clinton and sanders

A large, vacant space at 140 E. Second St. will soon become the headquarters for the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign in Flint.

(Roberto Acosta | MLive.com)

FLINT, MI - A large, vacant space at Harrison Street near Second Street will soon become the headquarters for the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign in Flint.

Ryan Hughes, director for the Sanders campaign in Michigan, walked around the 3,000-4,000 square foot space Thursday evening as volunteers trickled in.

He said a volunteer network is in place in the area and volunteers expected to begin making phone calls and canvassing, along with the office opening in the coming days.

The support in Flint is similar to the Sanders movement around the state and country, Hughes said.

"Thousands and thousands of volunteers that have built an unprecedented, organic grassroots structure," he said. "Many, many months ago people were out supporting what the Senator's vision is. Our job is to provide resources and support to contact as many people as possible."

Finding ways to support the community was also important to the efforts in Flint, Hughes said, especially "given with what we all know is happening over the past several months" in regards to the city's ongoing water crisis.

"We want to support the people here, help the people here. It's not about politics," he said. "It's about talking to people about Senator Sanders and why we think he's the best nominee."

Hughes said he backs Sanders because of his stance on campaign finance reform and focus on helping the American middle class in Flint and across the country.

"Everybody is struggling to make ends meet. We've got millions of Americans who are underemployed, working 40 hours a week and still living in poverty and that's just unacceptable," he said.

The recent announcement of a March 6 Democratic presidential debate in Flint didn't surprise Hughes with a national spotlight on the city right now because of the ongoing water issue.

"I just think it's great that Michigan voters here and across the state are going to get to hear from the candidates two days before the primary," he said, with offices opening soon across the state.

One of those voters is Jeremy Ellwood whose been part of the Flint4Bernie group, led by Mark Craig, since mid-2015.

Ellwood, social media coordinator for Flint4Bernie, was among a group of people helping set up the Flint campaign headquarters on Feb. 4.

The early efforts in Flint have been well-received, Ellwood said, including the move to clean up parks and other community-oriented activities outside of handing out campaign information.

"The majority of what we've gotten is who is Bernie and then you start talking to them about it," he said. Ellwood noted part of the challenge for the Sanders campaign is gaining traction among voters in the city.

"A lot of the African-American community isn't aware of him and they're familiar with Hillary, so right now what we're trying to do is get that word out Bernie has been with you literally since the 60s," he said. "We're trying to show if there's one candidate out there that actually does care about your community and won't take the money from the big banks, it's him."

Clinton is expected to visit Flint over the weekend to encourage support for a federal funding proposal to help the city deal with its water crisis.

Sanders has made a call for Gov. Rick Snyder to resign over the issue.

Roberto can be reached by phone at 810-429-3865, email at racosta1@mlive.com, on Facebook at Roberto Acosta Journalist, Roberto Acosta on Google Plus or on Twitter @racostaJourno.