ST. PAUL — U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders joined Minnesota Democrats Friday night, Oct. 11 in urging voters at a St. Paul rally to mobilize behind the Harris-Walz ticket.

Just over 550 people gathered at BlackStack Brewing Friday Night in St. Paul, where speakers included Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Union leaders Bernie Burnham of AFL-CIO labor federation and Hannah Alstead from Teamsters Joint Council 32.

Sanders, I-Vt., took the stage last, saying he came to Minnesota for a “very important reason.”

“I want you to get rid of your governor,” Sanders said. “Get him out of Minnesota and send him to Washington.”

Meanwhile,

Minnesota Gov. and vice presidential candidate Tim Walz was just 90 miles southeast

, tossing the coin for the “Jug Game,” Mankato West and Mankato East’s annual football matchup.

Sporting a “Minnesota Grown” hat, Walz visited Mankato West, where he taught social studies from 1996 to 2006. Walz reflected on being back in Mankato, saying it “Doesn’t get any better than this … This is, I think, the best of America across this country. This is truly Friday Night Lights happening here tonight.”

Back at the rally in St. Paul, people waved “Coach Walz” signs in the crowd as Sanders praised Walz and his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris. Specifically, Sanders praised Harris and Walz for prioritization of policies that aligned with the senator’s own: climate change, women’s rights, affordable housing and health care. Most notably, he focused on the working class.

The rally was centered around unions, with some of the audience members even sporting construction hats. Sanders listed policies that Harris and Walz have proposed to help working-class citizens, like paid family leave, and Harris’ medicare expansion to home health care.

When Ellison took the stage, he told the audience that voting is the “least we can do” and urged Minnesotans to also bring someone to the polls with them. Ellison went on to praise Walz and the principles the current governor would bring to Washington.

“One of the things I love so much about sending Tim Walz to the White House — that sounds right doesn’t it?” Ellison broke off before continuing, “Is that we have a state that believes in that multicultural, multiracial, multi-religious democracy. We believe that everybody counts and everybody matters.”

Sanders ended the rally with a call to action for the general election and a challenge for the state, which has historically seen high voter turnout.

“But Minnesota always does well,” Sanders paused. “Let’s do better this time!”

Mary Murphy joined Forum Communications in October 2024 as the Minnesota State Correspondent. She can be reached by email at mmurphy@forumcomm.com.