Democratic 2016 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders will live stream a political address Sunday, and a campus group will hold a viewing party for students at Texas A&M.
The viewing party, organized by Aggies for Bernie Sanders, a new political organization on campus formed in January, is set to be held from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Saturday in the ILSB auditorium. With over 300 seats already reserved, the event is full. However, overflow seating will be available on a first come, first served basis.
“We have people who are not supporters and people from the College Station area coming to this event,” said Cameron Finley, molecular and environmental plant sciences graduate student and chief officer of Aggies for Bernie Sanders. “I think the fact we already have an overflow of people to listen to a candidate during the primary, I think is already insane.”
The event is open to anyone across the political spectrum who is interested, Finley said.
“Bernie has something to offer for all parties, even Trump supporters,” Finley said.
Finley said there is an emphasis in this presidential election on young people voting in primary elections, because historically, turnout for young voters has been low.
Because of this low turnout, members of Aggies for Bernie Sanders have been registering people to vote, regardless of political affiliation, in the MSC for the past week and will continue to do so through next week. Registration tables will also be provided at the viewing party before and after the event.
“I think it would be really cool to see young people swing a vote,” business junior and member for Aggies for Bernie Sanders Jordan Jump said. “We, as students, have to realize the impact we could have on this election.”
Bernie Sanders’ recent jumps in polls — up from 4.1 percent this time last year to 36.3 percent as of Jan. 20, according to The Huffington Post Democratic National Primary Poll — have not gone unnoticed. Sanders has had mass appeal to young people in particular due to his plan for free college tuition.
“Bernie pulls people from all parties, which is what makes him so great,” business junior and Aggies for Bernie Sanders member Alexander Rodriguez said. “We want everyone there at the event for this reason, to witness it. It’s going to be huge for first time voters like myself to go out there and represent. There’s so much potential for real change.”