Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders revs up crowd in support of David Garcia at ASU

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the firebrand who energized young voters in his 2016 Presidential campaign, rallied Tuesday alongside David Garcia, the college professor who was looking for an injection of energy into his campaign for Arizona governor.

Sanders told the crowd at Arizona State University, which he estimated at 1,000, that the nation needed to elect progressive politicians, including to governor’s offices.

“I know that in the next two weeks each of you will do everything you can to make sure David Garcia is the next governor of Arizona,” Sanders said.

Garcia is facing incumbent Gov. Doug Ducey.

Sanders's speech, which was heavy on criticism of President Donald Trump, described a political system controlled by billionaires that fill airwaves with ugly political ads.

“The only antidote I know as to how you take on wealthy and powerful and greedy people,” he said “is when people organize at the grassroots level and stand up and fight back.”

Sanders said that Arizona has begun taking such steps by passing an increase in the minimum wage. He cited the ballot box losses of former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who had been found in civil contempt of a court order that he stop racially profiling citizens.

He also cited the ouster of Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell who oversaw a bungled presidential preference election in 2016 that left people standing in line for hours.

Sanders said that if people under 30 voted at the same rate as people over 30, “we would transform Arizona and transform America. Let’s do it.”

Registration among Arizona voters who are 18-24 years old has surged this year. More people in that cohort have registered to vote this year than any other age group, and there may be more new voters from that age group than for the 2016 presidential election.

Still, getting those voters to actually turn out and cast a ballot is a perennial problem.

As he ended his remarks, Sanders told the crowd, "In two weeks, you in Arizona can help make American history. Give us a strong progressive governor here.”

Garcia: 'I served my country, Doug Ducey has served ice cream'

Garcia, in a gray suit and blue tie, preceded Sanders with a speech that emphasized his support of public education.

“After four years under Doug Ducey, 75,000 teachers had to march to his front door to get him to listen,” he said. “I’m in this to make sure that we invest in public education.”

Garcia reminded the crowd of a provision in the Arizona Constitution that states that college education should be as free as possible. Garcia said the state’s founders introduced a Sanders-style idea, well before Sanders did.

“I’m going to fight for that constitutional requirement to make higher education as nearly free as possible,” he said.

Garcia spoke of his time as an Army veteran, contrasting it with Ducey, who was the CEO of Cold Stone Creamery.

“I’ve served my country,” Garcia said. “Doug Ducey has served ice cream, folks.”

Garcia said that instead of a businessman for a governor, Arizona needed someone who was working class.

“I’m an everyday guy looking to make a difference in his state,” he said.

Garcia introduced the crowd to his wife and daughters, saying he joined the Army to impress his then-girlfriend. As he brought his daughters to the stage, Garcia said he was running for them.

“So that they know their papa did everything he could to fight for their home state,” he said. “That he was on the right side of history and that, together, we built a much better, stronger, more inspirational Arizona.”

Gallego makes sharp attacks on Trump, Ducey

In his speech that preceded Garcia, U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego told the crowd that the Republican party, led by President Donald Trump and Ducey were committing the ”biggest generational theft in the history of this country.”

Gallego said that politicians were blaming immigrants for lowering wages. “It’s the Wall Street executive that’s killing your wages, but they ain’t doing nothing about that,” he said.

Gallego got so emotional in his speech railing against Ducey that he let an expletive fly when talking about the opioid crisis and pharmaceutical companies. He quickly apologized to the crowd.

Gallego, who is running unopposed this election cycle, was the only Arizona office holder in attendance at the Garcia rally.

Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, who is seeking a U.S. Senate seat was not there. Neither was former Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, who is seeking a Congressional seat to represent the district that includes ASU.

No other candidate for statewide office appeared alongside Garcia at his rally.

The scene at the ASU rally

The event was held at the Student Pavilion at ASU. As the event started, the room was about two-thirds full.

Students waved purple “Sun Devils for Garcia” signs. Several members of Arizona Educators United were in the crowd wearing the red shirts indicative of the Red For Ed movement that engineered a statewide teacher walkout to protest education funding.

Garcia’s path to victory had counted on bringing a surge of Latino voters to the polls, motivated by the prospect of electing the first Latino governor in Arizona in more than four decades.

Garcia also had said his race would have national implications, asking audiences to imagine how Trump would feel when he found out that a man with the last name of Garcia was elected governor in Arizona.

Polls taken in the summer showed Garcia running a tight race against Ducey. But more recent polls showed Ducey holding a double-digit lead over Garcia.

Ducey’s campaign, aided by $8.8 million in outside spending from the Republican Governors Association, has filled television airwaves with ads attacking Garcia as a liberal extremist.

Some of those ads have used Garcia’s own words, including him asking people to “Imagine: No wall in southern Arizona.”

Garcia said that he was referring to Trump’s proposed wall when he said those words at the NetRoots conference of progressive activists in New Orleans this summer, not the existing border fencing.

Garcia’s campaign had raised $1.83 million during this campaign, according to the latest campaign finance reports. Ducey had raised $5.62 million.

Garcia has relied on smaller donations from individuals. He had said he would not take corporate lobbyist money. He had received 32,000 individual contributions, according to the finance reports. His campaign said his average contribution was just over $50.

Before the Tempe rally, Sanders spoke to students at the University of Arizona in Tucson. That event, held outdoors, had attendees holding umbrellas to fend off raindrops from a passing thunderstorm.

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