Kevin Hardy

kmhardy@dmreg.com

Bernie Sanders pledged Thursday to make 2016 a year that history will long remember.

"Whoa," the senator from Vermont said as he took the stage Thursday evening in front of hundreds of supporters at the Renaissance Des Moines Savery Hotel. "Happy New Year!"

Standing in front of a giant American flag, Sanders briefly addressed the crowd at his campaign's New Year's Eve celebration.

"In a few hours, we're gonna be in 2016. And we together have an opportunity to make 2016 a year that history will long remember," Sanders said. "We have the opportunity — and you here in Iowa have an extraordinary role to play in that process — we have an opportunity to create a political revolution in America."

Starting in Iowa, Sanders said his campaign will make a statement that the "government has got to represent all of us and not just a handful of billionaires."

Sanders spoke twice on Thursday, as the hotel's ballroom was jam-packed. So after dashing through the skywalk and the hotel's kitchen, he addressed hundreds more supporters in a nearby room.

Supporters donned Sanders campaign stickers, sipped on $5 beers and wine and snacked on barbecue meatballs and cheese slices. The quick stop at the New Year's Eve party wrapped a three-day swing through Iowa for the Democratic presidential candidate. Earlier in the day he held a campaign event in Knoxville and met with The Des Moines Register's editorial board.

Sanders, whose hoarse voice wavered as he spoke, predicted people will look back on 2016 and thank Iowa for its role in transforming American politics.

"In the coming month, we need you to reach out to your friends and your neighbors and your family members. Drag them into the caucus," he said. "Let's win this caucus and let's go forward in making 2016 a year that people for hundreds of years from now will remember as the year we transformed America."

AT THE EVENT

SETTING: Savery Ballroom of Renaissance Des Moines Savery Hotel

CROWD: About 1,000 attended the New Year's Eve party, which stretched across several rooms of the hotel's event space.

REACTION: Many members of the crowd wore Sanders' shirts, buttons and hats. The audience interrupted his remarks with cheers and applause and swarmed him for selfies after he spoke.

OTHER STOPS: Sanders held a campaign event in Knoxville earlier in the day.

WHAT'S NEXT: Sanders wrapped up a three-day swing through Iowa on Thursday. His next scheduled appearance in the state is the Putting Families First Presidential Forum on Jan. 9 in Des Moines.

Earlier Thursday: Campaign event in Knoxville