Sanders Campaign Press Release - Sanders Welcomes Elizabeth Warren Backers

WASHINGTON – Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders on Monday welcomed growing support for his candidacy from supporters of a White House bid by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

"Elizabeth Warren is a good friend. Like millions of her supporters around the country, I have great respect and admiration for her. That is why it is so gratifying that so many people who wanted Elizabeth to run for president are now getting behind our campaign to restore America's middle class and take on Wall Street and the big banks."

Sanders comment came after leaders of a drive to draft the Massachusetts senator announced that they also back Sanders. "Sanders has captured the imagination and support of people looking for a real progressive challenger in the 2016 Democratic primary," Ready for Warren campaign manager Erica Sagrans and cofounder Charles Lenchner wrote in an op-ed. In an e-mail to supporters, the group's organizers said they were launching an initiative called Ready to Fight.

In addition to the online draft-Warren political movement, Sanders' on-the-ground campaign organizations in New Hampshire and Iowa include former draft-Warren staffers.

In New Hampshire, Kurt Ehrenberg is running Sanders' campaign. Before taking that post, he was state director of Run Warren Run, the group founded by MoveOn.org and Democracy for America to try to persuade Warren to enter the Democratic primary.

In Iowa, Sanders' campaign hired Blair Lawton, who served as field director in Iowa for the Run Warren Run effort, to serve as political director for Sanders in Iowa. Sanders' Sioux City regional field director, Susana Cervantes, was the Western Iowa Field Director for Run Warren Run; the Iowa City regional field director, Beth Farvour, was a regional field director for Run Warren Run in Iowa's 2nd Congressional District; and the Dubuque regional field director, Marrgaret Jarosz, also was a regional field director for Run Warren Run in Iowa.