Bernie Sanders and top state Democrats and Democratic candidates spoke at the University of Oregon today. Students and Lane County residents gathered at the EMU for the opportunity to hear Sanders speak in support of Gubernatorial candidate Tina Kotek and Congressional candidate Val Hoyle. The crowd was fired up by the time Senator Sanders spoke.
Doyle Canning, who ran against Hoyle in the congressional primaries, started the speaker line-up. Congressman Peter DeFazio spoke about how important it is to get out and vote, “This is a very tight race, one of you out there forgetting your ballot could make the difference.”
Val Hoyle, running for Oregon’s 4th Congressional District, spoke about how young people can make a difference, “They think young people won’t turn out, that you’re gonna believe the lies and stay home. We need to leave nothing on the table and show them your voices matter!” Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden also spoke before introducing Tina Kotek.
Kotek is running for Governor against Republican Christine Drazen and independent Betsy Johnson. She acknowledged that Oregon has its fair share of problems. “We don’t have to have a right-wing takeover of our state to solve these problems.” She even told the crowd of mostly students, “You can skip class for this.”
Senator Sanders came out to enthusiastic applause. People were gathered around to watch him walk in and the crowd went wild when he took the microphone. Sanders spoke about corporations and the extremely wealthy, “They [Republicans] are very clear about what they would do, repeal the estate tax. If we repeal the estate tax which applies only to the top 1/10th of 1% that would be a $1.75 trillion in tax breaks to the top. In order to pay for it they’ve got a brilliant idea, these guys want to cut social security, Medicare, and Medicaid!” The crowd replied with boos.
Sanders also highlighted the importance of youth turnout in this election and encouraged attendees to run for office. He also spoke about the very real threats against democracy, “I never thought I would be saying this, that in the year 2022 we are fighting to preserve the foundations of American democracy against right-wing Republican extremists. Trump and his right-wing friends are undermining our democracy and are moving us towards authoritarianism.”
Election day is Nov. 8. Mail-in ballots will be accepted as long as they are postmarked by election day. Ballot drop boxes can be found here. Voter pamphlets can be found here in multiple languages.
