On October 22, Sen. Bernie Sanders confirmed in an interview with Fox News that he plans to run for re-election as an Independent in 2018, despite the Democratic Party pressuring him to run as a Democrat.
NEW: In an intv. with me minutes ago in NH, @BernieSanders said he would run for re-election in #2018 as an independent #NHPolitics #fitn pic.twitter.com/XgNQkm4FdE
— Paul Steinhauser (@steinhauserNH1) October 22, 2017
Last week the Democratic National Committee (DNC) rejected a resolution that urged Sanders to formally join the Democratic Party ahead of his bid for re-election in 2018. The resolution, which was proposed by a DNC member who has opposed several progressive reforms, is the result of widespread criticism of Sanders for maintaining his independence. Even though he isn’t technically a Democrat, the people of Vermont—including the state’s Democratic Party—have elected and re-elected Sanders for nearly three decades.
Vermont DNC members took issue with the resolution. “It’s really troubling when you get your resolution package and you find out your state’s been named in it without any prior consultation,” Vermont DNC member Terje Anderson told The Washington Post. “We’ve come to a solution that works for us, and we don’t need external voices telling us how to solve our primaries. Next year, Bernie will run for and win the Democratic primary, and he will win re-election—as an independent.”
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