Former President Clinton stumps for wife in Tucson

Former President Bill Clinton urged voters to support Hillary Clinton at a campaign rally at Sunnyside High School on Sunday, saying she is the only person with the vision and the experience in the race to be president.

An estimated 1,400 people attended the rally, though roughly 200 people were turned away from entering the gym and had to listen from outside.

An all-star lineup of local Democrats participated in the rally just days before the state’s Presidential Preference Election on Tuesday, with former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, her husband, Mark Kelly, former Rep. Ron Barber and Tucson Mayor Jonathan Roths-child joining Clinton on the stage.

Civil Rights activist Dolores Huerta spoke to the crowd, praising Hillary Clinton as a strong supporter of the Hispanic community.

“Hillary has always been there for us. Every single time,” Huerta said before leading the crowd in a chant of “Si, se puede” (Yes, you can).

Clinton vowed that his wife, if elected, wouldn’t deport an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants and would work across the aisle to finally address the country’s broken immigration system.

The core issue discussed over and over by various speakers was curbing gun violence.

Giffords spoke only briefly, but made a forceful argument on the subject of control.

“Hillary is courageous; she will work to make our families safer,” Giffords told the crowd.

Kelly said Clinton was the only one to stand up to the gun lobby.

“For too long, Congress has been in the gun lobby’s grip,” Kelly said, noting the NRA doesn’t represent gun owners like him or Gabby.

Clinton said the former secretary of state will work to pass stricter background checks for guns, but conceded her battle with the gun lobby will be a harder fight than when Congress passed the Brady Bill while he was president.

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He wrapped up his speech by saying her plans pencil out, while other campaigns are making huge claims, but don’t have the math worked out.

“My argument for Hillary is simple,” he said. “She is the only candidate for president whose numbers add up.”

Diana Leon and Robert Deleon lined up at 9:30 in the morning, grabbing a spot at the front of the line.

Mateo Garcia said, “I love the Clintons. I’ve supported them since ’92.”

Partly for Hillary Clinton’s foreign-policy experience and partly because Garcia believes she has the “biggest possibility of getting things done and changed,” he was excited to hear her husband speak.

“She’s going to crucify (Trump) in the debate,” Garcia said.

Jessica Estrada, Mikke Kilts and Barb White all turned up at the Clinton rally to, “as Ruth Bader Ginsburg says, ‘remind women not to take their rights for granted.’”

The rally wasn’t as contentious as Saturday’s Trump rally at the TCC, although there were several protesters.

Protester Barbara Cih-lar held a sign that read: “No Clinton. No Trump. Both = 1% Vote Sanders.”

A protester who identified himself only as Daniel held a sign that misspelled Massachusetts and accused the former president of breaking the state’s voting laws.

“I’m just trying to bring some awareness to some people,” he said, arguing that Bill Clinton’s deregulation of Wall Street helped create the 2008 recession.

“I’m voting for Bernie Sanders,” he said. “Go Bernie!”