoveOn's fight to give the American people a voice in our political system was reflected in the group's internal democratic process. I'm humbled by their support and welcome MoveOn's members to the political revolution."
"After three months of Secretary Hillary Clinton holding an average 10-point lead among Iowa Democrats, the playing field has changed," Quinnipiac assistant director Peter Brown said in a statement.
In New Hampshire, Sanders is showing even higher numbers. A Monmouth University poll also released on Tuesday found that he has a 14 point lead against the former first lady, coming in with 53% to her 39%.
