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They've long been feeling the Bern, but as of Wednesday, Bernie Sanders' legion of L.A. supporters will now have to a place to call HQ. The presidential candidate opened his first California campaign office in Hollywood Wednesday. The opening may have followed on the heels of a rough night for the presidential hopeful in the Empire State, but the hundreds of supporters who came out Wednesday seemed more than ready for some California dreaming. The Los Angeles Daily Newsreports that close to 300 people filtered through the office, and placards, bumper stickers and lawn signs were going so quickly that volunteers began limiting the goodies to two items per person.
Though not quite a sold-out Red Hot Chili Peppers concert, the event did feature its fair share of DJs, hipsters and Bernie apparel-clad dogs.
Working from a few printed out photos of the candidate, L.A. artist Paige Emery painted a large-scale mural of Sanders on an office wall during the opening.
"Los Angeles has a lot of support—a lot of Bernie support here. We really wanted to tap into that and say, 'How can we bring folks together?'" said Michael Ceraso, state director of Bernie 2016 told ABC.
Though Sanders himself wasn't in the house, a supporter dressed in a suit and what appears to have been an oversized papier-mâché likeness of the candidate was on hand. Supporters also posed for pictures with cardboard cutouts of Sanders.
The office, which is located at the corner of Hollywood and Western, will serve as a base of operations for the campaign, hosting voter registration drives, phone banks, and volunteer trainings, along with many upcoming events.
Bernie, at his Hollywood debut pic.twitter.com/aFjGeC20he
— impboy (@impboy) April 21, 2016
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