This week, Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein made two stops in the Tampa Bay area. On Wednesday night, she stopped in Tampa's Ybor City and on Thursday she was in Sarasota.
WUSF went to hear the candidate speak at the Robert Taylor Community Center in Sarasota. Stein spoke to about 70 people.
She talked about issues important to Florida, touching the environment and the tourism economy.
"We need to stand up and defend our water, defend our oceans, to defend the economy of Florida, which ultimately depends on preserved the ecosystems and the beauty of Florida," she said.
Marjorie Foster, a Stein supporter from Manatee County, said that she doesn't trust national polls that show such little support for the Green Party candidate.
"I believe our polls are being manipulated and that she is truly not at 2, 3, [or] 4 percent" she said.
When asked what she thinks the real percentage is, she said "Well, I know 90 percent of Bernie Sanders' people went to Jill."
Foster considers herself a "Dem exit"--someone who left the Democratic party.
She thinks Stein has a chance of winning the presidency.
Wayne Hambrick, a Stein supporter from Sarasota, said he knows Stein probably won't win. But, he said she's the only candidate who stands with the Black Lives Matter movement. And that's important to him.
"What have we gotten--we as black people--what have we gotten from liberal Democrats?" he asked. "You know, you look at the communities with large populations of African-American people and their congressman, their senators are democrats. We have high crime, violence. It's so frustrating."
On Friday, Stein is campaigning in Miami. On Saturday, she'll head to Alabama.
