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Catalina High School’s football stadium was packed with community members Saturday afternoon, eager to hear from Sen. Bernie Sanders, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and others.

The visit was part of Sanders’ "Fighting Oligarchy: Where We Go From Here" tour, with more than 20,000 people turning out for the Tucson stop.

Attendees waited patiently in a line wrapping around the high school’s perimeter, wearing “resist” T-shirts and purchasing “Bernie” pins from carts. One man cheered on the crowd from across the street, encouraging them to tell their neighbors, “I got your back.”

Some attendees waited for hours in the heat for the chance to make it into the stadium, including 17-year-old Melia Yoshikawa and 20-year-old Amayah Mirante. The pair said they “needed to be there,” with Mirante citing her lack of health insurance as a big reason for her attendance. Yoshikawa said the chipping away of the right to an education was another driving force for her attendance.

“There are things that we were promised that were taken away. Basic human rights,” Mirante said. “People getting together is more important now than ever.”

They agreed that with everything going on, it’s important to “show up for democracy.”

“(The United States was) built on a document that was made for the people and by the people and enforced by the government,” Yoshikawa said. “When our government is not enforcing that for us and for everybody, it might as well be none of us.”

Also in line was 85-year-old Mary-Kay Thompson, who waited eagerly near the gate. She was happy to see the huge crowd and stressed the importance of “taking back our country.”

“I’m old, and I remember the Second World War,” she said. “This is like Hitler back then.”

Some attendees traveled from beyond Tucson to attend the event. Sixteen-year-old Jordan Wilson traveled 420 miles from Redlands, California, with grandparents to hear Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders speak.

“I feel like it's going to be very motivational,” Wilson said.

Just two years away from being eligible to vote, Wilson said that issues including immigration, women’s rights and conflicts in Gaza are at the forefront of their mind.

“I think mass deportation, Roe v. Wade being revoked, and everything going on right now in this administration is crazy,” Wilson said.

Several people said they came to the event to hear about what members of Congress are doing to protect public education.

Tucson Unified School District governing board member Sadie Shaw, who is challenging Tucson City Councilman Kevin Dahl for his Ward 3 seat, was out canvassing and speaking with voters, many of whom said they were concerned over the administration’s attempts to dismantle the Department of Education.

“I’m really worried that we're going to lose our funding for our most marginalized, at-risk students,” Shaw said. “We're losing our grant for free breakfast and lunch. We worked so hard for that. We're just trying to pivot each day and make sure that we keep most of our programs that do the most good and touch the students the most.”

Miranda Lopez, a University of Arizona graduate student and representative of the United Campus Workers Union of Arizona, said she’s concerned about low wages for students and faculty of the university community.

“Here at the university, we have folks who are actually paid the state minimum wage rather than the city minimum wage. They're considered to be employees of the state,” Lopez said. “It's just not livable.”

Other attendees hoped to hear solutions to specific issues that directly impact them. Patricia Maisch, a survivor of Tucson’s Jan. 8, 2011, shooting, was at the rally representing Moms Demand Action and Giffords, both gun reform advocacy organizations.

Maisch said she hoped to hear more from Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez about gun reform, something they have both discussed during previous campaigns.

Maisch lives in Congressional District 6 and is represented by Juan Ciscomani, who she said has not done enough to advocate for her and the organizations she aligns with.

“I don't think Juan Ciscomani cares about living, breathing people. All he cares about are people in the womb. He is right to life, but only until you pop out, and then he doesn't care about health care, education, safety. I would tell him, ‘Get a spine. Do the right thing.’”

Many attendees were also hoping to hear about the future of the U.S. House of Representatives seat left vacant after the death of Rep. Raúl Grijalva.

Mallory Riegger, chairperson of the Pima County Democratic Party’s Legislative District 18, said she would be happy to see Grijalva’s daughter and Board of Supervisors Chair Adelita Grijalva or Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes pursue the seat.

“Right now, the House is missing two Democrats. We need those votes,” she said. “Raúl has left very large shoes to fill, but we need to get people back in and fight.”

The program kicked off with remarks by Gina Santos, a representative of the Tucson teachers association, and local health care worker Jay Croswell. Adelita Grijalva took to the podium next, immediately addressing her father’s recent death.

“I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to come today,” she said. “But I realized there is no better way to honor my dad than to add my voice to this event.”

Texas Congressman Gregorio "Greg" Casar spoke next, talking about what he called the current administration and the importance of community organizing.

“They are afraid of the power on this field,” he said. “They are afraid of the lines of people wrapping around this high school.”

Ocasio-Cortez called her stop in Tucson “special” because of her close relationship with Raúl Grijalva. Calling him a reflection of Tucson’s values, she told the crowd she will “always be loyal to Tucson.”

“Are we ready to fight? Are we ready to win?” the 34-year-old congresswoman from New York asked the crowd before highlighting her support for working-class Americans.

During her remarks, Ocasio-Cortez touched on taxing the rich, establishing guaranteed health care and the importance of reminding citizens that they are not powerless.

“When those with the most economic, political and technological power destroy the public good to enrich themselves, millions of us pay the price,” she said. “Our political system is ill-prepared for this abuse of power.”

She took a moment to recognize Democratic Arizona Representatives Yassamin Ansari and Greg Stanton for their votes against a Republican spending bill that cuts billions for the working class.

Beyond elections, Ocasio-Cortez said, is the importance of building community. Before leaving the podium, she encouraged the crowd to look at the people around them and introduce themselves to someone they didn’t know, an act that she called her “favorite part” of these types of events.

Sanders embraced both Casar and Ocasio-Cortez as he took the stage. He spoke first about the future of the country and the young people who he said will lead it, before addressing the current administration.

“Right now in America, the people on top have never in the history of our country had it so good,” he said. “These guys literally don’t know what to do with all of their money.”

Sanders went on to say that “the oligarchy” is controlling the economy and political system, calling massive income and wealth inequality one of the biggest issues in the country.

“The whole world is watching,” Sanders said. “Do we have the guts to stand up to oligarchy? We say yes.”

Olivia Krupp is a journalism major at the University of Arizona and Tucson Spotlight intern. Contact her at oliviakrupp@arizona.edu.

Topacio "Topaz" Servellon is a University of Arizona journalism student.

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