# Bernie Sanders
**Bernie Sanders** (Bernard Sanders; born 1941 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American politician who has represented Vermont in the [United States Senate](https://www.edgepedia.org/united-states-senate) since 2007 as an independent caucusing with the Democrats, after sixteen years as Vermont's at-large member of the House of Representatives and four terms as mayor of [Burlington, Vermont](https://www.edgepedia.org/burlington-vermont).[1](https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/S/SANDERS%2C-Bernard-%28S000033%29/) A self-described democratic socialist, he sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016 and 2020, and his 16 House years plus Senate service make him the longest-serving independent member of Congress in American history.[2](https://www.sanders.senate.gov/about-bernie/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1941, Brooklyn, Kings County, N.Y.; B.S., University of Chicago, 1964[1](https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/S/SANDERS%2C-Bernard-%28S000033%29/) |
| Offices held | Mayor of Burlington 1981–1989; U.S. House (independent, Vermont at-large) January 3, 1991 – January 3, 2007; U.S. Senator from 2007, reelected 2012, 2018, and 2024 for the term ending January 3, 2031[1](https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/S/SANDERS%2C-Bernard-%28S000033%29/) |
| Committee chairs | Veterans' Affairs (113th Congress), Budget (117th), Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (118th); now HELP Ranking Member[1](https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/S/SANDERS%2C-Bernard-%28S000033%29/) • [2](https://www.sanders.senate.gov/about-bernie/) |
| Presidential runs | Unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination in 2016 and 2020; 2020 campaign raised $219,024,272[1](https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/S/SANDERS%2C-Bernard-%28S000033%29/) • [3](https://ballotpedia.org/Bernie_Sanders) |
| Legislative record | Primary sponsor of 8 enacted bills out of 56 sponsored; 93% recorded-vote rate (851 cast, 64 missed)[4](https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/bernard_sanders/400357) • [5](https://www.c-span.org/person/bernie-sanders/994/) |
| 2024 Senate result | Won 63.2% (229,429 votes) against Republican Gerald Malloy's 32.1% (116,512)[3](https://ballotpedia.org/Bernie_Sanders) |
| Party status | Independent since first elected mayor in 1981; caucuses with Senate Democrats; sought the Democratic presidential nomination twice[3](https://ballotpedia.org/Bernie_Sanders) • [5](https://www.c-span.org/person/bernie-sanders/994/) |
## Early life and education
Sanders was born in Brooklyn, Kings County, New York, in 1941, the son of Jewish immigrants from Poland.[1](https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/S/SANDERS%2C-Bernard-%28S000033%29/) • [6](https://www.encyclopedia.com/reference/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/sanders-bernie) He graduated from James Madison High School in Brooklyn, spent a year at [Brooklyn College](https://www.edgepedia.org/brooklyn-college), and transferred to the University of Chicago, where he received a B.S. in 1964.[1](https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/S/SANDERS%2C-Bernard-%28S000033%29/) • [2](https://www.sanders.senate.gov/about-bernie/)
**Student activism.** In the early 1960s he joined the [Young People's Socialist League](https://www.edgepedia.org/young-peoples-socialist-league-socialist-party-usa), and at the University of Chicago he was a member of the Congress on Racial Equality and one of the leaders of a sit-in demanding an end to segregated university housing, for which he was arrested; as he described it, "I was not a big-deal leader, but I got arrested."[7](https://www.sanders.sanders.senate.gov/in-the-news/bernie-sanderss-60-year-fight/)
After graduating in 1964 he moved to Vermont, where he worked variously as a journalist, carpenter, writer, and filmmaker.[2](https://www.sanders.senate.gov/about-bernie/) • [6](https://www.encyclopedia.com/reference/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/sanders-bernie) He later taught at Harvard University in 1989 and at [Hamilton College](https://www.edgepedia.org/hamilton-college) in 1989–90, lecturing at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government before his 1990 election to Congress.[6](https://www.encyclopedia.com/reference/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/sanders-bernie) • [2](https://www.sanders.senate.gov/about-bernie/)
## Vermont politics and the Burlington mayorship
Sanders ran, and lost, repeatedly as an independent before winning office: unsuccessful independent candidacies for the U.S. Senate in 1972 and 1974 and for governor of Vermont in 1972, 1976, and 1986.[1](https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/S/SANDERS%2C-Bernard-%28S000033%29/)
