Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders Campaigns For Votes in Ventura County
The presidential election has arrived on the central coast.
Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday became the first presidential candidate to put on a rally in Ventura County this election cycle.
An estimated 10,000 people showed up at Ventura College’s Westfield, many stunned that a presidential candidate was in their back yard.
“I’ve been to five rallies so far and this is the first rally that I have been to here; they have been mostly in Los Angeles,” said Ursula Lorenzana of Ventura.
“I like the fact that he understand that the president is working for the people and not their own agenda and own rich buddies. I think it is refreshing what he is doing and really bringing people from all over the place together,” said Michelle Lapointe of Oxnard.
NewsChannel 3 reporter Kelsey Gerckens had a one-on-one interview with Sanders. The Democratic presidential candidate explained why he is making a big push in California.
“California is enormously important because there is 475 delegates at stake here. I just want to thank all the people, the 10,000 people here in Ventura, that came out. It was a great turnout. We are running an unprecedented, if I may say so, grassroots campaign. We are bringing out 200,000 people from one end of the state to the other at these types of rallies because I think it is important for people to see firsthand what the candidate is like and what he stands for. That is the type of politics I believe in and that is why I think I have a really good chance to win here,” said Sanders.
NewsChannel 3 asked Sanders if he has a legitimate opportunity to beat former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Party nomination.
“This is what I think. I think it is an uphill battle right now. We are at about 46 percent of pledged delegates and that means in the six states including California on June 7th we are going to have to do really, really well,” said Sanders.
Sanders also commented on his proposed debate with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. He says it is on, and his campaign is currently looking to rent out the biggest stadium they can find in California.
