Bernie Sanders to supporters in fundraising pitch: ‘You are going to love Andrew Gillum’

Bernie Sanders has endorsed Andrew Gillum, and campaign with him. Now, he's fundraising for him.

Sanders, the progressive independent U.S. Sen. from Vermont, emailed a fundraising pitch to his army of liberal supporters Wednesday, offering to split their donations with Gillum, the Tallahassee mayor who claimed the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in an upset Tuesday.

"No one thought he had a chance — not just at the start of the campaign, but as recently as a few weeks ago," Sanders said in the email. "You are going to love Andrew Gillum."

Although he was backed by two billionaire mega donors, Gillum struggled to fundraise throughout the Democratic primary race. Sanders' pitch may signal that the floodgates are opening as Democratic donors contemplate Ron DeSantis, Gillum's general election opponent, in the governor's mansion.

"Essentially his entire campaign was showing Republican primary voters how much he loves Trump and will fight for his agenda," Sanders said in the email. "So for that reason alone, it is critical that we beat Ron DeSantis in this race."

Sanders previously made waves in the Florida governor's race when he held a pair of late-stage rallies with Gillum in Orlando and Tampa.

Read about those rallies here and here.