Thousands flock to hear Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez’s in Idaho
Chloe Baul
NAMPA, Idaho (CN) — More than 12,500 people packed the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa Monday night as Senator Bernie Sanders and U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called on the crowd to unite across political lines and push back against what they described as billionaires’ growing grip on American politics.
The town 20 miles west of Boise marked the twelfth stop on their national “Fighting Oligarchy” tour, which has drawn crowds across the country with a message focused on corporate power, wealth inequality and political solidarity.
“Don’t let them trick us into thinking we can be separated into rural and urban, Black and white and Latino. We are one,” Ocasio-Cortez, the congresswoman from New York, said. “We are watching as our neighbors, students and friends are being fired, targeted and disappeared. This is real.”
Sanders said the rally was not just about energizing the base but about pushing back on the idea that deep-red states are politically irrelevant.
“We don’t accept this blue state–red state nonsense. We are the United States of America, not red states, not blue states,” the Vermont senator told the filled-to-capacity arena. “When we stand together, when we do not allow them to divide us up by the color of our skin or where we were born or our sexual orientation, there is no stopping us.”
Ocasio-Cortez criticized Idaho senators for backing cuts to Medicaid, veterans’ services and federal jobs.
“You know who from Idaho voted to gut Medicaid for everyone? Both of your senators — Jim Risch and Mike Crapo — and Mike Simpson,” she said, naming an Idaho congressman.
Sanders said billionaires like Elon Musk are buying political influence and reshaping the country to serve their interests. “Musk gets one vote, plus $270 million to elect Trump,” he said. “And his reward is to become the most powerful person in government.”
Ocasio-Cortez told the crowd that local organizing and solidarity still matter — and that Idaho has a role to play.
“If states like Tennessee and Kentucky and West Virginia could be blue and go to red, Idaho can go from red to blue,” she said. “Community is the most powerful building block we have to defeat authoritarianism.”
What drew Idahoans to the rally
A few attendees said they came not just to hear from Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez but to connect with a message they rarely hear in mainstream politics — one centered on unity, fairness and practical solutions.
Kat Huggett, who lives in Nampa, said she once backed President Donald Trump but has changed course.
“Don’t feel ashamed of having supported Trump,” she said. “I mean, he had me for a second, too, in the beginning. I just came to it a little quicker than some others.”
Huggett said she hopes people who once believed in Trump won’t feel excluded from progressive movements as their views begin to shift.
“There’s a lot of people in this state that believe in Trump and his message, and I don’t think they should let their own fears of admitting that they are wrong stop them,” she said. “You're not giving up what you believe in. You're just realizing that what you want is not in the place you thought it was.”
Ryan Kelley of Meridian said he doesn’t feel represented by local or national leaders but sees Sanders as “someone who does stuff differently.”
“I've always kind of felt like we could be doing better,” Kelley said. “I don’t really agree with what our local politicians are doing, and I don’t really agree on a national level either.”
Trevor Ricker, an Idaho student from Bend, Oregon, said Sanders is the only politician who reflects his views.
“My personal ideology has never really fit with any of the major people,” he said. “Bernie Sanders is the only person that’s ever really spoke to me and displayed my visions for what I’d like to see this country be.”
Idaho leaders address local challenges
Former state Representative Nate Roberts, who is running to regain the seat he lost in 2024, kicked off the event with a call to attendees to “make democracy your side hustle.”
Speakers also raised concerns about health care in Idaho — including the state’s abortion ban, which they said has driven reproductive care doctors out of the state, as well as proposed Medicaid cuts and a push to add work requirements for able-bodied recipients.
“We need to treat health care as a human right, not as a luxury,” local physician Dr. Penny Beach said.
State Representative Theodore "Todd" Achilles criticized federal budget cuts by Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency that specifically affect veterans and government employees.
“One in 10 Idahoans is a veteran — that’s the sixth highest in the U.S. — and DOGE wants to lay off 83,000 employees at the VA,” he said. “These cuts are a slap in the face of Idahoans who serve and sacrifice, and we demand better from our elected officials.”