View a slideshow from the May 28 rally.
Vermont Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders came to Santa Maria on May 28 to speak to a crowd of more than 7,000 who gathered at Santa Maria High School’s football field to see and hear the candidate speak.
Though Sanders didn’t arrive until just before 2 p.m., attendees began lining up after 7 a.m., wrapping around the stadium on Thornburg Street and West on Stowell Road, and began entering the field and bleachers around 10 a.m. The Secret Service screened attendees one at a time without incident, and the Santa Maria Police Department was on hand with 40 officers, Police Chief Ralph Martin told the Sun.
“Our staff put together a complete operations plan, and we’ve got every inch of the venue here covered somehow,” Martin said. “We’re working closely with Fire, AMR [American Medical Response], paramedics—we’ve already had someone pass out a few minutes ago, so they’re out there now getting them on a stretcher, which it was probably just the heat.”
Martin didn’t anticipate any problems at the rally, which was taking place in an already busy part of town, with the West Coast Kustoms car show happening across the street from the school at the Santa Maria Fairpark. The car show was already attracting thousands, said Mayor Alice Patino, and she expressed concern over so many people crowding so small a space in downtown Santa Maria.
Patino also remarked on the lack of presidential candidate visits to Santa Maria in the past. The last president to rally in Santa Maria was Richard Nixon, who spoke in Santa Maria on Oct. 18, 1968, from the train he was riding from Santa Cruz to Los Angeles that day, delivering campaign speeches at each stop.
“You know, California hasn’t counted too much in the presidential primary in years,” she said. “But it is historic to have a big rally here, I’m not sure what it means other than it is historic, and without notice, it’s just like, oh my gosh, what is happening.”
Thousands of Central Coast residents waited patiently in line and even longer once inside. Many were from Santa Maria, while untold numbers came from across Santa Barbara and SLO counties.
The audience included young students, retirees, working families, activists, and local and worldwide media. SLO County high school teacher and Arroyo Grande resident Mark Ladewig spoke with the Sun from the snaking line outside about why he was there.
“I like Bernie Sanders, I saw him about 20 years ago and wanted to vote for him ever since. Never thought I would get a chance to vote for him,” he said. “I like his stance on trade. I think we’ve lost a lot of jobs, and I’m a teacher, so I see my students and they don’t have a lot of opportunity for jobs.”
Sanders appeared at a rally that morning in Santa Barbara, where actor Dick Van Dyke introduced the candidate. Santa Maria was treated to two special musical guests while waiting for Sanders as his bus and motorcade made the drive up Highway 101. Sarah Lee Guthrie—granddaughter of the iconic folk singer Woody Guthrie—and her husband Johnny Irion performed, singing songs and voicing their support for Sanders, ending with Woody Guthrie’s famous tune “This Land is Your Land.”
Pedro Reyes spoke after the concert and before Sanders’ speech. Reyes is the president of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) in Santa Maria, and he spoke of the importance of immigrants in American history first in Spanish, which was then translated into Mixtec, and then English.
“Today all of us can create positive change for all of humanity,” he said. “Today we can stand together as human beings and leave a positive impact on our world for our children. Today, more than ever, Santa Maria needs to come out and vote.”
Sarah Lee Guthrie returned to the stage to introduce Bernie Sanders, who took to the field amid cheers and chants.
“Thank you Santa Maria!” he said after taking the podium. “I want to thank Sarah Lee Guthrie for her music and her words of wisdom, and I want to thank all of you for coming out here on this beautiful afternoon.”
Sanders spoke for more than an hour about the issues he’s been campaigning on for more than a year now, including campaign finance reform, a single payer health care option, tuition-free public universities, immigration reform, income inequality, a higher minimum wage, corporate oversight, trade reform, taxing Wall Street speculation, mass incarceration, and addressing climate change. He also addressed Donald Trump in the beginning of the speech, challenging him again to a debate in California and chastising the Republican frontrunner for running a divisive campaign.
In the middle of the speech, with the sun bearing down on everyone there, Sanders pulled a Santa Maria Saints ball cap from the podium, wearing it until the end of his address.
“So I’m asking all of you to vote, either vote now by mail or vote on June 7,” he said. “Let us have the highest voter turnout in California Democratic primary history. And let this great state, this progressive state, go on record as saying, California will help lead us into the political revolution, thank you!”
Sanders stayed long enough to shake hands with the front row before leaving for his next stop, an evening rally in Bakersfield. Bakersfield was the third stop for the candidate that day in a rigorous campaign in the Golden State, which Sanders hopes will help him eek out the Democratic nomination over Hillary Clinton at the Democratic National Convention in July.
PHOTOS BY JOE PAYNE
This article appears in Jun 2-9, 2016.
