U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders will hold a rally in Fort Worth next week during his first trip to Texas since announcing his 2020 presidential bid.

Sanders, one of more than a dozen Democrats who have declared for the presidential race, will be in Houston Wednesday for a rally and to attend a She the People presidential candidate forum at Texas Southern University.

His rally in Fort Worth is scheduled for noon Thursday in Burnett Park, 501 W. Seventh St. Organizers say tickets are not required, but they are encouraging RSVPs, which can be done online. “Doors open” at 10:30 a.m., the online rally invitation states.

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Sanders’ Fort Worth visit follows one by Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, who visited Tarrant County in March, and one by John Hickenlooper, who spoke April 9 during Downtown Fort Worth Inc.’s annual meeting.

Tarrant County has long been considered a Republican stronghold. But that changed in November 2018 when Beto O’Rourke beat Ted Cruz in Tarrant by 3,869 votes in the election for U.S. Senate. In another high-profile race, Democrat Beverly Powell edged incumbent Republican Konni Burton for a Texas Senate seat that covers a large swath of Tarrant County.

Texas has long been considered a crown jewel for Super Tuesday, when, next year, voters in 10 states head to the primary polls on March 3.

Sanders has been drawing large crowds as he campaigns across the country.





A recent Iowa poll shows that former Vice President Joe Biden, who has not announced he’s running for the White House, along with Sanders and Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg lead the Democratic presidential candidates.

Sanders traveled to Texas last year to encourage Democratic voters to cast ballots in the mid-term elections.

In 2017, he drew a crowd of thousands to the Verizon Theater in Grand Prairie, asking the crowd if they were ready for a political revolution. That year, he was part of the Democratic multi-state “Come Together and Fight Back” tour geared to unite Democrats in opposition to Republican President Donald Trump.