Bernie Sanders event draws excitement from Alpena community
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ALPENA -- The Alpena community rallied for a more affordable future on Monday as U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, came to town on his Fight Oligarchy tour and in support of Democrat candidate Abdul El-Sayed's campaign to become the next U.S. Senator for Michigan.
El-Sayed is squaring off against Republican candidate Mike Rogers for the open Senate seat on Nov. 3.
The event started in just one half of the Aplex ballroom, but the wall was removed to make more room as people continued streaming through the doors.
Cole Cummings, a resident of Ossineke, said he was super excited about Sanders being in Alpena, and that it means a lot for Sanders to be in his hometown.
"I grew up here, I've seen him three times," Cummings said.
He said he saw Sanders once in Ann Arbor and once in Macomb, and Monday was his third time seeing Sanders in Alpena.
Bonnie Bartz from Alpena said that she is very excited about Sanders coming to Alpena on El-Sayed's behalf.
"I really don’t like the way the government is swinging at this moment," Bartz said. "So I’d really like it to become more central, not far left or far right."
Mayor Cindy Johnson and Alpena Municipal Council member Karol Walchak attended the event and expressed their feelings about Sanders’ visit to Alpena.
"I think everyone is excited that Bernie's here," Johnson said.
"This is a small town for such a big stop. We are grateful and proud that he picked Alpena," Walchak said.
Brittany Blethen of Alpena discussed the impact that Sanders has coming to a small town like Alpena.
"He decided of all the places that he could go, he came to Alpena," Blethen said. "Which, Alpena is a small town. Truly, respectfully, I love our town, but why would he come here? He came here because it matters. I think that's super important. You don’t see a lot of big politicians coming to this city."
Amanda Kucharek of Alpena echoed Blethen and was excited to be at the event and take everything in.
Alpena High School student Colin Hainstock said that the event brought a lot of energy.
"I thought it was very, very energetic, it was great to see all these people from all these various walks of life come out and support somebody who's actually fighting for the American people and not for big corporations," Hainstock said.
Reagan Voetberg can be reached at 989-358-5683 or rvoetberg@thealpenanews.com.