Bernie Sanders . 
Bernie Sanders
Sanders is an Independent , but sides with the Democratic Party . 
-LSB- 1 -RSB- From 2015 through 2016 , Sanders was a Democrat . 
Sanders was born in Brooklyn , New York City . 
Sanders was elected mayor of Burlington , Vermont in 1981 . 
Sanders calls himself a democratic socialist . 
-LSB- 9 -RSB- -LSB- 10 -RSB- During his time as senator , Sanders has been against income inequality and supports universal health care , parental leave and LGBT rights . 
-LSB- 11 -RSB- In January 2015 , Sanders became a member of the Senate Budget Committee . 
On April 30 , 2015 , Sanders became a candidate for the Democratic Party 's nomination for President in the 2016 United States presidential election . 
-LSB- 15 -RSB- Unlike some of the other presidential candidates , Sanders did not want Super PACS to give him money . 
-LSB- 19 -RSB- On July 26 , 2016 , during a roll-call vote at the 2016 Democratic National Convention Sanders lost the nomination to Clinton . 
-LSB- 21 -RSB- In February 2017 , Sanders began webcasting The Bernie Sanders Show on Facebook . 
Sanders was born in Brooklyn , New York to Eli Sanders and to Dorothy Glassberg . 
Sanders studied at Brooklyn College . 
After he graduated from college , Sanders went to the University of Chicago . 
-LSB- 25 -RSB- When he studied in Chicago , Sanders led the University of Chicago sit-ins in 1962 because of segregation at the university . 
Sanders began his political career in 1971 as a member of the Liberty Union Party . 
-LSB- 34 -RSB- In the 1974 Senate election , Sanders lost to Patrick Leahy and to Dick Mallary . 
-LSB- 35 -RSB- In 1979 , Sanders resigned from the party . 
After Sanders 's failed run for governor , close friend Richard Sugarman wanted him to be a candidate for mayor of Burlington . 
-LSB- 38 -RSB- Sanders won the election in February 1981 . 
As mayor , Sanders wanted to fix Burlington 's Lake Champlain . 
-LSB- 39 -RSB- In 1981 , Sanders was against Tony Pomerleau . 
Sanders did not want Pomerleau to change the industrial -LSB- 39 -RSB- lake property owned by the Central Vermont Railway . 
Sanders used the slogan "Burlington is not for sale" . 
In 1987 , U.S. News named Sanders as one of America 's best mayors . 
When he was mayor , Sanders helped to fix the city 's budget . 
-LSB- 25 -RSB- Sanders left office on April 4 , 1989 . 
-LSB- 38 -RSB- For a short time , Sanders taught political science at Harvard University 's Kennedy School of Government in 1989 and at Hamilton College in 1991 . 
Sanders became a candidate for the seat as an Independent , but he lost the election . 
-LSB- 43 -RSB- In 1990 , Sanders became a candidate for the seat again and defeated Peter Plympton Smith by 16 % . 
Sanders became the first independent elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 40 years . 
-LSB- 44 -RSB- Sanders ' 1990 victory was called by The Washington Post and others as the "First Socialist Elected" to the United States House of Representatives in many years . 
-LSB- 45 -RSB- Sanders continued to win re-elections with many votes . 
In 1991 , Sanders co-founded the Congressional Progressive Caucus . 
In 1993 , Sanders voted for a bill supported by the National Rifle Association -LRB- NRA -RRB- to stop lawsuits against gun companies . 
After Ron Dellums left Congress in 1998 , Sanders was the only member of Congress who called himself a socialist . 
Sanders voted against the Iraq Resolutions in 1991 and 2002 . 
Sanders is against the Patriot Act . 
-LSB- 52 -RSB- Sanders voted for several acts that would block the Patriot Act . 
Sanders became senator after Jim Jeffords retired from the Senate in 2006 . 
Sanders has been a leading voice on issues such as income inequality , -LSB- 57 -RSB- climate change , -LSB- 58 -RSB- and campaign finance reform . 
-LSB- 59 -RSB- Sanders continued to be a major critic on mass surveillance policies such as the Patriot Act . 
On December 10 , 2010 , Sanders gave a 8 12 - hour speech against the Tax Relief , Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization , and Job Creation Act of 2010 . 
-LSB- 61 -RSB- After the speech , people wanted Sanders to be a candidate for president in the 2012 presidential election . 
Sanders ' filibuster was published in February 2011 by Nation Books as The Speech : A Historic Filibuster on Corporate Greed and the Decline of Our Middle Class . 
On January 3 , 2013 , Sanders became chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Veterans ' Affairs . 
-LSB- 6 -RSB- After his term as chairman ended on January 3 , 2015 , Sanders became a member of the Senate Budget Committee . 
-LSB- 12 -RSB- -LSB- 64 -RSB- Sanders made proposals to raise the minimum wage , stop income inequality , and increase Social Security payments . 
Sanders is the longest serving Independent member of Congress in American history . 
-LSB- 6 -RSB- In November 2015 , Sanders changed parties and became a member of the Democratic Party . 
-LSB- 3 -RSB- On July 26 , 2016 , however shortly after losing the Democratic presidential nomination , Sanders said he would serve as an Independent in the Senate . 
Following Donald Trump 's victory in the 2016 presidential election , Sanders accepted his victory and promised to work with Trump . 
