US Senator Bernie Sanders joined progressive congressional candidates Jonathan Jackson and Delia Ramirez in Chicago on Saturday.

“We desperately need more leaders in Congress who understand the need to stand up and fight the corporate greed plaguing this country.”

“We desperately need more leaders in Congress who understand the need to stand up and fight the corporate greed plaguing this country,” said Sanders (I-Vt.), arguing that Jackson and Ramirez “are those leaders.”

“I was proud to have Jonathan Jackson as my state’s 2020 co-chair and I’m proud to support Jonathan Jackson for Illinois’ 1st Congressional District,” the two-time presidential candidate previously said in a statement. “He has long been a fighter for working people and he will be a champion of Medicare for All and a Green New Deal in Congress.”

Jackson – the son of the Reverend Jesse Jackson – is among many Democrats running in a district represented for decades by retired Democratic Congressman Bobby Rush.

In Sanders’ endorsement of Ramirez, the Democratic candidate for the state’s 3rd congressional district, he highlighted his work in the Illinois House of Representatives.

“Ramirez was a champion for working families in Illinois,” he said. “As a state legislator, she extended Medicaid to all seniors regardless of legal status, secured millions of dollars for affordable housing, and championed reproductive rights by codifying Roe vs. Wade in Illinois.”

As the Chicago Grandstand reported Saturday:

Sanders told the crowd that both Ramirez and Jackson understand what is “deeply wrong” in the country and what needs to be fixed, such as affordable health care, a “living wage over $15 an hour” , tuition-free higher education, and working to ensure oil companies aren’t allowed to soak up massive profits while motorists are forced to pay $5-$6 per gallon for gas.

He said inflation, climate change, the war in Ukraine and more have all created a “pivotal moment in American history.”

“Now is the time to tackle all these demagogues who try to divide the work [families] depending on the color of our skin or where we were born or our sexual orientation,” he said. “Now is the time to stick together.

“Chicago now has the opportunity to send two great progressive fighters to Washington in Delia and Jonathan,” Sanders said. “Let’s make this happen.”

The newspaper noted that the Democratic congressman Jesus “Chuy” Garcia who represents Illinois’ 4th District, also endorsed both candidates and spoke at Saturday’s rally.

“As we build muscle and power in Congress, this is how we redefine who will run this country,” he said. “It won’t be the billionaires. It won’t be the corporations. It will be the workers, the youth, the students and our future intellectuals. That’s who will run this country.”

Early voting is already underway in Illinois for the June 28 primary.

The rally capped Sanders’ short tour of the Midwest, which included a rally against corporate greed with a speech at a labor conference in Illinois as well as at a meeting with striking union workers in RootWisconsin and Burlington, Iowa.