Sen. Bernie Sanders has achieved something through the coming midterm elections that eluded him during two presidential campaigns. The Vermont independent and self described democratic socialist is reshaping the Democratic Party through candidates he inspired, mentored, funded or recruited.

Sanders moved earlier and more aggressively than in past election cycles, issuing more than 70 endorsements for offices across the country. Those contests include House and Senate seats as well as state insurance commissioner races.

According to Sanders’ team, 75% of his endorsed candidates won their primaries. The results have prompted The Wall Street Journal and Axios to suggest that Sanders has become a Democratic “kingmaker,” though the midterms will provide the decisive test.

Many of his chosen candidates are newcomers who do not fit the profile traditionally favored by party leaders worried about centrist or right leaning voters. Their rise is challenging Democratic consultants, corporate donors and establishment gatekeepers while expanding Sanders’ influence inside a party he does not formally belong to.

Michele Norris interviewed Sanders for the two hour MS NOW special “Long Game: The Bernie Sanders Effect,” airing Saturday at 8 p.m. The program examines his Brooklyn childhood, political rise in Burlington, two presidential campaigns and subsequent effort to build a far reaching progressive movement.

Sanders told Norris that Democrats have succeeded on several civil rights issues but failed working people economically. “I think they have a lot to be proud of in terms of fighting for civil rights, for women’s rights, for gay rights, for environmental stuff. But in terms of working-class issues, no. I don’t think they’ve done a good job. So a lot of workers out there say, ‘Well, you know, we voted for you. Our fathers voted for you. To hell with you.’”

Sanders wants Democrats to seize control of the House and Senate as a check on President Donald Trump. At the same time, the candidates he supports are confronting the Democratic Party’s traditional power structure from within.

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, both closely mentored by Sanders, were also interviewed. “What we need to understand and figure out is how we bring together the insurgent working-class youth movement that is taking over the polls,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

That insurgency promotes a progressive agenda, rejects corporate funding, criticizes Israel and seeks to pull Democrats leftward. Its growth has also triggered anxiety among party figures who fear that Republicans will portray the entire Democratic coalition through its most radical positions.

Rahm Emanuel, the former Obama White House chief of staff and Chicago mayor, delivered that warning in a July Wall Street Journal column titled “The ‘Bernie Bros’ Could Spoil Democrats’ Midterms.” He argued that Republicans would make Democrats answer for Democratic Socialists of America positions including abolishing prisons and defunding the police and the Department of War.

Yet many Sanders endorsed candidates are neither socialists nor DSA members. Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed calls himself a “progressive capitalist,” while accepting Sanders’ endorsement and a $1 million donation from Ocasio-Cortez, a proud DSA member.

Florida Senate candidate Angie Nixon joined the DSA in June and accepted its fundraising and organizational support, but has said she is not a socialist. Senate candidates Peggy Flanagan in Minnesota, Troy Jackson in Maine and Rebecca Cooke in Wisconsin are also not socialists.

MS NOW political historian and writer Steve Benen said the socialist label does not carry the same burden among younger voters that it once did. He argued that Republican attempts to wield socialism as a frightening political label are becoming less effective as the concept gains popularity.

Whatever labels these candidates choose, they embrace core pieces of Sanders’ agenda, including addressing economic inequality, providing healthcare for all, fighting corporate greed and rejecting a political system that favors the wealthy over working people. Sanders argues that this message can work beyond reliably Democratic districts.

Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez are testing that argument by taking the Fighting Oligarchy Tour into Republican strongholds. The tour, which began in early 2025, combines campaign infrastructure, fundraising, voter identification, voter motivation and a road show that draws large crowds and encourages registration.

The general election remains the crucial test. James Talarico, running for the U.S. Senate against Republican Ken Paxton, said he would skip the tour’s three city Texas swing as his race tightens.

Sanders backed candidates must now demonstrate whether primary enthusiasm can translate into support from less ideological Democrats, centrist independents and Republican voters weary of Trump. In many states on Nov. 3, Sanders’ movement and his political influence will effectively be on the ballot.