Democrats have discovered the power of promising free college.

Inside Higher Ed reports.

‘Debt-Free’ College Hits the Congressional Campaigns

A progressive political action committee announced this week that multiple Democrats in high-profile Senate races would back calls for debt-free college in the wake of Bernie Sanders’s endorsement of Hillary Clinton as the Democratic presidential nominee.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a political action committee focused on backing left-leaning policy ideas and candidates, announced that eight Democratic candidates for Senate were getting behind the goal of debt-free college. The debate over free college became a flash point in the presidential primary, and the backing of Democrats in such key races signals that the party will continue to make the issue a prominent one in the fall in a nod to Sanders’s supporters.

“My colleagues and I are working to make debt-free college a reality for millions of working families across the country, because no one should be saddled with a lifetime of debt for pursuing their education,” said Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat.

Incumbent Senator Michael Bennet, a Colorado Democrat, joined Wyden in backing that goal along with Democratic challengers Russ Feingold (Wisconsin), Ted Strickland (Ohio), Maggie Hassan (New Hampshire), Kamala Harris (California), Deborah Ross (North Carolina) and Patty Judge (Iowa). While Sanders campaigned on free college tuition during the primary, Clinton offered instead a “debt-free” college proposal that she argued was more realistic. However, earlier this month Clinton released a proposal calling for tuition-free public college for families earning less than $125,000 by 2021, moving closer to the Sanders position. (Both campaigns came out in favor of free public community college.)

“In the Democratic primary, he won 75 to 80 percent of the millennial vote, and that’s a critical constituency for Hillary to consolidate if she’s to have any hope of winning the general. So I think she went Bernie’s way,” said Morley Winograd, president of the Campaign for Free College Tuition.