by Matt Bieker
m a t t b@ ne ws re v ie w.com
One year
before the
2O2O elections,
Photos/Matt Bieker
candidates are setting up shop in Reno
L
ast year, at the beginning of her senior year of high school, Haley Rodeles lost her grandfather. Soon after, her father’s drinking problem got worse, culminating in an incident where she had to escape the house, barefoot, with her younger sister. Upon arriving at her grandmother’s house, the police arrested Rodeles claiming she had assaulted her father when in fact she had pushed him to break his grip on her arm. She was strip searched and processed. After 24 hours
in a Henderson, Nevada, jail with no food or water, a broken toilet and no one to listen to her story, Rodeles was released to a social worker who told her she was lucky she was only 17. If she were an adult, she’d have gone to prison. This experience, she said, made her want to vote for Bernie Sanders. “I met a lovely woman named Nora … and she introduced me to a lot of his policies, and I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, prison reform, Title IX issues, climate change— the medical system.’ … [My dad] can’t go to a rehab facility because I wouldn’t be able to go to college and let them keep the house that they live in and him go to rehab all at the same time.” Rodeles started at the University of Nevada, Reno, this semester, and is one of thousands of campaign volunteers living and working in Washoe County a year before the 2020 presidential elections. Nevada’s status as a swing state, coupled with our early caucus on Feb. 22, means that over half a dozen of the 19 Democratic contenders and the Trump 2020 reelection machine have set their sights on the Silver State, and staffers and volunteers alike have different motivations for supporting their candidates. Rodeles lives in the dorms at UNR and began volunteering with the Sanders campaign office— located next to the Washoe County Democrats Office at 1465 Terminal Way—a few weeks ago. On her first day as a volunteer, she was up at 6 a.m. to do some writing before class at 9 a.m. On her break, however, she spent a few hours on a street corner engaging passersby about their plans on caucus day.
“I had, I think, about four or five people that were like, ‘Yeah, I’m interested in getting involved politically, but I don’t really know anything about anyone,’” Rodeles said. “And, so, I was able to tell them about Bernie and tell them about a little bit of my personal struggles and why it can relate to what they’re looking for in a candidate.” This personal approach to campaigning is encouraged among Sanders volunteers, said Sanders Campaign Deputy Field Director Jeremy Parkin. “One of the biggest things we train people on is not to get into debates,” said Parkin, who also worked on the 2016 Sanders Campaign. “Regardless of whether or not you want to build a wall on the southern border, you probably have an issue with your health care, and we can always find common ground.” According to a CNN poll dated Sept. 29, Sanders is tied with former Vice President Joe Biden at 22 percent support of likely voters in Nevada. Biden, whose campaign opened its office at 4080 Kietzke Lane last month, is considered the national frontrunner for the Democratic National Committee’s nomination. But Vedant Patel, Nevada communications director for the campaign, explained that Nevada’s importance to Democrats is tied to more than just our third-in-the nation caucus. “You’ve got significant Asian-Americans voting, significant Latinos, a significant population of African American voters,” Patel said. “It’s really reflective of the demographics of the country. And, so, just a lot of issues that resonate with Nevadans, they also really resonate with the rest of the country as well. Whether it be protecting the Affordable Care act, climate change, you know, investing in schools—all the things that are really important to the vice after several traumatic president.” events in her life, Haley rodeles decided to work To Avery Counts, a Biden for the Bernie Sanders field organizer, the issues he campaign.
continued on page 12
10.31.19 | RN&R | 11
