82-Year Old Bernie Sanders Seeks Re-election

(TotalConservative.com) – Despite his advanced age, Sen. Bernie Sanders announced that he will seek another term in Congress.

The octogenarian formally announced his re-election bid on Monday, May 6. In a video posted to social media, Sanders said that as was the case in the past, he is “in a strong position” to give Vermont voters “the kind of help [they] need in these difficult times” if re-elected.

Although he touted the “important progress” made to address “very serious challenges” in recent years, which was done by “working together,” Sanders added that “much, much more” must still be done if Vermont is going to become a place that its people and the rest of the nation deserve.

If victorious, it will be the independent senator’s fourth term as a representative for the state of Vermont, which is predominantly blue. Although an independent throughout his career, Sanders ran for the Democratic Party presidential nomination in 2016 but lost to Hillary Clinton, and then again in 2020 until dropping out of the race. He was re-elected to the Senate twice before: in 2012 and then again in 2018. Senators serve six-year terms, which means Sanders would be 89 by the time his fourth term is completed if he’s re-elected again.

Sanders was once chair of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee and the Budget Committee, both of which he remains a senior member. In January last year, he was appointed as chair of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.

The Vermont senator has always been an outlier in Congress, working hard toward pushing Democrats further left with more progressive policies. Even though he endorsed Biden in 2020 and remains a supporter for the 2024 election, Sanders has also been a loud critic of the president and the Democratic Party over the last few months about their handling of the Israel-Hamas war. He called the current government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “extremist” and advocated for an immediate ceasefire.

Sanders said the 2024 election season will be “the most consequential” in the lifetimes of today’s Americans.