Father: Eli Sanders, paint salesman
Mother: Dorothy (Glassberg) Sanders
Marriages: Jane (O’Meara) Sanders (1988-present); Deborah (Shiling) Messing (married and divorced in the 1960s)
Children: With Susan Mott: Levi; stepchildren with Jane (O’Meara) Sanders: Heather, Carina, David
Education: Attended Brooklyn College, 1959-1960; University of Chicago, B.A. in political science, 1964
Other Facts
Although independent in the US Senate, Sanders has run as a Democrat in his two bids for the presidential nomination, in 2016 and 2020.
His father’s family died in the Holocaust.
Was a member of the Young People’s Socialist League while at the University of Chicago.
The longest serving independent member of Congress in American history.
Timeline
1972, 1976, 1986 – Unsuccessful bids for governor of Vermont.
1972, 1974 – Unsuccessful bids for the US Senate.
1981 – Wins the race for mayor of Burlington, Vermont, by 10 votes, running as an independent.
1981-1989 – Mayor of Burlington for four terms.
1988 – Unsuccessful bid for the US House of Representatives.
1990 – Wins a seat on the US House of Representatives by about 16% of the vote.
1991-2007 – Serves eight terms in the US House of Representatives.
1991 – Co-founds the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
2006 – Wins a seat on the US Senate with 65% of the vote.
January 4, 2007-present – Serves in the US Senate.
2012 – Wins reelection for a second term in the US Senate. Receives 71% of the vote.
2013-2015 – Serves as chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.
November 6, 2018 – Wins reelection to the US Senate for a third term with more than 67% of the vote.