On January 4 , 2017 , while on the Senate floor , Sanders showed a large cutout of a tweet by President-elect Trump from May 2015 where Trump said he was the "first & only potential GOP candidate" who opposed any cuts to Social Security , Medicare and Medicaid , citing it as what Trump appealed to older voters to elect him on . 
While in Los Angeles on February 19 , Sanders called Trump "a pathological liar" . 
On March 30 , two days after President Trump signed an "Energy Independence" executive order , Sanders called Trump 's choice to focus on job creation over climate change is "nonsensical , and stupid , and dangerous" . 
Sanders was against the nomination of Neil Gorsuch for the Supreme Court . 
Sanders said he believed Gorsuch would support removing restrictions on campaign finance and would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade . 
On April 7 , 2017 , Sanders showed disapproval of President Trump 's ordered airstrike from the day before : "If there 's anything we should 've learned from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan , in which the lives of thousands of brave American men and women and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi and Afghan civilians have been lost and trillions of dollars spent , it 's that it 's easier to get into a war than out of one ." 
In May 2017 , Sanders endorsed Labour Leader of the Opposition Jeremy Corbyn in the 2017 United Kingdom general election . 
-LSB- 74 -RSB- The bill was opposed only by Sanders and Republican Rand Paul . 
On June 14 , 2017 , James T. Hodgkinson , a supporter of Sanders during his presidential campaign , shot and injured four people , including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana . 
-LSB- 75 -RSB- -LSB- 76 -RSB- Hours later , Sanders responded on Capitol Hill to news that Hodgkinson was a campaign volunteer for his 2016 presidential run : . 
In September 2017 , Sanders introduced the United States National Health Care Act which would create a single-payer health care system paid by the United States Government . 
In August 2011 , Public Policy Polling found that 67 % of American people supported Sanders . 
-LSB- 80 -RSB- In a poll by Fox News in March 2017 , found Sanders to be the most popular senator or political figure in the United States with the approval rating of 61 % . 
-LSB- 81 -RSB- A Harvard-Harris Poll published April 18 , 2017 found Sanders to be the most popular active politician in the country . 
Main page : Bernie Sanders presidential campaign , 2016 . 
In an interview with The Nation on March 6 , 2014 , Sanders said that he was "prepared to run for President of the United States" in 2016 -LSB- 83 -RSB- but did not officially announce a campaign . 
On April 28 , 2015 , Vermont Public Radio said that Sanders would run for president starting on April 30 . 
-LSB- 85 -RSB- Weaver was also Sanders 's senate campaign manager and was his chief of staff . 
Sanders ' campaign events have brought many people from around the country . 
-LSB- 17 -RSB- -LSB- 86 -RSB- -LSB- 87 -RSB- Sanders said he was "Stunned . 
-LSB- 18 -RSB- However , on June 25 , 2015 , The New York Times said that Sanders might win the primaries instead of Clinton . 
-LSB- 18 -RSB- On August 12 , 2015 , the Boston Herald said that Sanders was winning by 44 % to Clinton 's 37 % in New Hampshire among Democratic primary voters . 
-LSB- 88 -RSB- A poll released on August 25 , 2015 , showed that Sanders was once again winning in New Hampshire with 42 % to Clinton 's 35 % . 
During his campaign , Sanders was known for his popularity among millennials and young voters . 
-LSB- 91 -RSB- In the 2016 campaign , Sanders won more votes among those under age 30 than both Trump and Clinton combined . 
It shows more than 2 million young people cast ballots for Sanders before the primaries in June . 
-LSB- 91 -RSB- His popularity led to the creation a Facebook political meme page Bernie Sanders ' Dank Meme Stash which has gained popularity among his supporters and the internet . 
A poll released in September 2015 showed that Sanders was leading Clinton in Iowa with 41 % to Clinton 's 40 % . 
-LSB- 93 -RSB- In October 2015 , polling showed Sanders and Clinton were tied in polls in both New Hampshire and Iowa . 
-LSB- 94 -RSB- In November 2015 , a poll showed Sanders was increasing his numbers in New Hampshire , almost tied with Clinton . 
-LSB- 95 -RSB- On November 19 , 2015 , Sanders gave a speech at Georgetown University about his views on democratic socialism . 
-LSB- 96 -RSB- In his speech , Sanders talked about how the policies of presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson were based on democratic socialism . 
On December 3 , 2015 , a Quinnipiac University poll found Sanders to be the Democratic candidate more likely to win the presidential election against top Republican candidates such as Donald Trump , Jeb Bush , Marco Rubio , Ted Cruz and Ben Carson . 
-LSB- 98 -RSB- On December 4 , 2015 , after online voting ended , votes showed that Sanders was in first place to become Time 's 2015 Person of the Year . 
-LSB- 100 -RSB- On December 7 , Time announced that Sanders won the reader 's poll of the magazine , but he would not be person of the year . 
-LSB- 101 -RSB- On December 9 , poll numbers showed that Sanders was leading Clinton in the New Hampshire polls by 50 % to 40 % . 
-LSB- 102 -RSB- The university also showed Clinton was winning with 61 % to Sanders 's 30 % of the national poll . 
In January 2016 , in weeks leading to the Democratic primaries , Sanders was leading New Hampshire by 50 % to Clinton 's 46 % and in Iowa with 49 % to 43 % . 
