Bernie Sanders is in the Senate.
2016 Democratic National Convention . Former U.S. Secretary of State , Hillary Rodham Clinton , was chosen as the party 's nominee for president by a 59.67 % majority of delegates present at the convention roll call , defeating primary rival Senator Bernie Sanders , who received 39.16 % of votes from delegates , and becoming the first female candidate to be formally nominated for presidential by a major political party in the United States . Bernard Sanders ( born September 8 , 1941 ) is an American politician who has been the junior United States Senator from Vermont since 2007 . Sanders announced his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination on April 30 , 2015 . The 2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries and caucuses were a series of electoral contests organized by the Democratic Party to select the 4,051 delegates to the Democratic National Convention held July 25 -- 28 and determine the nominee for President of the United States in the 2016 U.S. presidential election . The 2012 United States Senate election in Vermont was held on November 6 , 2012 , alongside the presidential election , other elections to the United States Congress , as well as various state and local elections .