Joey Aguirre

jaguirre@gannett.com

With Election Day approaching, the Green Party held a rally on the steps of the Iowa state Capitol to introduce their candidate to prospective voters.

Mixing politics and live entertainment, the Green Revolution Rally on Sunday afternoon attracted nearly 150 people to hear from Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate for president of the United States.

Stein, 66, spoke to the audience on the West Terrace of the Capitol building after a handful of other speakers and activists took their turns announcing why Stein and her running mate Ajamu Baraka are the right choice this November.

Stein said a younger generation is needed to help lead the country forward, and by bailing students out from their student loan debt, that could be made possible.

"There are 43 million young people locked into debt," Stein said. "Just by mobilizing people locked into debt and getting them to come out, they can actually take over this election, and win it. Not only to cancel student debt, but make public higher education free, as it should be."

Stein said the country needs to create a "welcoming path" for immigrants to citizenship.

"Immigrants have made this country the exceptional country that it is," Stein said.

After the three-hour rally, Mario Perales Jr. said he was impressed with Stein and that he's not happy with either the Democratic or Republican parties.

"The two-party system is a failure, and the ideas Jill Stein has I agree with," Perales Jr. said. "I have heard her through YouTube and social media but never live. I like her message and hope dearly that her and (Libertarian presidential candidate) Gary Johnson get serious live coverage at the debate on Sept. 26. I think we need to break this two-party system. I can support her."

Rally organizer Chris Laursen thought the event went great and said the goal of the event was to show people the Green Party has a presence.

He was a national delegate for the Bernie Sanders campaign.

MORE: Jill Stein in Iowa: I would not have assassinated Osama bin Laden

"You have a lot of people who are disgusted and disenfranchised with the two-party system and it shows," Laursen said. "Jill's message is the same message Bernie had and I was sadly disappointed in how that all ended."

Laursen said he will continue to organize up through Election Day and in future elections, the party will look to identify races where candidates are running unopposed and will try to get a Green Party candidate on the ballot.

"And ultimately try and get some representation here at the Capitol," Laursen said.

Laursen was not the only former Sanders supporter to attend the Green Party rally Sunday.

After being a member of the Democratic Party for 40 years, Mike Florhaug traveled from St. Paul, Minn., to support Stein and is now a member of the Green Party.

"I went to Philadelphia, not as a delegate, but I went in support of Bernie Sanders," Florhaug, 59, explained. "And the Democratic Party is just not for people anymore. It's pretty obvious. And with Jill, she's very down to earth and unlike most politicians, she actually thinks about what she says like most real people do."

Florhaug said he was hoping to hear more about her stance on health care because "capitalism has really destroyed our health care system. And I like how she is for relieving debt from college kids. I like her platform and her personality."

Henry Gaff is a first-year student at the University of Northern Iowa and he was also involved in the Bernie Sanders campaign.

"I want to keep the political revolution going, so that's why I'm out here," Gaff, 18, said. "After Bernie endorsed Hilary, Jill Stein had been talking about Bernie and after looking into her, their platforms are very similar. So I want to keep voting for the sort of things I'd have voted for with Bernie."

Chicagoland native Jason Carsello is a second-year student at Drake University who called himself a "huge Bernie supporter."

"After the fallout I just felt disillusioned and don't think I could bring myself to vote for Hilary," Carsello, 19, said. "Jill Stein aligns most with what Bernie believes in and I don't think I will have a problem supporting her."

Wendy Barth of Cedar Rapids was the Green Party candidate for the governor of Iowa in 2006 and said it feels good to vote for what you believe in, instead of voting against what you don't believe in.

"The two major candidates, I don't feel compelled to support them," Barth said. "Everything Stein says I agree with. For instance, there should be a moratorium on confined animal feeding operations. These hog farms in Iowa have all this manure, then a dam breaks, there's a fish kill and water is polluted. Des Moines Water Works is already having a hard enough time keeping the water clean."