The Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign held their Pomona field office opening on Saturday, Feb. 23, 2020. The office is the first one opened by any of the candidates in Pomona for the 2020 election.
The office held a formal opening event in which local elected leaders, activists and both local and senior campaign officials spoke. Sam Sukaton, the Orange County and Inland Empire area director for the Bernie 2020 campaign, provided opening remarks. Pomona city council members Carlos Goytia and Victor Preciado attended, providing their endorsement to the Senator’s campaign.
Jennifer-Epps Addison, Network President and Co-Executive Director for the Center for Popular Democracy attended and spoke about Sanders’ marijuana legalization platform and the effects of expunging past marijuana-related charges on minority communities.
The office serves as a space for campaign volunteers to learn how to canvass the local area, phonebanking, and for campaign officials to plan outreach in the greater area. The office also features a mural done by Pomona artist Joe Ded.
Debate watch parties, canvassing marathons and other campaign events will also be organized through the office.
Field Director Danny Garcia said that according to neighbors, this is the first presidential campaign they’ve seen with an established presence in the area in over 30 years. Garcia cites Pomona’s proximity to both Los Angeles and the Inland Empire, as well as the strong support of local activists and elected officials as being key factors in the decision to open a Pomona office.
The office hopes to canvass as many homes as possible and register new voters in time for Super Tuesday, which is March 3. In this year’s Super Tuesday, 14 states will vote in their respective primary elections, one of which is California’s. A key component of the Sanders campaign is registering voters as Democrats, as they otherwise cannot vote for Sanders in the primary election to begin with.
This isn’t the Sanders campaign’s first introduction to Pomona either—Sanders came to Pomona in 2016 for a rally at Ganesha High School.
His strong local support makes sense, considering Pomona’s racial and financial demographics. With roughly 20% of the city’s population earning below the federal poverty line, as well as having a large immigrant presence and a sizable working class population, it comes as no surprise that many Pomona-area voters support Sanders’ policy platform, which largely aims to help demographics like Pomona’s.