Sanders touts big crowds in Iowa rallies with Ocasio-Cortez

Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) campaign said it had attracted large crowds to its rallies in Iowa featuring Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) over the weekend.

Sanders is mired in a four-way race in Iowa; according to the latest Quinnipiac University survey, he is statistically tied with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg and former Vice President Joe Biden.

{mosads}Sanders estimated more than 6,500 people joined him and Ocasio-Cortez at three events in Iowa over Friday and Saturday, the first time the two have campaigned together in the state. 

“Woah! In just 24 hours, over 6,500 people joined us in Coralville, in Council Bluffs and for our Climate Crisis Summit in Des Moines,” he tweeted Sunday. “We are going to win because we are bringing working people, young people and poor people across Iowa and this nation into the political process.” 

Woah! In just 24 hours, over 6,500 people joined us in Coralville, in Council Bluffs and for our Climate Crisis Summit in Des Moines.

We are going to win because we are bringing working people, young people and poor people across Iowa and this nation into the political process. pic.twitter.com/WuZeDL8IEz

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) November 10, 2019

Sanders’s tweet came after his Iowa deputy state director, Bill Neidhardt, tweeted that more than 2,400 people came to a rally held by the two progressive firebrands in Council Bluffs on Friday, calling it “the largest rally in Iowa of any candidate.”

You’re looking at the largest rally in Iowa of any candidate. @BernieSanders and @AOC brought together over 2,400 people in Council Bluffs tonight. pic.twitter.com/PuciQIKbPJ

— Bill Neidhardt (@BNeidhardt) November 8, 2019

Neidhardt also estimated that more than 2,000 people attended rallies in Coralville and Des Moines.

During her first visit to Iowa of the 2020 cycle, Ocasio-Cortez also knocked on doors and spoke to Iowa voters. She tweeted that it gave her “an understanding of how people are thinking about issues.”

Many people are surprised to learn that I still knock doors almost everywhere I go ☺️ It’s how I get to know people & communities!

This morning I knocked some doors in Iowa before our @BernieSanders Climate Summit to get an understanding of how people are thinking about issues. https://t.co/fzRaX1fMSH

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 9, 2019

Ocasio-Cortez, the firebrand freshman who ousted a longtime Democratic incumbent last year, formally endorsed Sanders in the 2020 race during a rally in her Queens district. Sanders estimated then that more than 25,000 people attended the New York rally.  

The campaign later released a 30-second digital spot in Iowa touting the rising progressive star’s endorsement.