HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — West Virginia will see the first of what could be a couple of 2016 Presidential candidates ahead of the Mountain State’s May 10 primary election when U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (D-Vermont) leads a campaign rally Tuesday in Huntington.
“I think it’s a great thing for Huntington and for West Virginia,” said Bob Bailey, chair of the Cabell County Democratic Party, of the Sanders visit.
Doors for the rally in Huntington, home to Marshall University, open at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena which can seat as many as 7,500 people depending on the stage arrangement.
Though Bailey is supporting former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential race, he said Sanders’ candidacy is good for the party as a whole.
“We’re hoping that he brings all those young people into the Democratic Party,” Bailey told MetroNews. “Of course, if he’s not the nominee, then Mrs. Clinton will be and, this fall, we hope all of them vote for Mrs. Clinton for president over (Republican Donald) Trump.”
Sophia Mills, a senior political science major at Marshall University, is president of Marshall’s Young Democrats. A commuter student, she already voted for Sanders in the Ohio primary election back on March 15. Clinton won Ohio with more than 56 percent of the vote.
Mills told MetroNews it’ll be good to see a Democratic presidential candidate visit the Mountain State.
“West Virginia is kind of counted off for the Democrats, especially because Trump is popular in this area, but I think that issues impacting West Virginia need to be heard nationally, so I’m really happy that a candidate is coming to West Virginia,” Mills said.
Sanders “populist message,” she said, “could appeal to a lot of West Virginians and have value to people of all ideologies.”
Up to now, there have been indications both Trump and U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) could potentially make campaign stops in West Virginia, though no announcements about scheduled events had been made as of Monday morning.
“It’s probably not their most popular stop because we don’t have many delegates to offer them,” Bailey noted. “But I think some of them, some of the Republicans — maybe one or two — will make an appearance and I think Mrs. Clinton will make an appearance.”
West Virginia has 37 Democratic presidential delegates and 34 Republican presidential delegates. Most of those Republican delegates will be chosen on ballots in the GOP primary, while Democratic delegates are being selected via conventions.
Sanders joined the Democratic Party in 2015. Prior to that party change, he’d been the longest-serving independent lawmaker in U.S. Congressional history.
“I do think he has appeal among young students,” Mills said of Sanders’ candidacy. She was first inspired to get involved in politics in 2008, at the age of 13, during now President Barack Obama’s first presidential campaign.
“This time around, I’m seeing a lot of people on campus and just my own friends who are really inspired into politics by Bernie and I think it’s really amazing that people have that figure who’s inspiring them,” she said.
Early voting for West Virginia’s primary begins Wednesday, Apr. 27.
A day earlier, primary elections are scheduled in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Delaware.
Next door in Kentucky, primary election day comes seven days after West Virginia’s May 10 primary. Trump won Kentucky’s Republican presidential caucus back on March 5.