Senator Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent, said over 30,000 people turned out to his rally with Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, in Folsom, California, located within a Republican-leaning Congressional district on Tuesday.

Newsweek reached out to a spokesperson for Sanders for comment via email.

Why It Matters

Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez are two progressive standard-bearers for the Democratic Party who have been touring the U.S. for the "Fight Oligarchy" tour, bringing events to swing states and deeply conservative corners of the country to drive progressive enthusiasm and resistance to President Donald Trump's policy.

Although Sanders, who caucuses with Senate Democrats, is unlikely to run for president in 2028, many on the left view Ocasio-Cortez as a potential candidate and successor to eventually lead the progressive movement.

What to Know

Folsom, a suburb of Sacramento, is viewed as a competitive area and is located within California's 3rd Congressional District, represented by Republican Congressman Kevin Kiley. The current configuration of the map gave Trump single-digit wins in the 2016, 2020 and 2024 races.

Despite that conservative slant, more than 30,000 people attended the rally, Sanders wrote in a post to X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday evening.

Bernie Sanders rally crowd size
Senator Bernie Sanders speaks at the Fighting Oligarchy rally in Los Angeles on April 12, 2025.SAM GHAZI/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images SAM GHAZI/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

"In a city of 85,000, in a Republican [district], more than 30,000 people came out on a Tuesday night," he wrote. "We can and WILL defeat Trump and the oligarchs."

A Folsom Lake College official confirmed to Newsweek on Wednesday that 30,000 people were in attendance.

In November 2024, Kiley won reelection in the district where Folsom is located by about 11 points, though Trumps' victory was closer to 3 points, according to data compiled by analyst Drew Savicki and cited by the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.

The Cook Political Report classifies the district as "Likely Republican" in 2026, meaning it is "not considered competitive at this point," but it does have "the potential to become engaged."

Sanders has said the rally is meant "to have real discussions across America on how we move forward to take on the oligarchs and corporate interests who have so much power and influence in this country."

During the Folsom rally, Sanders acknowledged the crowd size he has drawn to conservative states like Idaho and Utah.

"We were in Idaho—Idaho!—and 12,000 people showed up...the most conservative state in the country," the progressive senator said, "we had 20,000 people in Salt Lake City—[in] a Republican state."

Sanders' staff said that he held his largest-ever rally in Los Angeles, California on Saturday. They said the event drew a crowd of some 36,000 people.

What People Are Saying

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at a Fighting Oligarchy rally in Los Angeles: "Big money is how we got Donald Trump. And his whole presidency began with launching tools for bribery, meme coins to fleece working people and move around money in the dark, extortion settlements from media companies and law firms who gladly pay them."

MUSKRAT IS A NAZI! JUST SPEWS LIES! 
THIS IS ABOUT MUSKRAT'S CHAIN SAW CUTS TO GOVERNMENT! 
POOR MUSKRAT IS JUST A BRAIN DEAD IMMIGRANT!

Elon Musk on Sanders' recent Denver, Colorado rally in a March 23 X post: "The Dems just move around the same group of paid 'protesters.'" In a separate post on Friday, Musk wrote: "Bernie is just fully communist."

What Happens Next

The Fighting Oligarchy tour is set to continue on Wednesday with a stop in Missoula, Montana, a state that Trump easily won in each of his elections, as well as in 2020 when he lost to former President Joe Biden.