With Florida Democratic primary just 12 days away, nurses redouble efforts to win voters for Bernie Sanders

Encouraged and energized by Bernie Sanders’ Super Tuesday wins in Minnesota, Colorado, Oklahoma, Vermont, and a virtual tie in Massachusetts, National Nurses United RN members continue their tour of Florida with events in Kissimmee in advance of the state’s primary on March 15 to educate voters about why the nation’s most trusted profession trusts Bernie Sanders, their endorsed candidate for president.

“We are in it to win it,” said Deborah Burger, RN and a member of the National Nurses United Council of Presidents. “We are campaigning for Bernie because it’s the right thing to do. We won’t rest until all 50 states have had their say, and Florida is an important state.”

Florida, considered a swing state with many independent voters, represents 246 delegate votes toward the Democratic Party nomination; it takes 2,383 delegate votes to win.

“I’m on the bus just to get the word out and get people to realize that there's more than just one candidate under the democratic ticket,” said Mark Anderson, an RN at Central Florida Regional Medical Center in Sanford, Fla., and believes that many Floridians agree with and would vote for Bernie if they understood that he is a viable candidate. “We need to bring light to more people to be aware that there are large groups of people, like us nurses, supporting him. I like Bernie’s ideas better than anyone else running. He truly seems to be the only candidate that cares for the people of the country, not the exclusive big dollar donors.”

Nurses have been touring the country, and particularly swing states, since January in their big, red #BernieBus, using it as a mobile voter education vehicle. So far, they have traveled through Iowa, Nevada, South Carolina, Texas, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Colorado, and Missouri -- and have plans to criss cross many more.

“Often, they don’t know Bernie and they don’t know the facts, but once you start to talk face to face with folks about what Bernie believes in, their eyes open and they really quickly become Bernie supporters. That’s what makes this road trip even more rewarding,” said Kathy Donohue, an RN from California and a board member of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee on the #BernieBus. “We have a lot more conversations to be had in other states to win this election.”

#BernieBus events for Friday, March 4

Noon - Nurses and bus make appearance at spring training game, Kissimmee, FL

Evening - Meeting RNs during shift change at Osceola Regional Medical Center

For more information contact: Marie Walcek (510) 517-1871 or Debbi Montgomery (813) 546-7493

One of the top reasons nurses and healthcare workers support Bernie Sanders’ candidacy is his unequivocal demand to expand Medicare to provide healthcare to all residents as a basic human right, not a for-profit enterprise. Florida, with 948,000 uninsured adults, ranks among states with the country’s highest numbers of uninsured, despite passage of the Affordable Care Act. The state’s governor, former hospital corporate executive Rick Scott, has refused to implement the Medicaid expansion provisions of the law.

National Nurses United was the first national union to endorse Sen. Bernie Sanders in August 2015. In addition to the #BernieBus, NNU nurse members across the country also continue to knock on doors, phone bank, hold house parties, donate, and participate in rallies, marches, and events supporting Bernie.

With more than 185,000 RN members, National Nurses United is the country’s largest organization and union of registered nurses, with members in all 50 states.