Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has confirmed he will run as an Independent when he seeks reelection to the Senate in 2018, according to The Hill,and will not join the Democratic Party despite some recent pressure to do so.
He made the confirmation to Fox News in an interview Sunday night. “I am an independent and I have always run in Vermont as an independent, while I caucus with the Democrats in the United States Senate. That’s what I’ve been doing for a long time and that’s what I’ll continue to do,” Sanders said of his decision.
There are some Democrats out there who have been pressuring Sanders, as well as other Independents, to officially run as a member of the Democratic Party. Sanders caucuses with the Democrats in the Senate already. In fact, Democratic National Committee member Bob Mulholland introduced a resolution at the DNC’s fall meeting this year that would have made Sanders and Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) run as Democrats in any future elections. However, the resolution failed to receive enough votes for a simple majority and did not pass.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Sanders sought the Democratic presidential nomination and angered some Democrats in doing so. He did eventually concede the race to Hillary Clinton.
King has also said he’s running as an Independent again in 2018.
In an interview with CNN, King said, “I’ve been an independent since the early 90s. I was a governor as an independent…that’s who I am.”