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Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders on Friday stumped for Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison during a campaign rally at the University of Minnesota where he deemed the upcoming election “the most important midterm election in the modern history of this country.”

In front of hundreds of college students and others, the former Democratic presidential candidate said abortion access, election integrity and workers’ rights were all at stake this year. And he urged them to support Ellison, along with other progressive candidates in Minnesota.

“What we have got to do together right here in Minnesota, right here in Vermont, we’ve got to stand together. We’ve got to elect fighters,” Sanders said. “The reason I'm here is because I know that Keith Ellison is one of the strongest progressive fighters in this country.”

Sanders’ visit was intended to drum up support among Democrats in Minnesota with just over four weeks left until Election Day. And it came as recent polls showed that Ellison was in a neck-and-neck race with GOP challenger Jim Schultz. 

Ellison told the audience at Northrop Auditorium that he would keep fighting to protect the right to abortion in Minnesota, prevent guns from getting into the hands of people who shouldn’t have them, and work with local officials to prosecute violent crimes in the state.

He also said that he and other DFL candidates would work to ensure that elections are fair.

“We are here to do one single thing, and that is to protect and preserve our democracy,” Ellison said. “What is on the line is whether or not the United States, starting in Minnesota, will remain a democratic, multiracial society that respects everyone's rights.”

Several candidates for the state Legislature, as well as U.S. Reps. Ilhan Omar and Pramiya Jayapal, of Washington, also voiced their support for Ellison. 

In response, Schultz on Twitter said, “most people don’t support extremists like Bernie Sanders and Ilhan Omar,” and called Ellison “the most extreme attorney general in Minnesota history.”

Hundreds came out to the DFL campaign rally in Minneapolis, and many said they were most drawn by Sanders, the headliner. They held up Keith Ellison campaign signs and some wore Bernie Sanders T-shirts. Ellison and Sanders also held rallies in Duluth and Rochester this week.

University of Minnesota freshman Zukaina Al-Mohamed said she wanted to see Sanders because she’d watched him since middle school and appreciated that he prioritized issues that affected marginalized groups. As a child of immigrant parents and member of the LGBT community, she said she didn’t feel seen by most politicians.

“Bernie really showed how much he cared about college students, about people who need free health care, about people who are oppressed and how he really wants to help them,” Al-Mohamed said. “So I just felt like this is fulfilling something since when I was little just to see him and had the opportunity to meet him even like in the audience.”

Sophomore environmental science majors Gianna Doherty and Anna Windels said they hoped to hear from the candidates about their positions on climate change and sustainability. The pair said it was one of their biggest concerns ahead of the election.

“I know Bernie Sanders has a lot of the same views as mine on like the environment and climate policies. So I came out here to kind of listen to some of that and see if he kind of shares the same values as the candidate that he's endorsing today,” Doherty said.

Beverly Miller, 64, of Minneapolis, said she was a fan of Sanders and wanted to hear him discuss many of his stump issues.

“I really just want to hear Bernie say the same thing he's been saying for years, no matter what he's asked, you know, the one percent,” Miller said. “Anything that he says, I just want to hear it. Like for gratification to just hear it again, and just get it out there.”

Dana Ferguson

Author

The Vermont senator and former presidential candidate told hundreds at the University of Minnesota that voters faced a historic choice in the midterm election and encouraged them to support progressive candidates.

Bernie Sanders stumps for Keith Ellison in Minnesota

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