His breakthrough came in 1981, when he was elected the first of four terms as mayor of Burlington, serving from 1981 to 1989.[1](https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/S/SANDERS%2C-Bernard-%28S000033%29/) • [2](https://www.sanders.senate.gov/about-bernie/) The 1981 upset defeated a five-term incumbent Democrat with a coalition that, in Sanders's own account, included residents of low-income housing projects, environmentalists, and the Burlington Vermont Patrolmen's Association.[7](https://www.sanders.sanders.senate.gov/in-the-news/bernie-sanderss-60-year-fight/) He lost an independent bid for the House in 1988 before winning the seat two years later.[1](https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/S/SANDERS%2C-Bernard-%28S000033%29/)
## House of Representatives (1991–2007)
Elected in 1990, Sanders became the first socialist to serve in the House of Representatives since the 1920s.[6](https://www.encyclopedia.com/reference/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/sanders-bernie) He was reelected as an independent to the 102nd Congress and the seven succeeding Congresses, serving from January 3, 1991, to January 3, 2007, as Vermont's at-large member.[1](https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/S/SANDERS%2C-Bernard-%28S000033%29/) • [8](https://www.congress.gov/member/bernie-sanders/S000033)
In 1991 he founded the [Congressional Progressive Caucus](https://www.edgepedia.org/congressional-progressive-caucus) in the House; by his account it began with five members.[7](https://www.sanders.sanders.senate.gov/in-the-news/bernie-sanderss-60-year-fight/)
## United States Senate
Sanders was elected to the Senate in 2006 and reelected in 2012, 2018, and again in 2024, for the term ending January 3, 2031.[1](https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/S/SANDERS%2C-Bernard-%28S000033%29/) Congress.gov records him as an Independent representing Vermont in the Senate from the 110th through the 119th Congresses (2007–present).[8](https://www.congress.gov/member/bernie-sanders/S000033)
**Committee leadership.** He has held three Senate chairs: the Committee on Veterans' Affairs in the 113th Congress, the Committee on the Budget in the 117th, and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions in the 118th.[1](https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/S/SANDERS%2C-Bernard-%28S000033%29/) As Veterans' Affairs chairman he passed legislation in 2014 reforming the VA health care system.[2](https://www.sanders.senate.gov/about-bernie/) As Budget chairman he was involved in the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, which he has called "the most consequential piece of legislation for the working class since the 1930s."[7](https://www.sanders.sanders.senate.gov/in-the-news/bernie-sanderss-60-year-fight/) In the current Congress he serves as Ranking Member of the HELP Committee and sits on the [Environment](https://www.edgepedia.org/environment) and Public Works, Finance, and Budget Committees.[2](https://www.sanders.senate.gov/about-bernie/)
**Legislative output.** GovTrack credits Sanders as primary sponsor of 8 bills that were enacted, against 56 bills sponsored in the current Congress-era record; his sponsorships concentrate in International Affairs (33%), Health (20%), and Labor and [Employment](https://www.edgepedia.org/employment) (13%).[4](https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/bernard_sanders/400357) • [5](https://www.c-span.org/person/bernie-sanders/994/)
## Presidential campaigns of 2016 and 2020
Sanders was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016 and again in 2020.[1](https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/S/SANDERS%2C-Bernard-%28S000033%29/) The 2020 campaign ran from his announcement on February 19, 2019, to his suspension on April 8, 2020.[3](https://ballotpedia.org/Bernie_Sanders)
The financial scale grew sharply between cycles for which figures are recorded: $219,024,272 raised and $221,830,045 spent in the 2020 presidential race, against $13,141,105 raised in his 2018 Senate race and $36,301,484 raised (with $33,866,717 spent) in his 2024 Senate race.[3](https://ballotpedia.org/Bernie_Sanders) State-level results illustrate the shift in his fortunes between the two runs: in Minnesota he won the 2016 Democratic-Farmer-Labor caucuses with 125,635 votes (61.15%), but lost the March 3, 2020, DFL primary with 222,431 votes (29.89%).[9](https://mn.electionarchives.lib.umn.edu/candidate/bernie-sanders/)
