Bernie Sanders makes play for California; will hold rally in Rancho Mirage Monday

Sam Metz | Palm Springs Desert Sun

Show Caption Hide Caption Bernie Sanders speaks to crowd in Cathedral City Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks to a crowd at Cathedral City's Big League Dreams. (May 25, 2016)

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders will hold a rally at the Rancho Mirage Amphitheater on Monday, Dec. 16, becoming the first presidential candidate to hold a public event in the Coachella Valley ahead of California's March primary election.

Sanders campaign spokesperson Anna Bahr said the planned rally is part of the senator's push to win delegate-rich California on Super Tuesday. The campaign hopes the event in Rancho Mirage will draw people from across the Coachella Valley.

"It's really important for the campaign to be everywhere in the state as often as we can be," Bahr said, explaining Sanders' decision to rally in the desert. "We're focused on working-class voters, people of color, people who've been under-represented in presidential campaigns in the past."

Although he's the first candidate to hold a public event in the Coachella Valley, Sanders is the second to visit in recent weeks. In November, South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg held two fundraisers in Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage that were both closed to the public and press.

In 2016, after a heated battle in which Sanders supporters protested the California Democratic Party's use of superdelegates, Sanders won 46% of the vote in the California primary, trailing Secretary Hillary Clinton, who won 54%.

Four years later, with the California primary moved up in cycle from June to March, Sanders is doubling down on the state. With five offices and more than 80 staffers stationed throughout California, the Sanders campaign said it has allocated more resources toward the state than any other presidential candidate.

Indio City Councilman Oscar Ortiz has endorsed Sanders and is working as the campaign's Coachella Valley field organizer.

A CNN poll released on Wednesday showed Sanders had 20% support among California voters, second to former vice president Joe Biden's 21%, but within the margin of error.

Tío Bernie, as Sanders is affectionately called by his supporters, is especially popular among California Latinos, who make up 40% of the state's population. A Latino Decisions poll released in November showed Sanders leading among Latino voters likely to vote in California's March primary with 31% support, ahead of Biden (23%) and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren (11%).

The Sanders campaign has an office in Riverside and plans to open up to 10 additional offices in California before the end of the year, Bahr said. The rally will be Sanders' first in the Inland Empire, after the campaign had to cancel a rally schedule for early October due to the senator's heart attack.

The Sanders campaign declined to comment on where those new offices may be, but Coachella Mayor Steve Hernandez said one could be in the east valley, potentially at Casa del Trabajador, where labor organizer Cesar Chavez once worked for the United Farmworkers.

"We've been approached by the campaign and they're looking at establishing an office in the Coachella Valley, primarily they're looking in the east end," Hernandez said.

Sanders will join Biden, Buttigieg and Warren as well as entrepreneur Andrew Yang, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, and businessman Tom Steyer at the PBS NewsHour/Politico debate three days after the Coachella Valley rally at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles on Thursday, Dec. 19.

Desert Sun reporter Ricardo Lopez contributed reporting.

Sam Metz covers politics. Reach him at samuel.metz@desertsun.com or on Twitter @metzsam.