Bernie Sanders is a politician.
Bernard Sanders ( born September 8 , 1941 ) is an American politician who has been the junior United States Senator from Vermont since 2007 . Sanders became the ranking minority member on the Senate Budget Committee in January 2015 ; he had previously been chair of the Senate Veterans ' Affairs Committee for two years . Sanders announced his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination on April 30 , 2015 . Initially considered a long shot , Sanders won 23 primaries and caucuses and approximately 43 % of pledged delegates to Clinton 's 55 % . Our Revolution is an American progressive political action organization spun out of Senator Bernie Sanders ' 2016 presidential campaign to continue its work .