-LSB- 104 -RSB- -LSB- 105 -RSB- On January 21 , 2016 , Sanders ' campaign advertisement , America , was shown in Iowa and New Hampshire . 
In early February 2016 , a national poll showed Sanders and Clinton almost tied with Clinton 's 44 % to Sanders ' 42 % in the national poll . 
-LSB- 103 -RSB- A few weeks later , Quinnipiac University , CNN and Fox News poll numbers showed Sanders being the front-runner with 47 % to Clinton 's 44 % of the national poll . 
-LSB- 107 -RSB- After the Nevada caucus , new poll numbers showed Sanders 's national lead growing with 42 % to Clinton 's 36 % . 
-LSB- 108 -RSB- A February 2016 Quinnipiac University poll found that Sanders was the most honest candidate in the election . 
On March 8 , 2016 , Sanders won the Michigan Democratic primary . 
In early April 2016 , national poll numbers showed Sanders winning by 49 % to Clinton 's 47 % . 
-LSB- 112 -RSB- On April 8 , Sanders was asked by Vatican City to talk about the issues of income inequality and the environment . 
-LSB- 113 -RSB- Sanders agreed to the invitation and spoke at the Vatican on April 15 . 
-LSB- 114 -RSB- In April 2016 , Sanders was added into Time 's 100 Most Influential People of 2016 . 
In May 2016 , national poll numbers showed Sanders loosing to Clinton with 45 % to Clinton 's 50 % with 5 % people undecided . 
-LSB- 116 -RSB- On May 3 , 2016 , Sanders pulled another political upset after beating Clinton in the Indiana primaries by six percent . 
-LSB- 117 -RSB- On May 10 , 2016 , Sanders won the West Virginia primaries by 51.4 % to Clinton 's 35.8 % . 
A NBCWall Street Journal poll in May found Clinton and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump in a tie , but the same poll found that if Sanders were the Democratic nominee , 53 % of voters would support him to 39 % for Trump . 
-LSB- 120 -RSB- Clinton and Trump were the least popular likely candidates in the poll 's history , while Sanders received a 43 % positive with a 36 % negative rating . 
-LSB- 122 -RSB- Sanders said he will still remain in the race until the Democratic Party convention in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania in July 2016 . 
-LSB- 123 -RSB- On July 12 , 2016 , Sanders announced his support for Clinton at a unity rally in New Hampshire . 
On July 22 , 2016 , WikiLeaks revealed that DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz and other DNC official , mocked and planned to sabotage the Sanders 's campaign in favor of Clinton . 
-LSB- 124 -RSB- Sanders said he wanted Schultz to resign . 
Sanders spoke on the first night of the Democratic Convention on July 25 , 2016 . 
-LSB- 125 -RSB- In his speech , Sanders told his supporters that he thanked them and to vote for Clinton to defeat Donald Trump in the general election . 
-LSB- 126 -RSB- On July 26 , 2016 , during a roll-call vote at the 2016 Democratic National Convention Sanders lost the nomination to Clinton . 
On February 1 , 2016 , Sanders lost the Iowa caucus to Clinton by less than 1 % . 
-LSB- 127 -RSB- On February 9 , Sanders won the New Hampshire caucus by 22 % . 
-LSB- 129 -RSB- Sanders became the first democratic socialist and the first non-Christian to win a United States presidential primary for a major party . 
-LSB- 130 -RSB- On February 20 , 2016 , Sanders lost the Nevada caucus by 5 % . 
-LSB- 131 -RSB- On February 27 , 2016 , Sanders lost the South Carolina primary by almost 48 % . 
On March 1 , 2016 , "Super Tuesday" , Sanders won four states : Vermont , Oklahoma , Colorado and Minnesota . 
-LSB- 133 -RSB- On March 5 , 2016 , "Super Saturday" , Sanders won two states : Kansas by 35 % and Nebraska by almost 15 % . 
-LSB- 136 -RSB- On March 6 , 2016 , Sanders won the Maine caucuses by almost 65 % . 
-LSB- 137 -RSB- On March 8 , 2016 , Sanders lost the Mississippi primaries by 65 % . 
-LSB- 138 -RSB- On the same day , Sanders won the Michigan primaries by 2 % . 
-LSB- 139 -RSB- On March 12 , 2016 , Sanders lost the Northern Mariana Islands caucus by 20 % . 
-LSB- 140 -RSB- On March 15 , 2016 , Sanders lost the Florida , North Carolina , Ohio , Illinois , and Missouri primaries . 
On March 21 , 2016 , Sanders won the Democrats Abroad primary with 69 % to Clinton 's 31 % . 
-LSB- 146 -RSB- On March 23 , 2016 , Sanders won the Idaho primaries and the Utah caucus . 
-LSB- 147 -RSB- On March 26 , 2016 , Sanders won the Washington , Alaska and the Hawaii caucuses all by landslide victories . 
On April 5 , 2016 , Sanders won the Wisconsin primaries with 57 % to Clinton 's 43 % of the vote . 
-LSB- 149 -RSB- On April 9 , 2016 , Sanders won the Wyoming caucuses with 56 % to Clinton 's 44 % . 
-LSB- 150 -RSB- On April 19 , 2016 , Sanders lost the New York primaries with 42 % to Clinton 's 58 % . 
-LSB- 151 -RSB- On April 26 , 2016 , Sanders lost the Maryland , Delaware , Pennsylvania , and Connecticut primaries . 
