Sanders, the junior United States senator and former Representative from Vermont , began with an informal announcement on April 30, , [ 7 ] [ 8 ] and a formal announcement that he planned to seek the Democratic Party's nomination for President of the United States on May 26, , in Burlington, Vermont. Sanders had been considered a potential candidate for president since at least September Sanders's chief competitor for the nomination was Hillary Clinton , a former secretary of state.
Sanders drew large crowds to his speaking events, [ 11 ] and his populist and progressive politics won him particular support among Americans under He performed strongly with white voters, but consistently trailed Clinton by 30 or more percentage points among black voters; polls showed a close race among Hispanic voters. Sanders focused on income and wealth inequality , which he argued is eroding the American middle class, and on campaign finance reform.
Unlike most other major presidential candidates, Sanders eschewed an unlimited super PAC , instead choosing to receive most of his funding from direct individual campaign donations. Following the final primary election the District of Columbia's , on June 14 , Clinton became the presumptive Democratic nominee. Sanders did then endorse Clinton, and said he would work with her to defeat the presumptive Republican nominee, Donald Trump.
On July 22, , various emails stolen by one or more hackers operating under the pseudonym "Guccifer 2. After the roll call, Sanders put forward a motion to formally nominate Clinton, which passed by voice vote. Sanders's previous political successes were in Vermont. While in college, Sanders protested against police brutality, led a weeks-long sit-in against housing segregation, and worked as an organizer for the Congress of Racial Equality. In a November interview, Sanders laid out several reasons for mounting his own presidential run, including global warming current climate change , economic inequality , frustration with the Citizens United Supreme Court decision, and the importance of maintaining public programs like Medicare and Medicaid.
In a March 6, , interview with The Nation , Sanders stated that he was "prepared to run for President of the United States" in , but did not officially announce a campaign.
