Bernie Sanders on Chuy Garcia, Marie Newman and 2020

CHICAGO 02/20/2018, 09:31pm

Excerpt:

WASHINGTON — Sen. Bernie Sanders told me Tuesday he wants to make sure progressives like Jesus “Chuy” Garcia get elected to Congress; is open to backing Marie Newman over Rep. Dan Lipinski, and is “thinking about” a 2020 presidential run.

I interviewed Sanders, the Vermont Independent, in advance of a four-state swing he is making, starting Thursday in Chicago, where he will stump for Garcia and meet with leaders of more than a dozen unions. Here are the highlights of my phone conversation with Sanders about the March 20 Illinois primary and beyond.

Sanders said he has two goals in his swing through Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan and Iowa this week: holding meetings to get more people involved in the political process — his “revolution” — and “to do everything I can to elect progressive members to Congress.”

SANDERS UNION MEETINGS: A source — not Sanders — told me the unions he will be meeting with include the Amalgamated Transit Union; National Nurses United; CWA; American Postal Workers Union; Chicago Teachers Union; IEA; United Steelworkers of America; UAW; UFCW; AFGE; International Association of Machinists; IBEW; United Electrical Workers; Teamsters Local 705, and three labor organizations that are part of the Chicago Sun-Times ownership group — the Chicago Federation of Labor; Service Employees International Union, Healthcare Illinois-Indiana and Service Employees International Union, Local No. 1.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/chicago-politics/bernie-sanders-on-chuy-garcia-marie-newman-and-2020/