Bernie Sanders’ son, Levi Sanders, just announced he’s running for Congress, and he’s bringing some familiar-sounding drama to New Hampshire.
Levi Sanders, Bernie’s son by his former girlfriend, announced his candidacy for the state’s First congressional district, and is “set to offer a populist alternative to the leading Democratic contender, Executive Councilor Chris Pappas, in what is sure to be cast as a smaller-scale echo of the 2016 presidential primary,” reports “Vox.”
Although Sanders pere largely avoided social-media controversies, Levi’s opponents have dug up several past tweets that he will have to answer to. On his Twitter account, the younger Sanders has accused MSNBC’s popular host Joy Reid of practicing “identity politics,” alleged that criticism of white privilege is “garbage” because the “white working class is getting crushed economically,” fretted that taking away Confederate flag license plates would “hurt people’s rights” and said that working-class families wouldn’t care if Trump said the n-word.
Levi Sanders (in green) with father, Bernie, at a New York art exhibit.
What else could go wrong out of the gate? Well, Sanders does not live in his district, a circumstance that bedeviled and perhaps ultimately thwarted Jon Ossoff in Georgia. He resides in Claremont, which is in the Second District, and is running for the First, which includes Manchester, New Hampshire’s largest town.
Levi Sanders has lived in the state for 15 years. He works as a paralegal at a firm that represents recipients of Social Security Disability Insurance and supplemental income. He also served as a senior policy analyst for his dad’s presidential campaign. Like his father, Levi Sanders advocates Medicare for All, tuition-free public college, a higher minimum wage and equality in pay. His platform positions him in favor of gun control, technically a bit to the left of Bernie.
Bernie Sanders hasn’t endorsed his son but released a statement supportive of his candidacy. “I am very proud of Levi’s commitment to public service and his years of work on behalf of low income and working people,” the Vermont senator said. “Levi will be running his own campaign, in his own way, with his own ideas. The decision as to who to vote for will be determined by the people of New Hampshire’s first district, and nobody else.”
