Sen. Bernie Sanders holds Green New Deal rally in Fresno

Kyra Haas | Visalia Times-Delta

FRESNO — Supporters waved blue and white "Bernie 2020" signs after nearly every sentence Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders said Friday night in Fresno.

Wildly waving green-and-white "Green New Deal" posters also dotted the crowd.

The Vermont senator addressed his audience on Veterans Peace Memorial Lawn at Fresno City College, kicking off the campaign's three-day tour of California aimed at capturing the Latino and youth vote.

Sanders hit on some familiar talking points, decrying the "billionaire class" and wealth inequality and championing the Green New Deal, first proposed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York.

"We have got to address the terrible levels of pollution that exist here in California and all over the country," Sanders said. "There are millions of people, including people in this area, who cannot drink the water that comes out of their facets."

Sanders also spoke about marijuana, saying he wanted to decriminalize it nationwide and expunge records of marijuana-related offenses. After legalization, Sanders said he wanted to ensure the industry was not controlled by a handful of corporations.

"We are going to end the so-called 'War on Drugs,' " Sanders said.

Long-time, new and potential Sanders supporters turned out for the rally.

Jennifer Blackman, who's lived in Fresno for the past 20 years and who supported Sanders in 2016, said that as a disabled woman, she felt that Sanders "sees us and speaks for us when others don't." She said she's been a Bernie fan for years.

Blackman attended an organizing event held last month in place of Sanders' original planned visit, which was canceled after the Vermont senator suffered a heart attack and had two stents inserted to relieve a blocked artery.

But Blackman said she wasn't concerned about the senator's health.

"He's tenacious — that's the thing people don't understand," Blackman said. "He's not ready to stop any time soon."

Luis Lara of Fresno shared the sentiment.

"I think for his age, his energy and his wisdom really speak for themselves," Lara said after the rally.

As an immigrant, Lara supported Sanders because he felt the senator had immigrants' interests in mind and didn't treat them as "outcasts," he said.

Rosa Depew, who attended the rally with her daughter, said she was still undecided about who to support in the Democratic primary. She said key issues for her were healthcare and immigration.

"It's still early in the primary season," she said. "We have to hear what he has to say and compare it to what the other candidates are saying."

Sanders said it was "no great secret" that since California has the most delegates to the Democratic National Convention, whoever wins the state has "an excellent chance to win the nomination."

Sanders is in a competitive position to do just that. Poll aggregator FiveThirtyEight places Sanders in the top three Democratic candidates, along with former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

In poll results released earlier this week, the Latino Community Foundation and Latino Decisions found that of the 74% of registered California Latino voters who planned to vote in the Democratic primary, 31% would vote for Sanders. Twenty-two percent would vote for Biden and 11% would vote for Warren, according to the poll.

Sanders is set to appear in Long Beach on Nov. 16 and East Los Angeles on Nov. 17.

Reach reporter Kyra Haas by email at khaas@visaliatimesdelta.com or find her on Twitter @kc_haas.

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