Late last week in the snazzy lobby of the National Nurses United headquarters, NNU Director Rose Ann DeMoro stood with her senior staff and Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and took stock of the risks they had taken to side with Bernie Sanders for president.

The Nurses were the first big national union to endorse Sanders, who surprised everyone in the Democratic Party by coming to a photo-finish with Hillary Clinton in Iowa’s caucuses—the Iowa party never released the vote totals.