Presidential Candidate Sanders Will Target Everett Voters from New MA Office

By Katy Rogers

The first official campaign office in Massachusetts for Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders opened its doors on Saturday morning, Jan 9. Sanders supporters arrived in the hundreds to congregate at the new Charlestown location, which is just down from the Everett line adjacent to Sullivan Square Station at 89 Cambridge St. The supporters were enthused by Massachusetts State Senators, Jamie Eldridge and Pat Jehlen, who openly spoke about backing Sanders before trekking to New Hampshire to canvas for their candidate of choice.

Sanders and his grassroots campaign approach have become somewhat of a phenomenon on social media amongst young adults, where he has rapidly gained popularity for his views on increasing the minimum wage, universal healthcare, and women’s rights, to name a few of his key concerns. However, supporters who attended this weekend’s grand opening ranged in age and diversity and were not limited to college-age supporters.

While Sanders has been slightly behind in the Democratic polls behind Hillary Clinton, his supporters in Massachusetts have been proactively standing their ground, having drawn a record breaking crowd of more than 20,000 individuals at his rally at the Boston Convention Center last October.

With the Charlestown headquarters grand opening, and a Boston march being scheduled to happen later this month, Sanders supporters are confident that a Massachusetts Primary win over Hillary Clinton is possible.

One enthused supporter, Bil Lewis, shared that he is choosing Sanders because while he has great admiration and respect for Hillary, she doesn’t necessarily support his values.

“I believe in $15 an hour, universal healthcare, and I say that Black Lives should matter and we have to make that happen,” he said. “I’m relatively rich and I should be paying higher taxes than the kid who works in McDonalds, but I’m not. I’m not supporting Bernie, Bernie is supporting me.”

The headquarters will serve as a phone bank and congregation spot for Sanders’ supporters. The plan of action is to work on a small scale, by concentrating on the local communities around Boston, including Charlestown, Chelsea and Everett.

“We want to make sure we’re connecting the issues that Bernie Sanders is talking about, those are the same issues that are being talked about at kitchen tables throughout Boston and throughout Massachusetts,” Bernie 2016 Massachusetts State Director Paul Feeney said. “I think we have a great chance [in Massachusetts] because this is where the energy is. There are a lot of people volunteering to be active on this campaign from this area. In the coming weeks, we’ll be opening offices in Worcester, Springfield, somewhere out in Merrimack Valley, and also down on the South Shore.”

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Bernie Sanders supporters stood outside of the new headquarters in Charlestown, raising awareness for his campaign and raising up a homemade puppet in his likeness.

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Aileen L’Etoile was one of the volunteers, adding her name and information to the campaign list.

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Bernie 2016 Massachusetts State Director Paul Feeny spoke to the large crowd at the Grand Opening.

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Sen. Pat Jehlen (Cambridge, Somerville and Medford) expressed her support for Bernie Sanders stating Sanders cares about issues she is passionate about: education and senior citizens.

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    Bernie Sanders supporters spilled onto the streets of Charlestown with signs while passerby honked and waved.

    Bernie Sanders supporters spilled onto the streets of Charlestown with signs while passerby honked and waved.

Bernie Sanders supporters spilled onto the streets of Charlestown with signs while passerby honked and waved.

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John Flaherty and Bil Lewis attended the campaign office opening on Saturday morning.

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