On May 3 , 2016 , Sanders won the Indiana primaries with 53 % to Clinton 's 47 % of the vote . 
-LSB- 158 -RSB- On May 10 , 2016 , Sanders won the West Virginia primaries with 51 % to Clinton 's 36 % of the vote . 
-LSB- 159 -RSB- On May 17 , 2016 , Sanders lost the Kentucky primaries by less than 1 % . 
On June 4 , 2016 , Sanders lost the U.S. Virgin Islands caucus in a landslide . 
-LSB- 162 -RSB- On June 5 , 2016 , Sanders lost the Puerto Rico primaries . 
-LSB- 163 -RSB- On June 7 , 2016 , Sanders lost the primaries in New Jersey , New Mexico , South Dakota , and California . 
-LSB- 168 -RSB- -LSB- 169 -RSB- On June 14 , 2016 , Sanders lost the Washington , D.C. primaries , the last primary of the election season , with 20 % to Clinton 's 80 % . 
In August 2016 , Sanders founded Our Revolution . 
-LSB- 171 -RSB- Sanders also plans to establish The Sanders Institute , which will focus on issues he believes the "corporate media" has failed to focus on . 
On December 19 , 2016 during the voting of the electoral college , Sanders got three electoral votes from electors who did not want to vote for Clinton . 
Noam Chomsky said in a May 2017 BBC interview that the Sanders campaign was the most remarkable thing about the 2016 election because of Sanders not accepting money from business people or corporations . 
Sanders had been asked many times if he would run for president again in the 2020 presidential election . 
-LSB- 176 -RSB- Sanders would respond by stating "it is much too early to talk about that" , but refuses to rule out a possible second presidential campaign . 
After a poll was made in February 2017 , 20 % of Democratic voters wanted Sanders to be the party 's nominee in the 2020 presidential election leading Hillary Clinton at 17 % and Elizabeth Warren at 15 % . 
-LSB- 177 -RSB- In March 2017 , at 14 % , Sanders was the Democratic voters front-runner for the Democratic nomination in 2020 beating Michelle Obama at 11 % . 
-LSB- 178 -RSB- In September 2017 , at a polling of 28 % , Sanders remained the lead candidate for the Democratic Party nominee in the 2020 election beating Warren , former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator from California Kamala Harris . 
Sanders married Deborah Shiling in 1964 . 
-LSB- 6 -RSB- He met his second wife , Jane O'Meara , when Sanders became mayor of Burlington , Vermont in 1981 . 
-LSB- 180 -RSB- Sanders has a son , Levi Sanders , who was born out of wedlock with his domestic partner Susan Campbell Mott . 
-LSB- 6 -RSB- Sanders and Mott were partners only one year before splitting in 1969 . 
-LSB- 180 -RSB- Sanders has three step-children from O'Meara : Dave , Carina and Heather Driscoll . 
In 1987 , when Sanders was mayor , he recorded an album called We Shall Overcome . 
-LSB- 182 -RSB- In 1997 , Huck Gutman and Sanders wrote a political memoir called Outsider in the White House . 
-LSB- 183 -RSB- It was published again in 2015 during Sanders ' presidential campaign . 
Sanders had a small role in the 1988 movie Sweet Hearts Dance . 
-LSB- 185 -RSB- On February 6 , 2016 , Sanders was a guest-star on Saturday Night Live . 
Sanders says he is "proud to be Jewish" but is not very religious . 
Sanders says he feels "very close to the teachings of Pope Francis ," . 
Sanders wrote a memoir titled , Our Revolution : A Future to Believe In , which was released on November 15 , 2016 . 
Sanders received an Honorary degree from Brooklyn College on May 30 , 2017 . 
On November 30 , 2015 , Sanders had a hernia surgery at the George Washington University Hospital in Washington , D.C. . 
In December 2016 , Sanders had skin cancer removed from his cheek . 
-LSB- 194 -RSB- This was after Brady Toensing , Donald Trump 's campaign chairman in Vermont , accused Sanders of bank fraud . 
-LSB- 195 -RSB- Both CBS and Politico reported that Bernie Sanders was also under investigation , -LSB- 196 -RSB- however that was not true . 
-LSB- 197 -RSB- Both Sanders and his wife have hired well known defense lawyers to represent them . 
Sanders is a democratic socialist . 
Sanders is a supporter of paternity leave , sick leave , and vacation time . 
-LSB- 206 -RSB- Sanders thinks that global warming is real and he wants to fix it . 
-LSB- 208 -RSB- Sanders was against the U.S. invasion of Iraq . 
Sanders is more liberal on social issues such as supporting same-sex marriage , citizenship for illegal immigrants and abortion . 
-LSB- 210 -RSB- On November 15 , 2015 , in response to ISIS ' attacks in Paris , Sanders said : "We -LSB- have got to -RSB- be tough , not stupid ," in the war against ISIS . 
After Donald Trump 's victory in the 2016 presidential elections , Sanders said that the Democratic Party needs a "series of reforms" and "must break loose from its corporate establishment ties and , once again , become a grass-roots party of working people , the elderly and the poor ."
[TGT] is an Independent , but sides with the Democratic Party . 
-LSB- 1 -RSB- From 2015 through 2016 , [TGT] was a Democrat . 
[TGT] was born in Brooklyn , New York City . 
[TGT] was elected mayor of Burlington , Vermont in 1981 . 
