NAMPA, ID – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez came to Nampa with a message about fighting back against policies that benefit the wealthiest at the expense of working class Americans, but the comments about health care from every speaker seemed to resonate the most with those in attendance.
Sanders, an Independent U.S. senator from Vermont and former presidential candidate, has been touring various cities nationwide under the title “Fighting Oligarchy,” often with Ocasio-Cortez as a guest speaker. The night before, the pair spoke to a crowd of 20,000 to the south in Salt Lake City and the crowd in Nampa on Monday night reached the Ford Idaho Center’s full capacity of 12,500, according to Andrew Luther, the general manager of the arena.
Sanders said they chose to come to Idaho even though it is deeply conservative — President Donald Trump won the state by 36 points in November — because “we don’t accept this blue state, red state nonsense. We are one people.”
He railed against Elon Musk, the leader of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, who is the wealthiest man in the world and gave Trump’s presidential campaign $270 million. Ocasio-Cortez also spoke against members of Congress trading stocks, accusing several of insider trading, and both spoke about the need for universal health care.
“We’re here to flip this state,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “We might all come from different places, but we share so many of the same experiences.”
Idaho doctor talks physician shortage, state’s near-total abortion ban
Before the politicians took the stage, local family physician Dr. Penny Beach spoke about health care in Idaho, where the number of physicians per capita is the lowest in the country and a near-total abortion ban has further exacerbated that shortage, leading some OB-GYNs and half of the state’s maternal-fetal medicine specialists to leave the state and practice elsewhere.
Idaho’s abortion law also came before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2024, when state officials argued that emergency room physicians should not be permitted to perform an abortion in emergency situations as mandated by federal law.
“We have created laws that criminalize health care providers and have led to almost 25% fewer OB-GYNs practicing in this state,” Beach said in her remarks. “We’ve seen labor and delivery units shut down. We’ve seen several attempts to repeal Medicaid expansion despite overwhelming public support. … It’s wrong, and we’re here to say, ‘Enough.’”
Beach told States Newsroom the shortage of OB-GYNs has led at least one large reproductive health clinic in the Boise area to stop accepting Medicaid patients altogether because the staffing difficulties have created financial strain. Nationwide, about 40% of births are covered by Medicaid. Beach said that’s why she supports Sanders’ message about providing health care for all Americans.
“We need to treat health care as a human right, not a luxury,” she said.
Idahoans share different reasons for attending Nampa rally
Marissa Locati, one of the attendees, said she went to the rally because she wants a better future for her 11-month-old son, particularly with his future education in mind.
The new mom and lifelong Idahoan said she’s also worried about reproductive rights.
“I want to make sure that I am protected,” she said. “I want to be able to have the family I want and the size that I want. If any health concern pops up, I want to make sure that I can take care of it. That my health care is just as important as my husband’s or my son’s.”
Another attendee, Dylan Neubauer, said he doesn’t quite fit with either political party. The College of Western Idaho student moved to Nampa from a more Democratic state because he was attracted to the state’s socially conservative policies, such as promoting gun rights and anti-LGBTQ+ policies.
But Neubauer said he also believes in union rights, fighting against corporations, and said he thinks Trump has gone too far with his immigration policy and women should be the ones making abortion policy decisions.
“We’re losing our rights every moment of the day, and nobody’s doing anything about it,” said Karing Nial, a Boise resident who attended the event. “I am so disappointed in our elected officials. I’m so disappointed in Congress. I want them to stand up and do the right thing, and no one is doing it, so the people have to.”
This story first appeared in Idaho Capital Sun.