## Political positions and relationship with the Democratic Party
Sanders identifies as a democratic socialist and, in the Senate, has generally espoused liberal and progressive positions while avoiding the Democratic label.[6](https://www.encyclopedia.com/reference/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/sanders-bernie) • [3](https://ballotpedia.org/Bernie_Sanders) He has held elected office as an independent since 1981, caucused with House and Senate Democrats for most of his congressional career, and sought the party's presidential nomination twice, a combination C-SPAN summarizes as the longest-serving independent in congressional history who nonetheless maintains a close relationship with the Democratic Party.[5](https://www.c-span.org/person/bernie-sanders/994/) GovTrack lists him in the role of Senate Democratic Outreach Chair.[4](https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/bernard_sanders/400357) His endorsement activity has continued past his own campaigns: Ballotpedia records 204 endorsements in 2020 (70% primary success rate) and 83 in 2026 (74% primary success rate).[3](https://ballotpedia.org/Bernie_Sanders)
## By the numbers
- **2024 Senate result:** 63.2% (229,429 votes) to 32.1% (116,512) for Republican Gerald Malloy.[3](https://ballotpedia.org/Bernie_Sanders)
- **Campaign finance:** $36,301,484 raised in the 2024 Senate race; $219,024,272 raised in the 2020 presidential race; $13,141,105 raised in 2018.[3](https://ballotpedia.org/Bernie_Sanders)
- **Voting record:** 93% recorded-vote rate, 851 votes cast, 64 missed, and 763 votes against the party majority.[4](https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/bernard_sanders/400357)
- **Bills:** 56 sponsored, 482 co-sponsored, 6 amendments (none passed), and 8 enacted bills as primary sponsor.[5](https://www.c-span.org/person/bernie-sanders/994/) • [4](https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/bernard_sanders/400357)
- **Tenure:** House service January 3, 1991 – January 3, 2007; Senate service since January 4, 2007; the longest-serving independent member of Congress in American history.[1](https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/S/SANDERS%2C-Bernard-%28S000033%29/) • [4](https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/bernard_sanders/400357) • [2](https://www.sanders.senate.gov/about-bernie/)
The 2024 vote margin and the campaign-finance totals rest on Ballotpedia, a user-editable election reference; no higher-ranked source in this record covers those figures, so they should be read with that qualification.[3](https://ballotpedia.org/Bernie_Sanders)
## What has changed since 2023
Sanders won reelection in 2024 to a fourth Senate term, for the term ending January 3, 2031.[2](https://www.sanders.senate.gov/about-bernie/) • [1](https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/S/SANDERS%2C-Bernard-%28S000033%29/) With party control of the Senate changing hands, he moved from HELP Committee chair in the 118th Congress to Ranking Member in the 119th.[1](https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/S/SANDERS%2C-Bernard-%28S000033%29/) • [2](https://www.sanders.senate.gov/about-bernie/) The retrieved GovTrack record listed him as 84 years old, and his endorsement table shows activity reaching into the 2026 cycle.[4](https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/bernard_sanders/400357) • [3](https://ballotpedia.org/Bernie_Sanders)
## Books
His published books include *Outsider in the House* (1997), *The Speech: A Historic Filibuster on Corporate Greed and the Decline of Our Middle Class* (2011), *Our Revolution: A Future to Believe In* (2016), *Bernie Sanders Guide to Political Revolution* (2017), and *Where We Go from Here: Two Years in the Resistance* (2018).[1](https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/S/SANDERS%2C-Bernard-%28S000033%29/)
## References
1. [SANDERS, Bernard | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives](https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/S/SANDERS%2C-Bernard-%28S000033%29/)
2. [About Bernie » Senator Bernie Sanders](https://www.sanders.senate.gov/about-bernie/)
3. [Bernie Sanders - Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/Bernie_Sanders)
4. [Sen. Bernard "Bernie" Sanders [I-VT, 2007-2030] - GovTrack.us](https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/bernard_sanders/400357)
5. [Bernie Sanders | C-SPAN.org](https://www.c-span.org/person/bernie-sanders/994/)
6. [Sanders, Bernie | Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/reference/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/sanders-bernie)
7. [Bernie Sanders's 60-Year Fight (The Nation, republished on official site)](https://www.sanders.sanders.senate.gov/in-the-news/bernie-sanderss-60-year-fight/)
8. [Bernard Sanders | Congress.gov | Library of Congress](https://www.congress.gov/member/bernie-sanders/S000033)
9. [Bernie Sanders | Minnesota Historical Election Archive](https://mn.electionarchives.lib.umn.edu/candidate/bernie-sanders/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Politics and government › Government and public administration › Politicians and government officeholders (biographies) › US senators › 21st century and current senators*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 27, 2026; Sep 28, 2026; Sep 29, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 27, 2026; Sep 28, 2026; Sep 29, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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