Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, emerging as the national front-runner in the Democratic presidential race, will headline a rally and concert in St. Paul on the eve of Minnesota's March 3 Super Tuesday primary.
The booking, announced Wednesday, is the latest signal that Sanders is making a play for a state he easily won in 2016. It will be the third visit by the candidate since last August.
A new Star Tribune/MPR News Minnesota Poll of 500 likely Democratic voters found home-state Sen. Amy Klobuchar leading the field with 29% support, though Sanders trailed closely at 23%.
While Klobuchar has the endorsement of many of the state's most prominent Democrats, Sanders has been backed by U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who served as a surrogate for Sanders' campaign at Tuesday's caucuses in Minnesota.
The 7 p.m. March 2 rally at St. Paul RiverCentre will feature a concert by Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats. Admission will be free and open to the public.
Sanders last visited Minnesota for a November 2019 campaign rally at the University of Minnesota, about two months after making the rounds at the Minnesota State Fair. Jane Sanders, his wife, participated in a Minneapolis march earlier this month to draw attention to cases of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls.
Along with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sanders became one of the first top-tier candidates to visit Minnesota last year. In an interview with the Star Tribune last August, Sanders described Minnesota as a key battleground state in the presidential race. He called Klobuchar, who entered the Senate with Sanders in 2006, a "personal friend."
Stephen Montemayor • 612-673-1755 Twitter: @smontemayor
