SALT LAKE CITY, UT - MARCH 21: Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks during a campaign rally at West High School on March 21, 2016 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Republican and Democratic caucus will be held in Utah on Tuesday, March 22. (Photo by George Frey/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY — Former South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg spoke to thousands of people recently in Salt Lake City. Josh Cameron, a Bernie Sanders volunteer, thinks that’s impressive–but not as impressive as the army of regular people helping the Sanders campaign in Utah.
Democrats seem to be putting a renewed focus on the traditionally red state of Utah ahead of Super Tuesday.
“Two of the Bernie staffers that came from Iowa were blown away when they came to my phone banking event [on the westside of Salt Lake City] and saw 25 people there,” Cameron says.
But Cameron says Bernie supporters in the Beehive State are a passionate bunch.
“These aren’t just people showing up and say, ‘Hey, I want to phone bank!’ These are people showing up to say, ‘Hey, I want to host an event and do even more,'” Cameron says.
And Sanders is hoping that passion will help him win Utah’s 35 delegates on Super Tuesday.
The Mike Bloomberg campaign is counting on a large staff to help their candidate win, according to spokeswoman Lauren Littlefield.
“We have got 20 people on our team here in the state of Utah. We for sure have the largest footprint of any presidential campaign Republican or Democrat [in Utah],” Littlefield says.
Although Utah’s potential prize for Democrats on Super Tuesday is small, Littlefield says every delegate counts in a tight race.
“Those delegates are just as important as Idaho’s delegates and as Oregon’s delegates and as Michigan’s delegates. And [Bloomberg] is spending time in all of those Super Tuesday states,” Littlefield says.
Elizabeth Warren, the first Democratic presidential candidate to campaign in Utah, recently shook up her local staff to help her regain momentum.
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