[TGT] calls [TGT] a democratic socialist . 
-LSB- 9 -RSB- -LSB- 10 -RSB- During [TGT] time as senator , [TGT] has been against income inequality and supports universal health care , parental leave and LGBT rights . 
-LSB- 11 -RSB- In January 2015 , [TGT] became a member of the Senate Budget Committee . 
On April 30 , 2015 , [TGT] became a candidate for the Democratic Party 's nomination for President in the 2016 United States presidential election . 
-LSB- 15 -RSB- Unlike some of the other presidential candidates , [TGT] did not want Super PACS to give [TGT] money . 
-LSB- 19 -RSB- On July 26 , 2016 , during a roll-call vote at the 2016 Democratic National Convention Sanders lost the nomination to Clinton . 
-LSB- 21 -RSB- In February 2017 , [TGT] began webcasting The Bernie Sanders Show on Facebook . 
[TGT] was born in Brooklyn , New York to [TGT] and to Dorothy Glassberg . 
[TGT] studied at Brooklyn College . 
After [TGT] graduated from college , [TGT] went to the University of Chicago . 
-LSB- 25 -RSB- When [TGT] studied in Chicago , [TGT] led the University of Chicago sit-ins in 1962 because of segregation at the university . 
[TGT] began [TGT] political career in 1971 as a member of the Liberty Union Party . 
-LSB- 34 -RSB- In the 1974 Senate election , [TGT] lost to Patrick Leahy and to Dick Mallary . 
-LSB- 35 -RSB- In 1979 , [TGT] resigned from the party . 
After [TGT] 's failed run for governor , close friend Richard Sugarman wanted [TGT] to be a candidate for mayor of Burlington . 
-LSB- 38 [TGT] won the election in February 1981 . 
As mayor , [TGT] wanted to fix Burlington 's Lake Champlain . 
-LSB- 39 -RSB- In 1981 , [TGT] was against Tony Pomerleau . 
[TGT] did not want Pomerleau to change the industrial -LSB- 39 -RSB- lake property owned by the Central Vermont Railway . 
[TGT] used the slogan "Burlington is not for sale" . 
In 1987 , U.S. News named [TGT] as one of America 's best mayors . 
When [TGT] was mayor , [TGT] helped to fix the city 's budget . 
-LSB- 25 [TGT] left office on April 4 , 1989 . 
-LSB- 38 -RSB- For a short time , [TGT] taught political science at Harvard University 's Kennedy School of Government in 1989 and at Hamilton College in 1991 . 
[TGT] became a candidate for the seat as an Independent , but [TGT] lost the election . 
-LSB- 43 -RSB- In 1990 , [TGT] became a candidate for the seat again and defeated Peter Plympton Smith by 16 % . 
[TGT] became the first independent elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 40 years . 
-LSB- 44 [TGT] 1990 victory was called by The Washington Post and others as the "First Socialist Elected" to the United States House of Representatives in many years . 
-LSB- [TGT] continued to win re-elections with many votes . 
In 1991 , [TGT] co-founded the Congressional Progressive Caucus . 
In 1993 , [TGT] voted for a bill supported by the National Rifle Association -LRB- NRA -RRB- to stop lawsuits against gun companies . 
After Ron Dellums left Congress in 1998 , [TGT] was the only member of Congress who called [TGT] a socialist . 
[TGT] voted against the Iraq Resolutions in 1991 and 2002 . 
[TGT] is against the Patriot Act . 
-LSB- 52 [TGT] voted for several acts that would block the Patriot Act . 
[TGT] became senator after Jim Jeffords retired from the Senate in 2006 . 
[TGT] has been a leading voice on issues such as income inequality , -LSB- 57 -RSB- climate change , -LSB- 58 -RSB- and campaign finance reform . 
-LSB- 59 [TGT] continued to be a major critic on mass surveillance policies such as the Patriot Act . 
On December 10 , 2010 , [TGT] gave a 8 12 - hour speech against the Tax Relief , Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization , and Job Creation Act of 2010 . 
-LSB- 61 -RSB- After the speech , people wanted [TGT] to be a candidate for president in the 2012 presidential election . 
[TGT] ' filibuster was published in February 2011 by Nation Books as The Speech : A Historic Filibuster on Corporate Greed and the Decline of Our Middle Class . 
On January 3 , 2013 , [TGT] became chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Veterans ' Affairs . 
-LSB- 6 -RSB- After [TGT] term as chairman ended on January 3 , 2015 , [TGT] became a member of the Senate Budget Committee . 
-LSB- 12 -RSB- -LSB- 64 [TGT] made proposals to raise the minimum wage , stop income inequality , and increase Social Security payments . 
[TGT] is the longest serving Independent member of Congress in American history . 
-LSB- 6 -RSB- In November 2015 , [TGT] changed parties and became a member of the Democratic Party . 
-LSB- 3 -RSB- On July 26 , 2016 , however shortly after losing the Democratic presidential nomination , [TGT] said [TGT] would serve as an Independent in the Senate . 
Following Donald Trump 's victory in the 2016 presidential election , [TGT] accepted his victory and promised to work with Trump . 
On January 4 , 2017 , while on the Senate floor , [TGT] showed a large cutout of a tweet by President-elect Trump from May 2015 where Trump said [TGT] was the "first & only potential GOP candidate" who opposed any cuts to Social Security , Medicare and Medicaid , citing it as what Trump appealed to older voters to elect him on . 
