Bernie takes Tucson

Tucsonans turn out big for Sanders, AOC … Tariff talk … And this isn’t Scottsdale.

Thousands of Tucson residents stood in the sun for hours on Saturday to see U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in midtown Tucson, the latest in a series of rallies they’ve held in competitive Republican congressional districts.

Organizers estimated 23,000 Tucsonans came out to hear from the pair of progressive politicians who are widely viewed as leaders of the resistance to the Trump administration.

Joe is a little skeptical of the number, but there is no doubt that the crowd was huge for a midtown event. Lines of people surrounded the perimeter of the local high school and people were still filing in when AOC was ending her roughly 30-minute speech.

Since the inauguration, Tucson activists have been busy. And not just the weekend protests at Tesla, although the size of those crowds seems to grow every week. Protests downtown, as well as in front of Republican U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani’s office, are becoming regular events, while activists also are putting together a know-your-rights clinic for communities with large immigrant populations.

The Vermont Senator’s latest visit to Tucson seemed different from other recent rallies held in competitive Republican districts. Sanders had a deeply personal reason to schedule a return to the Old Pueblo shortly after the death of his close friend, Congressman Raúl Grijalva.

Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez and U.S. Rep. Greg Casar all lionized Grijalva and his role in mentoring new liberal voices in Congress and being a steadfast ally for his left-leaning contemporaries.

Ocasio-Cortez told the crowd that the Tucson Congressman was the first person she reached out to after receiving a chilly welcome to the House.

"When I was being attacked, not just by Republicans in the right wing, but honestly by a lot of members of my own party, it was hard to find people who were kind and compassionate, there were very few and far between And Raúl Grijalva was the first person to open his door to me, the first,” she said.

Grijalva also was one of the first powerful Democrats to support Sanders’ run for president in 2016 - despite the popularity of Hillary Clinton within the Democratic Party - Sanders remembered.

“I was here in Tucson a number of years ago when I was running for president. And at that point, you know, we didn't have 20,000 people coming out of meetings and I wasn't very well known. And what Raúl did, he said, ‘I like what Bernie was saying,’” Sanders said.

“I was just talking to Adelita” a few moments ago, and (she remembered a story of her father deciding in 2016 to endorse Sanders, retelling it to Sanders) Raúl said, ‘Bernie is speaking what has to be said.’ And he had the guts to come out and endorse me and take on the whole Democratic establishment.”

There were a number of local elected VIPs taking selfies with Sanders and AOC, but the only Pima County elected official who took the stage on Saturday was County Supervisor Adelita Grijalva.

The rally was one of the largest public events she has attended since saying she wouldn’t comment on the open Congressional District 7 primary, and whether she’ll run for her father’s seat, until after his funeral later this week.

One of the first speakers of the rally, Grijalva railed against the chaos being caused in Washington and the need for a new influx of Democrats to get involved in local politics.

“We have way too many politicians. When we need more public servants, we need people less concerned about being reelected and more concerned about protecting the people,” she said. “So I want to thank Congressman Casar, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Tío Bernie. Thank you for coming to Tucson and getting us fired up because we really needed this. We needed to get together as a community and understand that we are not alone.”

Grijalva cast the fight as between the hard-working working men like her bracero grandfather and the billionaires surrounding Trump in his second term.

The New York Congresswoman warned the crowd that an extreme consolidation of political power and brazen corruption is taking over the country at a breakneck pace never seen before.

“Be honest about where we are, Tucson. Because we are witnessing an oligarchy in America when those with the most economic, political and technological power destroy the public good to enrich themselves while millions of us pay the price. And our political system is ill-prepared for this abuse of power. In fact, much of our political system enables this abuse of power, starting with the role of money in politics,” she said.

She celebrated Arizona’s recent history kicking out powerful, well-funded incumbents who lost touch with the needs of their state, carefully not mentioning either Kyrsten Sinema or Martha McSally by name.

“In fact, one thing I love about Arizonans is that you all have shown that if a U.S. Senator isn't fighting hard enough for you in the Senate or elsewhere, you're not afraid to replace her with one who will and win. And that's how you got Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego,” she said.

Still, she encouraged the thousands in the audience on Saturday to get politically involved.

As the biggest name on the ticket, Sanders broke away from the standard of party unity as being a part of the message. Instead, Sanders said it was incumbent on everyone to fight for their neighbors, their families and their community.

“So, brothers and sisters, we're going to fight Trump every step of the way. And what you are saying here in Tucson, I want you to know what you're doing here in Tucson impacts not only Arizona. The whole world is watching. And what people all across this country are saying, do we have the guts to stand up to Trumpism and oligarchy and authoritarianism? We say yes,” Sanders said.

He said the American people have already thrown off the yoke of imperialism once before.

