Prairie Lights to host Bernie Sanders Aug. 31 at Hancher

IOWA CITY - The last time Prairie Lights Books hosted Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders he attracted a standing-room-only crowd.

'That was in February 2015 before he was a declared candidate,” Prairie Lights' Jan Weissmiller said. Sanders drew more than 100 people but soon was attracting thousands as he campaigned for the Democratic presidential nomination ahead of Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucuses.

Prairie Lights will host Sanders again Aug. 31. This time it will be at 7 p.m. at Hancher Auditorium at the University of Iowa.

According to MacMillian Publishers, it is one of four stops Sanders is making on a tour promoting his new book, 'Bernie Sanders' Guide to Political Revolution.”

The downtown Iowa City bookstore typically schedules its larger events at the 750-seat Englert Theatre, Weissmiller said. 'But they didn't think they could handle this.”

Given Sanders' caucus support in the Iowa City area - he carried Johnson County 60 percent to 40 percent over Hillary Clinton - Weissmiller expects the 1,800-seat Hancher to sell out.

Tickets will be available through the Hancher Box Office beginning at 10 a.m. Friday.

Three ticket options are available: a limited quantity of $30 tickets include a signed first-edition copy of the book; $25 tickets include an unsigned copy; and tickets for those 16 years of age and younger are $10 and do not include a copy of the book.

Books will be available for sale at the event.

It will be the second Iowa visit this summer by Sanders, 75, who hasn't ruled out running for president in 2020 and is regarded as one of the nation's most popular politicians, an in-demand speaker and a prolific fundraiser. He will be participating in Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement's 'Revolution Iowa - From Protest to Power” in Des Moines on Saturday.

As a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016, Sanders called for changing the system from within by reforming health care, immigration, taxes, higher education, climate change and criminal justice.

In his new book, Sanders, an independent who describes himself as a Democratic socialist, continues his fight against the imbalances he sees in the nation's status quo and shows how people can effect changes in America and the world to create a better tomorrow, according to the publisher.

Sanders is serving his second term in the U.S. Senate after winning re-election in 2012 with 71 percent of the vote.

Sanders previously served as mayor of Burlington, Vermont's largest city, for eight years before defeating an incumbent Republican to be the state's sole U.S. House member. He lives in Burlington with his wife, Jane.

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