Hours before the Durham stop on U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ “Fighting Oligarchy: Where We Go From Here” tour was set to begin, hundreds lined up at 301 W. Morgan St. outside the Durham Convention Center. 

In anticipation of early voting opening the day prior, people of all ages came to hear from Sanders and Durham County Board of County Commissioners Chair Nida Allam, who is running to unseat U.S. Rep. Valerie Foushee in the Democratic primary for North Carolina’s 4th Congressional District. The race is expected to determine who will represent the heavily Democratic district, which encompasses Orange and Durham counties and parts of Chatham and Wake. 

The rally, which took place on Feb. 13, marked the 37th stop on Sanders’ Fighting Oligarchy tour, a series of rallies with the stated goal of opposing oligarchy and the influence of billionaires and big corporations in U.S. politics. By 1p.m., attendees from across the Triangle began to take their seats to the music of Yasmin Williams and Chapel Hill rock musician Eliza McLamb. 

“We needed to hear some good news,” Randy Orwig, who traveled to the event from Elon with friends, said. “Our world has changed. But Bernie is one of those that really has good things to say. And I think he’ll be inspiring.” 

The Vermont independent senator who caucuses with Democrats has endorsed over a dozen progressive House and Senate candidates like Allam who are aiming to reshape the Democratic Party and fight for a government that supports working families. Sanders said Allam has proven to be a fighter with the courage to take on corporate power and interest groups that “think they can buy American democracy.” 

Leila Brickley, a first-year student at Duke University, said she was excited to hear from Allam as she prepared to cast her vote. 

“I always try to know what I’m voting for, so I’m gonna be just very curious to hear her speak so I can go into the elections this week and feel like I have a good handle on what I’m voting for and I’m happy and proud of it,” she said. 

Before Allam or Sanders spoke, four other speakers took the stage, including Union of Southern Service Workers member and Durham resident Bertha “Mama Cookie” Harwell-Bradley, Chapel Hill High School Young Democratic Socialists of America co-chair Finn McElwee, N.C. State AFL-CIO President Braxton Winston and Wake County Democratic Party chair Wesley Knott.

Bradley, who was a fast food worker for over 30 years, said in Durham, the working class is no longer able to live downtown. 

“Look outside these doors and what do you see in downtown Durham? Wealth, high-rises. We see luxury apartments,” Bradley said. “We see wealth everywhere we look.”

Before introducing Allam to the stage, Knott said to a cheering crowd that the status quo in the Democratic Party is not working, with only 18% of voters approving of the job Democrats are doing in Congress. Knott said instead of focusing on Donald Trump’s shortcomings, the party should focus on a positive message for the future and look to leaders like New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani who he said can inspire hope. 

Allam, who has positioned herself as a champion of working families, has embraced the moniker given to her online of “the next Zohran Mamdani.” Before he was elected as New York Mayor in November, Mamdani also appeared as a guest on Sanders’ Fighting Oligarchy Tour. 

Referencing her opponent Foushee, Allam said she is the only candidate who has not taken money from pharmaceutical and private hospital corporations, supports the abolition of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and defines the war in Gaza as a genocide. She said if elected, she would fight for everyday people in district 4 from Washington D.C., just as she has done in her role on the Durham County Board of County Commissioners. 

“When ICE was on our streets targeting our neighbors, I was out there alongside all of you,” Allam said. “We stood shoulder to shoulder yelling, ‘ICE out.’ So, if you’re sick and tired of excuses, of losing hope, of bills piling up, or just of members of Congress who don’t answer the damn phone, I’m here to tell you — your days of settling for the status quo are over.” 

Allam then introduced Sanders, who she called her political hero, and he walked on stage to the sound of John Lennon’s “Power to the People,” just as he did in his presidential campaigns of 2016 and 2020. 

Sanders spoke for just under an hour, reiterating themes he’s highlighted throughout the duration of the tour: fighting oligarchy and authoritarianism, the dangers of massive billionaire investments into artificial intelligence technologies, the need for universal healthcare and continued unity to oppose Trumpism. 

“But if we stand together, work with our brothers and sisters, we demand that this country remains a democracy, that we have a government that works for all and not the billionaire class, that we have an economy that provide decent wages and jobs for our people — if we stand together and keep our eyes on the prize, we’re going to win this thing,” he said.