BREAKING: Bernie Sanders is coming back to the University of Pittsburgh

It’s do-or-die for the Sanders campaign, and Pennsylvania is his next big target

Following his March 31st rally at the David Lawrence Convention Center, he will be coming to Oakland this Monday, April 25th, a day before several states head to the polls. He will begin speaking around 11am at the Fitzgerald Field House at the University of Pittsburgh. A few guests are also expected to appear, including Senator Jeff Merkley, Kendrick Sampson, and Josh Fox. His rally is expected to appeal to students, as well as those who have been affected by international trade agreements. Those who plan to attend can RSVP here.

The event comes after recent polling that shows the Vermont Senator trailing Secretary Clinton by an average of 15 percentage points. Clinton’s increasingly large lead over Sanders is a major concern. With 189 delegates at stake in Pennsylvania, it is the biggest prize to win on Tuesday, and after Clinton’s decisive victory in New York and her growing lead in delegates, Sanders needs every bit of support he can muster.

But it gets even worse. Pennsylvania is a closed primary, so only those who are registered as either a Democrat or Republican can cast a ballot. Closed primaries have not been friendly to Sanders, who tends to do will in states that are open to independents. Clinton also has extremely strong ties in the Keystone State, where she beat then Senator Barack Obama back in 2008. Her father was born in Scranton and went on to play Penn State football. She also has a close relationship with officials and the general public in the Philadelphia area, where she has campaigned for over twenty years.

Secretary Clinton is actually predicted to beat Sanders in every primary on Tuesday. To reach a majority prior to the convention, she needs only about 29 percent of the remaining delegates, and judging by recent polling, it seems as though she will surpass that mark in every remaining state. There are 1,644 delegates still available in the fight to 2,383, and counting superdelegates, Clinton leads Sanders with 1,930 delegates to his 1,191. Sanders plans to campaign until the convention, where he hopes to persuade Clinton’s superdelegates to abandon her camp in favor of his. Most political strategists see this as highly unlikely, but he refuses to give up.

Registered Pennsylvania Democrats will vote in the primary on Tuesday, April 26th, a day after Sanders’s rally in Oakland.

 

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