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Presidential hopeful and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders addressed thousands of Richmond voters five days away from the Virginia Democratic presidential primary election. (Photo by Jay Paul)
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Rally attendees waited for hours in a line that wrapped around the Arthur Ashe Junior Athletic Center. (Photo by Jay Paul)
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Supporters filled the Arthur Ashe Junior Athletic Center for presidential candidate Bernie Sanders' Richmond rally on Thursday afternoon. (Photo by Jay Paul)
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During his speech, Sanders advocated for raising the federal minimum wage, creating a "Medicare for All" single-payer national health insurance program, and ensuring free education at public universities and forgiving existing student loan debts. (Photo by Jay Paul)
With less than a week until Virginians head to the polls on Super Tuesday, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders made the case for his "political revolution" to thousands who attended his Richmond rally Thursday afternoon.
The rally, originally set to be held at music venue The National, was moved to the Arthur Ashe Jr. Athletic Center due to “overwhelming response,” according to Sanders’ campaign, and it appears the concerns about over-crowding were well-founded. Supporters waited to enter the Ashe Center in a line that wrapped around the building more than two hours before the rally was set to begin, and many were turned away at the door due to fire safety concerns.
The rally opened with performances from Richmond natives Lucy Dacus and No BS! Brass Band and introductions from speakers including State Del. Elizabeth Guzman (D-Prince William) and Luis Angel Aguilar, Virginia state director for immigrant advocacy group CASA.
On March 3, voters in Virginia and 13 other states will vote in the Super Tuesday presidential primary election, where Sanders will appear on the ballot alongside candidates including former Vice President Joe Biden; Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren; Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar; former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg; and billionaire former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Despite name-checking Biden and Bloomberg, Sanders spent much of the speech with his sights set squarely on toppling President Donald Trump in the general election. To do so, he said he’ll depend on a grassroots base of multi-generational and multiethnic supporters voting in record numbers.
“Here is something that I know all of you understand: You understand that real change never, ever takes place from the top on down. Real change always happens from the bottom on up, when millions of people stand together for justice, and that is what this campaign is about, it’s about a justice campaign,” he said to cheers from the crowd.
Marge Lingenfelter, 22, says Thursday's event was the first political rally she's ever attended and that she has supported Sanders since the 2016 presidential election. "For something like this to be happening here, there's no reason not to come," she says. (Photo by Rodrigo Arriaza)
The sea of supporters in attendance for Thursday’s rally reflected the voting bloc of millennials and people of color that propelled Sanders to victories in the New Hampshire primary and Nevada caucus. Oregon Hill resident Marge Lingenfelter, 22, said she’s supported the Vermont senator since his 2016 presidential bid and admires his track record on social justice issues.
“He just has never been the type during the debates to stoop to just smack-talking and stuff like that,” she says. “He’s not there for the game of it; he’s here because he’s genuinely wanting to make it better for literally everyone, and I fully support him.”
Felipe Nascimento, 38, meanwhile, said he’s a Democratic Socialist and admires Sanders’ commitment to policies like universal healthcare and his rejection of donations from corporate interests.
“I never thought that the concept of Democratic Socialism would come to the states in 2016 and now even have a stronger movement than before,” he says. “I believe in checks and balances on capitalism and the universal right of people not to die from preventable diseases, and the universal right of people to get educated.”
"He's been basically beating the same drum since he was a mayor in Burlington, that's what really speaks to me," said Richmond resident Felipe Nascimento, 38. (Photo by Rodrigo Arriaza)
Virginia, a historically red state, has favored Democrats in recent presidential elections, supporting the Democratic nominee in every presidential election since 2008. The findings of a recent poll from Roanoke College’s Institute for Policy and Opinion Research shows Virginia favoring every Democratic candidate currently in the running over Trump in the November general election. Sanders holds the poll’s widest predicted margin at 49% of the vote versus Trump’s 40%.
“The way we defeat Trump is by bringing forth the largest voter turnout in the history of this country, that’s what we need to beat Trump, and in my view, you don’t do that with the same old style of politics,” Sanders said. “That is not going to bring young people and working class people into the political process.”
During his address, Sanders touched on signature platforms like creating a "Medicare for All" single-payer national health insurance program, raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour and eliminating the gender wage gap, raising teacher wages, abolishing for-profit prisons and detention centers, ensuring free education at public colleges and universities and forgiving existing student loan debts, creating a pathway toward citizenship for undocumented immigrants, and enacting policies to combat climate change.
“We believe that in America, the richest country on earth, if you work 40 hours a week, you should not live in poverty,” he said of raising the federal minimum wage. “A lot of my critics, a lot of the democratic opponents [say] ‘Bernie, you’re so radical.’ I don't think it is radical to say that all our working people have a right to live with dignity and security.”
A point he made about securing abortion rights for women elicited some of the loudest cheers of the afternoon.
“If you believe in getting the government off the backs of the American people, understand that it is women who have the right to control their own bodies, not the government,” he said, referring to conservative Republicans in Congress who advocate for limiting the reach of the federal government.
Sanders will continue his appeal for Virginia voters this Saturday with rallies in Leesburg and Virginia Beach.
All precincts in the City of Richmond will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. during the Super Tuesday Presidential Primary on Tuesday, March 3. To check your registration status and view your polling place, visit elections.virginia.gov/citizen-portal/.
