Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders believes discontent with the political establishment who he says hasn’t delivered for working class Americans will propel progressives into positions of power across the country — including Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan.

Sanders, an icon of the Democratic party’s progressive base, returned to Minneapolis on Monday to campaign for Flanagan, the state’s two-term lieutenant governor who is running for U.S. Senate promising to represent the “many over the money.”

He told a crowd gathered at downtown music venue First Avenue to support Flanagan despite money he says has poured into the race to oppose her because she’ll stand up to wealthy special interests. The “eyes of the country” are watching Minnesota, Sanders warned.

“The issue is whether or not billionaires and their greed will be able to defeat candidates who are standing up for the working class of this country,” Sanders said. “That’s what the campaign is about.”

At a rally at the iconic venue, Flanagan drew standing ovations and promised to go to Washington to fight for Minnesota, demonstrating the progressive momentum she hopes will carry her to a primary victory over Rep. Angie Craig, the more centrist Democrat in the race. The primary election is Aug. 11, and early voting is already underway.

Some of the heaviest hitters in Minnesota DFL’s progressive wing — including Sen. Tina Smith, Rep. Ilhan Omar and Attorney General Keith Ellison — came out to support Flanagan on Monday, firing up the crowd with the promise of a U.S. senator who would not back down at a time of historic strife between the state and the federal government.

Sanders and other Flanagan supporters cast her campaign as a movement of working class voters against wealthy special interests. While they railed against President Donald Trump’s administration and Republicans in Washington on Monday, they also criticized their own party’s efforts to respond.

“We got here, in part, because too many Democrats have been weak,” Flanagan said to cheers from the crowd. “What I have heard from Minnesotans is that they want their next U.S. Senator ... to be an actual fighter.”

Flanagan’s rally drew a crowd eager for Democrats who will push back stridently against Trump. She’s hoping grassroots organizing and backlash to Trump following last winter’s immigration crackdown in the state, will help win over voters.

Opposition to the Operation Metro Surge crackdown has driven a wave of political participation and protest by many Minnesotans. Attendees at the First Avenue rally said immigration enforcement has been a motivating factor to support Flanagan.

“It feels like there’s a lot of people in the Twin Cities who experienced the occupation who are really supportive of Flanagan because she has come out and said we need to stand up to ICE and protect our immigrant families and we need to prosecute the criminals who worked for them,” said Alli Kildahl, of Minneapolis.

Flanagan and her backers have looked to cast the race not just as progressive versus moderate but a grassroots movement against corporations and billionaires. Every speaker Monday night criticized the level of outside spending supporting Craig’s campaign.

“We have the people,” Flanagan said. “Minnesotans are choosing this campaign because they know that something better is possible, and they know that when we show up, when we look out for each other, and when we organize together, we can win.”

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