LOS ANGELES (AP) — By the time California’s presidential primary election arrived in 2016, Bernie Sanders was a beaten man. This time around, everything has changed.
The senator from Vermont was an insurgent outsider three years ago in a head-to-head race against Hillary Clinton, the former first lady, U.S. senator and secretary of state whose grip on the Democratic nomination was effectively unshakeable by the time California’s primary was held in June that year.
When Sanders heads to San Diego on Friday for the first of three California campaign rallies, the self-described democratic socialist will be asking for votes in a Democratic contest in which he’s a top-shelf candidate . He’ll be campaigning in a state that could be pivotal to choosing the Democratic nominee. And unlike the state’s end-of-the-line primary in 2016, California is voting near the front of the pack this time in March 2020 with hundreds of delegates at stake.
He previewed his approach to the state on Wednesday when he spoke to striking workers in Los Angeles. He touched on familiar themes, decrying “a war being waged against the working people” and California’s notoriously expensive housing costs and rents.
“The stage is set” for a Sanders win in 2020, predicted striking worker Ben Evans, 45, a Los Angeles Democrat who attended the rally. “Everyone who paid attention last time is not going to forget.”
In his second White House run, Sanders is jostling for position as the roster of Democratic candidates continues to grow — former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas entered the race last week, and former Vice President Joe Biden has been hinting at a possible run.
Sanders remains popular with his liberal base, but he faces a new set of challenges in California in 2020 — among them, he’s competing on the home turf of rival Democrat Kamala Harris, California’s junior senator. She’s the former state attorney general and has won statewide races in California three times.
But home-state connections don’t always equate with success in California. Bill Clinton, for instance, defeated former California Gov. Jerry Brown in the state’s 1992 presidential primary, on his way to winning the White House.
Michael Ceraso, who did a stint leading Sanders’ 2016 campaign in the state, said the senator will need to do a better job connecting his big ideas for change with the concerns of local voters, especially minorities.
“He’s going to need to break the narrative that he can’t connect with communities of color,” Ceraso said.
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