On Thursday, May 12, Sioux Falls welcomed a new face. No, it was not the legendary Paul McCartney or Elton John, but Bernie Sanders, a senator from Virginia who is currently running in the Democratic Primaries in hopes of being elected to run on behalf of the Democratic Party for Presidential office. Before Sanders arrived in Sioux Falls, he also made appearances the same day in Pine Ridge and in Rapid City.

     The turnout for Sanders was surprisingly larger than anticipated. With the line running for blocks and the convention center having to open up a second conference hall. The usually red state turned blue for the evening.

     Before Sanders came to speak to the crowd, audience members were entertained with a band, a Native American performance and numerous speakers such as Bernie Hunhoff. When Sanders came out he started off smooth and charismatic, however Sanders hit a slight bump when he referred to Sioux Falls as Sioux City, which led to some laughs and confusion, but after that, the speech went on without a mishap.

     During his speech, Sanders addressed many viewpoints on prevalent issues such as raising the federal minimum wage from seven dollars and 25 cents to 15 dollars, ensuring free medicare for Americans and providing free tuition for students attending public colleges. He also shared his viewpoints on topics that affect South Dakotans specifically: he spoke of focusing on the needs of the  Native American populations as well as expressing how he does not support the Keystone XL Pipeline that is proposed to run through South Dakota.

     As the Democratic Primaries began, many assumed Hillary Clinton would win by a landslide. However, as Bernie moves from state to state, he is starting to show a lot of potential for a close race. The gap among Democrats with Sanders and Clinton supporters seems to be ever widening. Numerous people are starting to wonder how this could affect the outcome of the race. Whether or not Clinton comes out on top; Sanders left his mark on South Dakota, influencing many supporters, young and old.