Who is Bernie Sanders?
Bernie Sanders was born in 1941 in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from the University of Chicago in 1964 and then moved to Vermont. Burlington elected him mayor in 1981 by 10 votes, and he served four terms. A US House seat for Vermont was his from 1991 until 2007, when he moved to the Senate; his 2024 win began a fourth term there. He calls himself a democratic socialist and no independent has served longer in Congress. In both 2016 and 2020 he went after the Democratic presidential nomination. Over 2025 and 2026 he ran a national Fighting Oligarchy tour, some stops of which featured Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and for the 2026 midterms he has endorsed candidates such as Graham Platner in Maine and Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan.
Previously: Ranking Member, Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (since January 2025) · Candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination (2016, 2020) · US Representative for Vermont's at-large district (1991-2007) · Mayor of Burlington, Vermont (1981-1989)
Documented positions
- He reintroduced the Medicare for All Act in April 2025. Every American would be covered, dental, vision and hearing care included, and nobody would pay premiums, copayments or deductibles.Source: wcax.com
- The Raise the Wage Act of 2025, which he put forward with Representative Bobby Scott in April of that year, aims for a $17 federal minimum wage by 2030 and an end to subminimum wages.Source: help.senate.gov
- On the Fighting Oligarchy tour he has argued that political power is too concentrated among billionaires and big corporations, and he has promised to resist cuts affecting Social Security, Medicaid and veterans' care.Source: kpbs.org
- He forced Senate votes in July 2025 on blocking sales of bombs and assault rifles to Israel. The resolutions failed, though 27 Democrats supported them.Source: wcax.com
- He spoke against the USMCA trade agreement on the Senate floor in January 2020 and cast a no vote.Source: sanders.senate.gov
- His Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act, introduced in March 2026, calls for a halt to new AI data center building until safeguards for workers and communities are established nationally.Source: wcax.com
- In June 2025 he joined as a co-sponsor of the Women's Health Protection Act of 2025, a bill meant to protect abortion access against restrictions by states.Source: govinfo.gov
Record
Health care, wages, veterans' benefits and campaign finance are the areas where Sanders has sponsored bills in both chambers, and the Senate committee dealing with health, education and labor has him as its top Democrat. Supporters say his positions have stayed consistent for four decades and that he has helped steer Democrats toward ideas such as a higher minimum wage and broader public health coverage.
Critics, some of them Democrats, contend that single-payer health care and his spending proposals are unaffordable, and that calling himself a democratic socialist hurts the party in tight races. None of his resolutions on arms sales to Israel has passed. Supporters see rising Democratic backing for them, whereas opponents argue that they would undermine an ally.
In their words
“We will not allow you to move this country into an oligarchy,”
