Bernie Sanders is in the Senate.
Bernard Sanders ( born September 8 , 1941 ) is an American politician who has been the junior United States Senator from Vermont since 2007 . He served as a congressman for 16 years before being elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006 . In 2016 Sanders formed a political organization , Our Revolution , to educate voters about issues , get people involved in the political process , and work to organize and elect progressive candidates . 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 . Our Revolution is an American progressive political action organization spun out of Senator Bernie Sanders ' 2016 presidential campaign to continue its work .