Description
In 1981, Bernie Sanders successfully ran for mayor of Burlington, Vermont, as an Independent, self-described "socialist," defeating Democratic Party candidate, Gordon Paquette.
Sanders served as Burlington mayor throughout the 1980s before being elected to the House of Representatives for Vermont in 1990, again as an "Independent" socialist. Sanders held Vermont's lone House seat until 2006, when he successfully won election to the Senate, where he still serves. In 2016, after joining the Democratic Party, Sanders mounted a surprisingly potent challenge to Democratic Party establishment favorite, Hillary Clinton, for the party's presidential nomination.