While in Los Angeles on February 19 , [TGT] called Trump "a pathological liar" . 
On March 30 , two days after President Trump signed an "Energy Independence" executive order , [TGT] called Trump 's choice to focus on job creation over climate change is "nonsensical , and stupid , and dangerous" . 
[TGT] was against the nomination of Neil Gorsuch for the Supreme Court . 
[TGT] said [TGT] believed Gorsuch would support removing restrictions on campaign finance and would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade . 
On April 7 , 2017 , [TGT] showed disapproval of President Trump 's ordered airstrike from the day before : "If there 's anything we should 've learned from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan , in which the lives of thousands of brave American men and women and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi and Afghan civilians have been lost and trillions of dollars spent , it 's that it 's easier to get into a war than out of one ." 
In May 2017 , [TGT] endorsed Labour Leader of the Opposition Jeremy Corbyn in the 2017 United Kingdom general election . 
-LSB- 74 -RSB- The bill was opposed only by [TGT] and Republican Rand Paul . 
On June 14 , 2017 , James T. Hodgkinson , a supporter of [TGT] during [TGT] presidential campaign , shot and injured four people , including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana . 
-LSB- 75 -RSB- -LSB- 76 -RSB- Hours later , [TGT] responded on Capitol Hill to news that Hodgkinson was a campaign volunteer for [TGT] 2016 presidential run : . 
In September 2017 , [TGT] introduced the United States National Health Care Act which would create a single-payer health care system paid by the United States Government . 
In August 2011 , Public Policy Polling found that 67 % of American people supported [TGT] . 
-LSB- 80 -RSB- In a poll by Fox News in March 2017 , found [TGT] to be the most popular senator or political figure in the United States with the approval rating of 61 % . 
-LSB- 81 -RSB- A Harvard-Harris Poll published April 18 , 2017 found [TGT] to be the most popular active politician in the country . 
Main page : [TGT] presidential campaign , 2016 . 
In an interview with The Nation on March 6 , 2014 , [TGT] said that [TGT] was "prepared to run for President of the United States" in 2016 -LSB- 83 -RSB- but did not officially announce a campaign . 
On April 28 , 2015 , Vermont Public Radio said that [TGT] would run for president starting on April 30 . 
-LSB- 85 -RSB- Weaver was also [TGT] 's senate campaign manager and was his chief of staff . 
[TGT] ' campaign events have brought many people from around the country . 
-LSB- 17 -RSB- -LSB- 86 -RSB- -LSB- 87 [TGT] said [TGT] was "Stunned . 
-LSB- 18 -RSB- However , on June 25 , 2015 , The New York Times said that [TGT] might win the primaries instead of Clinton . 
-LSB- 18 -RSB- On August 12 , 2015 , the Boston Herald said that [TGT] was winning by 44 % to Clinton 's 37 % in New Hampshire among Democratic primary voters . 
-LSB- 88 -RSB- A poll released on August 25 , 2015 , showed that [TGT] was once again winning in New Hampshire with 42 % to Clinton 's 35 % . 
During [TGT] campaign , [TGT] was known for [TGT] popularity among millennials and young voters . 
-LSB- 91 -RSB- In the 2016 campaign , [TGT] won more votes among those under age 30 than both Trump and Clinton combined . 
It shows more than 2 million young people cast ballots for [TGT] before the primaries in June . 
-LSB- 91 -RSB- [TGT] popularity led to the creation a Facebook political meme page [TGT] Dank Meme Stash which has gained popularity among [TGT] supporters and the internet . 
A poll released in September 2015 showed that [TGT] was leading Clinton in Iowa with 41 % to Clinton 's 40 % . 
-LSB- 93 -RSB- In October 2015 , polling showed [TGT] and Clinton were tied in polls in both New Hampshire and Iowa . 
-LSB- 94 -RSB- In November 2015 , a poll showed [TGT] was increasing [TGT] numbers in New Hampshire , almost tied with Clinton . 
-LSB- 95 -RSB- On November 19 , 2015 , [TGT] gave a speech at Georgetown University about [TGT] views on democratic socialism . 
-LSB- 96 -RSB- In [TGT] speech , [TGT] talked about how the policies of presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson were based on democratic socialism . 
On December 3 , 2015 , a Quinnipiac University poll found [TGT] to be the Democratic candidate more likely to win the presidential election against top Republican candidates such as Donald Trump , Jeb Bush , Marco Rubio , Ted Cruz and Ben Carson . 
-LSB- 98 -RSB- On December 4 , 2015 , after online voting ended , votes showed that [TGT] was in first place to become Time 's 2015 Person of the Year . 
-LSB- 100 -RSB- On December 7 , Time announced that [TGT] won the reader 's poll of the magazine , but [TGT] would not be person of the year . 
-LSB- 101 -RSB- On December 9 , poll numbers showed that [TGT] was leading Clinton in the New Hampshire polls by 50 % to 40 % . 
-LSB- 102 -RSB- The university also showed Clinton was winning with 61 % to [TGT] 's 30 % of the national poll . 
In January 2016 , in weeks leading to the Democratic primaries , [TGT] was leading New Hampshire by 50 % to Clinton 's 46 % and in Iowa with 49 % to 43 % . 
