One organized group in Connecticut that formally endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders was the Working Families Party.
The progressive, organized labor focused party that is influential in Bridgeport and Hartford backed the Vermont senator for several of his policy positions.
The party's state director, Lindsay Farrell, told NBC Connecticut, she hopes Sanders' views become more mainstream.
“Raising wages, holding wall street banks accountable, making college affordable for young people. It’s told all of the politicians that have been watching this primary that there is a real appetite for those policies," she said Tuesday.
The Democratic Party's platform did embrace raising the minimum wage, and coming up with a path to making college more affordable for working families, positions that Hillary Clinton has warmed to since the beginning of the primary season.
For those reasons, Connecticut Democratic Party Chairman Nick Balletto, said he's not concerned about Sanders voters from the April presidential primary turning to vote for Clinton in the Fall. Clinton convincingly won the Connecticut presidential primary.
Balletto said, “I think people were very excited during the primary cycle and were standing up and fighting for what they truly believe in but I think they’re beginning to see the common ground between both camps and they’ll come together and move forward and we’re going to win in November.”
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Governor Dannel Malloy, who sits on the Platform Committee of the DNC, said he's not concerned about having to win over Sanders supporters for Clinton's sake. He said the alternative is something he doesn't think Connecticut voters can stomach.
He said, "I think Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton have done a lot to unify the party. I also think that Donald Trump has helped to unify the Democratic Party as well.”
