Sanders opens campaign office on Main Street
Dozens of residents attended the grand opening of a presidential election campaign office for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Sunday.
Walking inside the office, the atmosphere was relaxed and hopeful, with pizza, cookies and coffee standing by. There is also a make-shift wall with numbers pinned to it, counting down to the day of the Iowa caucus.
Kitty corner from the 2016 Sanders campaign office, the new one is inside the building which houses Hellberg’s Jewelers on Main Street.
Marshalltown resident Patt Copley, who will celebrate her 73rd birthday on Tuesday, was standing by in her dark blue Bernie Sanders T-shirt, ready to talk to people who walked through the glass doors. She is a steadfast Sanders supporter and helped out in the 2016 campaign office.
“It broke my heart when Pete Buttigieg got that space and we did not have one yet,” Copley said. “Then we got this one and it was bigger, nicer and better.”
Continuing the fight for Sanders is something Copley is more than willing to undertake. She said he stands for the same beliefs and the stance he has taken has not changed in the last 40 years.
Another Marshalltown resident who attended was April Jyrkas. She was living in Rapid City, S.D., during the last presidential election cycle and saw the Sanders rally there. While she missed the campaign rally Sanders held at the Fisher Community Center last month, Jyrkas said she wanted to show her support for the Vermont candidate.
“I feel like he is really the candidate for the middle class and he has got a great record of consistency,” Jyrkas said. “I feel like what he says is what he actually believes.”
Anyone who wants to volunteer for the Sanders campaign can do so through the campaign office.
Running the location is Sanders field organizer Dmitri McDonald.
“Volunteers can come here and sign up,” he said.
The hours of operation for the office is noon to 8 p.m., Tuesdays through Sundays.
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Contact Lana Bradstream
at 641-753-6611 or
lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.