Bernie Sanders Who? | Vermont Senator Independent Track

Vermont Senator and former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is America's longest-serving independent politician in Congress.

Born in 1941, politician Bernie Sanders started out his political career as the mayor of Burlington, Vermont, serving four terms as the leader of the state's biggest city from 1981 to 1989. He then moved on to the national political arena by winning a seat in the House of Representatives, distinguishing himself as one of the country's few independent legislators. Sanders won election to the U.S. Senate in 2006 and was reelected in 2012. He announced his plans to run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2015, ultimately sparking a huge progressive movement, before conceding the nomination to Hillary Clinton. The Vermont senator launched another presidential campaign in 2019, but again came up short in his bid for the Democratic nomination.