Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., will run for re-election as an independent in 2018, he said Sunday.
"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," Sanders said Sunday in an appearance in Rollinsford, New Hampshire, according to Fox News.
"That's what I've been doing for a long time and that's what I'll continue to do," Sanders added.
In the New Hampshire speech, which was held at a Strafford County Democratic Committee fundraising dinner, Sanders discussed proposals he mentioned during his 2016 run at the presidency: tuition-free college, $15-an-hour minimum wage, and "decent paying union jobs," the Fox News report said.
"I love what Bernie says. I love the fact that he gets people energized. I love the fact that he gets people out to vote. If no other candidate can do that, then yes, I'd like to see Bernie run again, but I'd like to see him with a very young vice president," said Ellen Phillips, Strafford County's Democratic Committee chairwoman, according to Fox News.
On Friday, the Democratic National Committee voted down a measure that would have called on Sanders, as well as independent senator Angus King of Maine, to join the Democratic Party.