SOMERVILLE -- Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders spoke Monday to hundreds of people at a rally hosted by Our Revolution, an offshoot of his 2016 campaign for president.

Sanders urged support for 17 candidates running for city council, school board and alderman in Somerville and Cambridge.

By 8:30 a.m. on Monday morning, the line for ONCE Ballroom and Lounge in Somerville stretched down Highland Avenue and around the corner. Hundreds from Somerville and Cambridge waited to hear Sanders.

Cambridge state Rep. Michael Connolly, who moderated the event, told Sanders, “I hope when you see this crowd today, this is what you had in mind when talking about the political revolution.”



Sanders spoke about affordable housing, public colleges and free tuition, the minimum wage, equal rights and President Donald Trump.



“Think about those people that were lynched, jailed and beaten,” he said. “Think about women and the struggle of the women’s movement in this country ... think about how for so long, so long, our gay brothers and sisters had to hide their sexual orientation … (think about the people) who said something is going on in the environment.”



He said those are the people who created political revolutions, who created their own agendas, who challenged the norms and the status quo. The people who start at a local level and work their way up, who voice the need for change, are the ones who spur results.



“The point is we live in a nation today where not only do we have massive levels of inequality,” said Sanders. “Today is about saying at the local level and the state level and the federal level, we are going to demand, and we will succeed, in creating governments that work for all of us, not just the one percent.”



He encouraged people to become even more involved in local politics, specifically in local elections. Compared to the rest of the world, he said, the U.S. has a relatively low voter participation.



“Our job in the deepest and most profound way is to tell Mr. Trump that he will not be successful in dividing this country up based on our religion, based on our sexual orientation or the color of our skin or the country we were born in,” Sanders said. “Our job is to bring people together.”



Sanders called for a minimum wage of $15, more jobs, which and more affordable housing. He said immigration policies and the criminal justice system must be reformed.



“We can accomplish anything we want to accomplish if people stand up, think big and are prepared to take on powerful, special interests,” Sanders said. “Involve people in the process, revitalize American democracy ... the political revolution is beginning and this is what it looks like.”