-LSB- 104 -RSB- -LSB- 105 -RSB- On January 21 , 2016 , [TGT] ' campaign advertisement , America , was shown in Iowa and New Hampshire . 
In early February 2016 , a national poll showed [TGT] and Clinton almost tied with Clinton 's 44 % to [TGT] ' 42 % in the national poll . 
-LSB- 103 -RSB- A few weeks later , Quinnipiac University , CNN and Fox News poll numbers showed [TGT] being the front-runner with 47 % to Clinton 's 44 % of the national poll . 
-LSB- 107 -RSB- After the Nevada caucus , new poll numbers showed [TGT] 's national lead growing with 42 % to Clinton 's 36 % . 
-LSB- 108 -RSB- A February 2016 Quinnipiac University poll found that [TGT] was the most honest candidate in the election . 
On March 8 , 2016 , [TGT] won the Michigan Democratic primary . 
In early April 2016 , national poll numbers showed [TGT] winning by 49 % to Clinton 's 47 % . 
-LSB- 112 -RSB- On April 8 , [TGT] was asked by Vatican City to talk about the issues of income inequality and the environment . 
-LSB- 113 [TGT] agreed to the invitation and spoke at the Vatican on April 15 . 
-LSB- 114 -RSB- In April 2016 , [TGT] was added into Time 's 100 Most Influential People of 2016 . 
In May 2016 , national poll numbers showed [TGT] loosing to Clinton with 45 % to Clinton 's 50 % with 5 % people undecided . 
-LSB- 116 -RSB- On May 3 , 2016 , [TGT] pulled another political upset after beating Clinton in the Indiana primaries by six percent . 
-LSB- 117 -RSB- On May 10 , 2016 , [TGT] won the West Virginia primaries by 51.4 % to Clinton 's 35.8 % . 
A NBCWall Street Journal poll in May found Clinton and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump in a tie , but the same poll found that if [TGT] were the Democratic nominee , 53 % of voters would support [TGT] to 39 % for Trump . 
-LSB- 120 -RSB- Clinton and Trump were the least popular likely candidates in the poll 's history , while [TGT] received a 43 % positive with a 36 % negative rating . 
-LSB- 122 [TGT] said [TGT] will still remain in the race until the Democratic Party convention in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania in July 2016 . 
-LSB- 123 -RSB- On July 12 , 2016 , [TGT] announced [TGT] support for Clinton at a unity rally in New Hampshire . 
On July 22 , 2016 , WikiLeaks revealed that DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz and other DNC official , mocked and planned to sabotage [TGT] 's campaign in favor of Clinton . 
[TGT] said [TGT] wanted Schultz to resign . 
[TGT] spoke on the first night of the Democratic Convention on July 25 , 2016 . 
-LSB- 125 -RSB- In [TGT] speech , [TGT] told [TGT] supporters that [TGT] thanked them and to vote for Clinton to defeat Donald Trump in the general election . 
-LSB- 126 -RSB- On July 26 , 2016 , during a roll-call vote at the 2016 Democratic National Convention Sanders lost the nomination to Clinton . 
On February 1 , 2016 , [TGT] lost the Iowa caucus to Clinton by less than 1 % . 
-LSB- 127 -RSB- On February 9 , [TGT] won the New Hampshire caucus by 22 % . 
-LSB- 129 [TGT] became the first democratic socialist and the first non-Christian to win a United States presidential primary for a major party . 
-LSB- 130 -RSB- On February 20 , 2016 , [TGT] lost the Nevada caucus by 5 % . 
-LSB- 131 -RSB- On February 27 , 2016 , [TGT] lost the South Carolina primary by almost 48 % . 
On March 1 , 2016 , "Super Tuesday" , [TGT] won four states : Vermont , Oklahoma , Colorado and Minnesota . 
-LSB- 133 -RSB- On March 5 , 2016 , "Super Saturday" , [TGT] won two states : Kansas by 35 % and Nebraska by almost 15 % . 
-LSB- 136 -RSB- On March 6 , 2016 , [TGT] won the Maine caucuses by almost 65 % . 
-LSB- 137 -RSB- On March 8 , 2016 , [TGT] lost the Mississippi primaries by 65 % . 
-LSB- 138 -RSB- On the same day , [TGT] won the Michigan primaries by 2 % . 
-LSB- 139 -RSB- On March 12 , 2016 , [TGT] lost the Northern Mariana Islands caucus by 20 % . 
-LSB- 140 -RSB- On March 15 , 2016 , [TGT] lost the Florida , North Carolina , Ohio , Illinois , and Missouri primaries . 
On March 21 , 2016 , [TGT] won the Democrats Abroad primary with 69 % to Clinton 's 31 % . 
-LSB- 146 -RSB- On March 23 , 2016 , [TGT] won the Idaho primaries and the Utah caucus . 
-LSB- 147 -RSB- On March 26 , 2016 , [TGT] won the Washington , Alaska and the Hawaii caucuses all by landslide victories . 
On April 5 , 2016 , [TGT] won the Wisconsin primaries with 57 % to Clinton 's 43 % of the vote . 
-LSB- 149 -RSB- On April 9 , 2016 , [TGT] won the Wyoming caucuses with 56 % to Clinton 's 44 % . 
-LSB- 150 -RSB- On April 19 , 2016 , [TGT] lost the New York primaries with 42 % to Clinton 's 58 % . 
