Bernie Sanders supporters rally in Tampa, 2 other Florida sites

Telling supporters that he's "an old-fashioned guy" who believes democracy is one vote per person, Bernie Sanders underscored his populist platform Thursday in a campaign stop in Kissimmee.

Days after upsetting Hillary Clinton in Michigan's Democratic presidential primary, Sanders was scheduled to make three stops in Florida ahead of next week's Florida presidential preference primary. Sanders spoke earlier at the University of Florida in Gainesville, and also spoke in Tampa where an estimated 9,000 people turned out.

Kissimmee's rally marked the first time Sanders had campaigned in Central Florida.

At Osceola Heritage Park, Sanders told the thousands in attendance he is focused

on all kinds of people, not just the wealthy.

Supporters in Kissimmee said they were excited about what Sanders had to say.

"He is my candidate, period. We love him," Barbara Elyea said. "We watch him get on the train and take the commercial airline and ride the bus. He is not the corporate America guy. He is our guy. He is for the people. He is one of us."

Sanders talked about raising minimum wages to $15, improving Social Security and making college loans affordable.

"I am an old-fashioned guy," Sanders said.

"Democracy is one vote, one person -- not billionaires by the election."

Despite poll numbers showing twice as many Florida voters are willing to support Clinton over Sanders if they were to vote today, Sanders said he is confident he could beat those numbers just like he did in Michigan.

"We have a lot of momentum behind us, and we think whether it's Florida, Michigan or any other state, the American people are sick and tired of working longer hours for low wages and seeing almost all new wealth going to the top 1 percent," Sanders said.

Supporters said although Clinton has been the Democratic front-runner for the party's presidential nomination, Sanders still has a good chance.

"The fact that he's been able to come this far, he's got the momentum," Zoilo Boehme said. "There's no chance of that stopping; it's going to continue on. The revolution is real and alive."

Clinton and Sanders traveled throughout the state Thursday to recruit voters before Tuesday's primary election. Clinton also spoke Thursday before supporters in Tampa.

"I think, what we will see tomorrow is a huge influx of people out there ready to vote, people who normally wouldn't vote," said Heindrek Allen, a Sanders supporter.

This story was originally published March 10, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Bernie Sanders supporters rally in Tampa, 2 other Florida sites ."