Two-time presidential contender Bernie Sanders revved up a crowd Saturday in Humboldt Park to promote his populist agenda, pitch progressive ideals and endorse two Democratic congressional contenders from Chicago.
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders addresses attendees of the Northwest Side Progressives Rally and March at the Humboldt Park Boathouse on June 18, 2022.
“These billionaires don’t want people like Delia and Jonathan to be in Washington,” Sanders said to a crowd of about 300. “They don’t want them. We do want them. They got the money. We got the people power.”Delia Ramirez, candidate for the 3rd Congressional District, arrives at Humboldt Park on June 18, 2022. Sen. Bernie Sanders spoke in support for Ramirez and Jonathan Jackson, right, candidate for the 1st Congressional District.
“Now is the time to take on all those demagogues out there who are trying to divide working based on the color of our skin or where we were born or our sexual orientation,” he said. “Now is the time to stand together.”as well as in Iowa and Wisconsin in recent days. He’s praised Ramirez and Villegas have both been pulling in endorsements in their high-profile intra-party fight for the sprawling new Latino-leaning 3rd district that meanders from Chicago’s Northwest Side to the far reaches of DuPage County.
The Sanders imprimatur could help Jackson make the case that he’s the real progressive in the race for the district that stretches from the South Loop deep into the south suburbs. U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia of Chicago, who represents the 4th Congressional District, Illinois’ first Latino-majority district, attended the rally and also has endorsed both Ramirez and Jackson.“As we build our muscle and our power in Congress, that’s how we redefine who will run this country,” Garcia told the crowd. “It won’t be the billionaires. It won’t be the corporations. It will be the working people and young people and students and our future intellectuals.