-LSB- 151 -RSB- On April 26 , 2016 , [TGT] lost the Maryland , Delaware , Pennsylvania , and Connecticut primaries . 
On May 3 , 2016 , [TGT] won the Indiana primaries with 53 % to Clinton 's 47 % of the vote . 
-LSB- 158 -RSB- On May 10 , 2016 , [TGT] won the West Virginia primaries with 51 % to Clinton 's 36 % of the vote . 
-LSB- 159 -RSB- On May 17 , 2016 , [TGT] lost the Kentucky primaries by less than 1 % . 
On June 4 , 2016 , [TGT] lost the U.S. Virgin Islands caucus in a landslide . 
-LSB- 162 -RSB- On June 5 , 2016 , [TGT] lost the Puerto Rico primaries . 
-LSB- 163 -RSB- On June 7 , 2016 , [TGT] lost the primaries in New Jersey , New Mexico , South Dakota , and California . 
-LSB- 168 -RSB- -LSB- 169 -RSB- On June 14 , 2016 , [TGT] lost the Washington , D.C. primaries , the last primary of the election season , with 20 % to Clinton 's 80 % . 
In August 2016 , [TGT] founded Our Revolution . 
-LSB- 171 [TGT] also plans to establish The Sanders Institute , which will focus on issues [TGT] believes the "corporate media" has failed to focus on . 
On December 19 , 2016 during the voting of the electoral college , [TGT] got three electoral votes from electors who did not want to vote for Clinton . 
Noam Chomsky said in a May 2017 BBC interview that the [TGT] campaign was the most remarkable thing about the 2016 election because of [TGT] not accepting money from business people or corporations . 
[TGT] had been asked many times if [TGT] would run for president again in the 2020 presidential election . 
-LSB- 176 [TGT] would respond by stating "it is much too early to talk about that" , but refuses to rule out a possible second presidential campaign . 
After a poll was made in February 2017 , 20 % of Democratic voters wanted [TGT] to be the party 's nominee in the 2020 presidential election leading Hillary Clinton at 17 % and Elizabeth Warren at 15 % . 
-LSB- 177 -RSB- In March 2017 , at 14 % , [TGT] was the Democratic voters front-runner for the Democratic nomination in 2020 beating Michelle Obama at 11 % . 
-LSB- 178 -RSB- In September 2017 , at a polling of 28 % , [TGT] remained the lead candidate for the Democratic Party nominee in the 2020 election beating Warren , former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator from California Kamala Harris . 
[TGT] married Deborah Shiling in 1964 . 
-LSB- 6 -RSB- [TGT] met [TGT] second wife , Jane O'Meara , when [TGT] became mayor of Burlington , Vermont in 1981 . 
-LSB- 180 [TGT] has a son , Levi Sanders , who was born out of wedlock with [TGT] domestic partner Susan Campbell Mott . 
-LSB- 6 -RSB- Sanders and Mott were partners only one year before splitting in 1969 . 
-LSB- 180 [TGT] has three step-children from O'Meara : Dave , Carina and Heather Driscoll . 
In 1987 , when [TGT] was mayor , [TGT] recorded an album called We Shall Overcome . 
-LSB- 182 -RSB- In 1997 , Huck Gutman and [TGT] wrote a political memoir called Outsider in the White House . 
-LSB- 183 -RSB- It was published again in 2015 during [TGT] presidential campaign . 
[TGT] had a small role in the 1988 movie Sweet Hearts Dance . 
-LSB- 185 -RSB- On February 6 , 2016 , [TGT] was a guest-star on Saturday Night Live . 
[TGT] says [TGT] is "proud to be Jewish" but is not very religious . 
[TGT] says [TGT] feels "very close to the teachings of Pope Francis ," . 
[TGT] wrote a memoir titled , Our Revolution : A Future to Believe In , which was released on November 15 , 2016 . 
[TGT] received an Honorary degree from Brooklyn College on May 30 , 2017 . 
On November 30 , 2015 , [TGT] had a hernia surgery at the George Washington University Hospital in Washington , D.C. . 
In December 2016 , [TGT] had skin cancer removed from [TGT] cheek . 
-LSB- 194 -RSB- This was after Brady Toensing , Donald Trump 's campaign chairman in Vermont , accused [TGT] of bank fraud . 
-LSB- 195 -RSB- Both CBS and Politico reported that [TGT] was also under investigation , -LSB- 196 -RSB- however that was not true . 
-LSB- 197 -RSB- Both Sanders and [TGT] wife have hired well known defense lawyers to represent them . 
[TGT] is a democratic socialist . 
[TGT] is a supporter of paternity leave , sick leave , and vacation time . 
-LSB- 206 [TGT] thinks that global warming is real and [TGT] wants to fix it . 
-LSB- 208 [TGT] was against the U.S. invasion of Iraq . 
[TGT] is more liberal on social issues such as supporting same-sex marriage , citizenship for illegal immigrants and abortion . 
-LSB- 210 -RSB- On November 15 , 2015 , in response to ISIS ' attacks in Paris , [TGT] said : "We -LSB- have got to -RSB- be tough , not stupid ," in the war against ISIS . 
After Donald Trump 's victory in the 2016 presidential elections , [TGT] said that the Democratic Party needs a "series of reforms" and "must break loose from its corporate establishment ties and , once again , become a grass-roots party of working people , the elderly and the poor ."