“We don't want a king in the United States. We overthrew a king. We want a vibrant democracy, not all power resting in the hands of one person. It is outrageous that this guy sues the media, sues ABC, CBS, and Meta - threatening to investigate NPR, PBS. You know why? Because they dared to be critical of him,” he said.

Sanders’ speech was briefly interrupted by pro-Palestinian demonstrators inside the crowd, but they were quickly escorted out of the rally.

Sanders ended the rally focusing on where he sees the country headed without a major course correction.

One attendee, Mallory Riegger, said she has been going to Bernie rallies since 2016. On Saturday, Riegger was there to see Ocasio-Cortez.

“I really am supporting AOC because she is intelligent and articulate and think it is amazing that they are speaking out. What is happening in the country right now is unprecedented and we need people to develop a spine and fight back,” she said.

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Former state lawmaker Daniel Hernandez is vying with eight other Democrats who want to fill the congressional seat vacated by former Congressman Raúl Grijalva, and will file paperwork today to run.

A Democrat who represented the southside for three terms in the Arizona House of Representatives, Hernandez also served on the Sunnyside Unified School District Governing Board for two four-year terms before that.

Hernandez said southern Arizonans need a local leader who can stand up for them.

“We need a voice and a fighter in DC,” he said, noting the cuts planned for Arizona will have huge impacts on families in southern Arizona. “It is not abstract, people are going to get hurt and some will die.”

Asked if the country was headed to a fascist state, Hernandez remained optimistic.

“I think we are on the road, but there is time to stop it,” he said.

Candidates started filing statements of interest early last week for the seat in Congressional District 7. By Sunday evening, the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office listed 19 candidates:

Democratic candidates: Samuel Alegria, David “Bees” Bies, Patrick Harris, Sr., Victor Longoria, Samantha Severson, Trista di Genova, Scott Sheldon, and Stefawna Welch.

Republican candidates: Daniel Butierez, Sr. (who ran against Grijalva last year), William “Bill” Hunter, Carolyn Norris, Jorge Rivas, Raul Verdugo, Jimmy Rodriguez, Michael Rebeiro, Gabriel Tapia, and Joe Wells.

Libertarian candidate Alan Aversa and frequent Green Party candidate Richard Grayson make it 19 candidates for now.

We also have two wild cards who we’re pretty sure will enter the race - but haven’t so far.

Secretary of State Adrian Fontes and Pima County Supervisor Adelita Grijalva are both expected to announce this week.

Tariff shock: The Trump administration’s tariffs are already starting to hit the pocketbook of a produce importer in Nogales, Tucson Sentinel columnist Blake Morlock writes. Jaime Chamberlain, head of his family’s produce business and a Trump supporter, said the tariffs were inevitable after federal officials didn’t stop illegal immigration and fentanyl. Still, even just the three days the tariffs were in effect in early March were enough to see the impact.

"It's in the millions," Chamberlain said. "It's just three days and it's an 'Oh-my-God' amount of money."

Sticker shock: The cost of renovating Tucson’s downtown library, which desperately needs repairs, is triple what officials think it would cost to move to another building, the Arizona Luminaria’s Yana Kunichoff reports. It wouldn’t be the first time the library has moved, after starting in the top floor of City Hall in 1883. The most likely spot right now would be the Wells Fargo building across the street.

Questions remain: A convention at Casino Del Sol was shut down after reports of a contagious virus spreading, KVOA’s Isabella Frederickson reports. The Tribal Medical Authority cancelled the Wild West Steampunk Convention, raising questions from vendors who were told it was a medical evacuation, without a clear explanation. The casino remains open for business, casino managers said.

(Un)popular decisions: While Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly listened to Tucsonans who were worried about potential cuts to Medicaid, as KVOA’s Megan Spector reported, Republican U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani, who voted to pave the way for those cuts, had a much chillier reception. He ducked out the back door to avoid protesters at a town hall at the Quail Creek Republican Club over the weekend, Green Valley News’ Dan Shearer reports.

Don’t worry, AOC, we’re pretty sure most Democrats really dislike Republican U.S. Rep David Schweikert, too.

During her speech on Saturday, held in Republican Rep. Juan Ciscomani’s district, she railed against the Arizona Republicans who voted to gut Medicaid.

"Every single Republican in the state of Arizona, including Representative Schweikert. So you know what that means. You know what our mission is here, right? This whole state needs to come together and give Schweikert the boot and replace them with a Democrat who fights for the working class,” she said.

We’re pretty sure she meant Ciscomani, who also voted with the Republican caucus to cut funding for Medicaid.

AOC and Sanders have made it a point to hold rallies in competitive Republican districts, with AOC reminding the crowd that House Speaker Mike Johnson told House Republicans to hold off on planning any town halls right now.