Joseph Isadore Lieberman is an American politician, lobbyist, and attorney who served as a United States senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was its nominee for vice president of the United States in the 2000 U.S. presidential election. During his final term in office, he was officially listed as an independent Democrat and caucused with and chaired committees for the Democratic Party.
Bernard Sanders is an American politician and activist serving as the senior United States senator from Vermont, a seat he has held since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 2007. Sanders is the longest serving independent in U.S. congressional history. He has a close relationship with the Democratic Party, having caucused with House and Senate Democrats for most of his congressional career and emerging as a key ally of President Joe Biden. A self-described democratic socialist, he is often seen as a leader of the progressive movement in the United States. Sanders unsuccessfully sought the Democratic Party nomination for president of the United States in 2016 and 2020, finishing in second place in both campaigns. Before his election to Congress, he was mayor of Burlington, Vermont.
In American politics, a superdelegate is a delegate to a presidential nominating convention who is seated automatically.
The Committee on Armed Services is a committee of the United States Senate empowered with legislative oversight of the nation's military, including the Department of Defense, military research and development, nuclear energy, benefits for members of the military, the Selective Service System and other matters related to defense policy. The Armed Services Committee was created as a result of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 following the U.S. victory in the Second World War. The bill merged the responsibilities of the Committee on Naval Affairs and the Committee on Military Affairs.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) is the Democratic Hill committee for the United States Senate. It is the only organization solely dedicated to electing Democrats to the United States Senate. The DSCC's current Chair is Senator Gary Peters of Michigan, who succeeded Nevada‘s Catherine Cortez Masto after the 2020 Senate elections. DSCC's current executive director is Christie Roberts.
Deborah Wasserman Schultz is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative from Florida's 25th congressional district, first elected to Congress in 2004. A member of the Democratic Party, she is a former chair of the Democratic National Committee.
Amy Jean Klobuchar is an American politician and lawyer serving as the senior United States senator from Minnesota, a seat she has held since 2007. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Minnesota's affiliate of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the county attorney of Hennepin County, Minnesota.
The 2006 United States Senate election in Vermont was held November 7, 2006. Incumbent independent Senator Jim Jeffords decided to retire rather than seek reelection to a fourth term, and Bernie Sanders was elected to succeed him.
The Democratic Caucus of the United States Senate, sometimes referred to as the Democratic Conference, is the formal organization of all senators who are part of the Democratic Party in the United States Senate. For the makeup of the 118th Congress, the caucus additionally includes three independent senators who caucus with the Democrats, bringing the current total to 51 members. The central organizational front for Democrats in the Senate, its primary function is communicating the party's message to all of its members under a single banner. The present chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus is Chuck Schumer of New York.
Peter Francis Welch is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a U.S. representative for Vermont's at-large congressional district from 2007 to 2023. He has been a major figure in Vermont politics for over four decades, and is only the second Democrat to be elected a senator from the state.
In U.S. politics, an independent Democrat is an individual who loosely identifies with the ideals of the Democratic Party but chooses not to be a formal member of the party or is denied the Democratic nomination in a caucus or primary election. Independent Democrat is not a political party. Several elected officials, including members of Congress, have identified as independent Democrats.
The Democratic Party of the United States is a big tent party composed of various factions. The four most prominent modern factions are the liberals, moderates, progressives, and conservatives. The liberal faction supports modern liberalism and social liberalism that began with the New Deal in the 1930s and continued with both the New Frontier and Great Society in the 1960s. The moderate faction supports Third Way politics that includes center-left social policies and center-right fiscal policies. The progressive faction supports social democracy and left-wing populism. The conservative faction supports centre-right policies. The traditional conservative Democratic faction lost much of its influence in the 21st century as the South realigned towards the Republican Party, though a subsequent realignment starting in the 2010s brought a new set of moderate to conservative voters disillusioned with Trumpism in the Republican Party, prominently including many suburban women, into the Democratic tent.
Party divisions of United States Congresses have played a central role on the organization and operations of both chambers of the United States Congress—the Senate and the House of Representatives—since its establishment as the bicameral legislature of the Federal government of the United States in 1789. Political parties had not been anticipated when the U.S. Constitution was drafted in 1787, nor did they exist at the time the first Senate elections and House elections occurred in 1788 and 1789. Organized political parties developed in the U.S. in the 1790s, but political factions—from which organized parties evolved—began to appear almost immediately after the 1st Congress convened. Those who supported the Washington administration were referred to as "pro-administration" and would eventually form the Federalist Party, while those in opposition joined the emerging Democratic-Republican Party.
Bob Mulholland is a political operative in the California Democratic Party and a member of the Democratic National Committee for California.
Senator John McCain, the Republican Party nominee, was endorsed or supported by some members of the Democratic Party and by some political figures holding liberal views in the 2008 United States presidential election. McCain Democrat and McCainocrat are terms applied to Democrats who supported McCain.
The electoral history of Joe Biden, the 46th and current president of the United States, began in 1970. Biden served as the 47th vice president (2009–2017), and as a United States senator from Delaware (1973–2009). Biden is the oldest elected and serving president, the second Catholic president, after John F. Kennedy, and the first president from Delaware.
Presidential primaries and caucuses were organized by the Democratic Party to select the 4,051 delegates to the 2016 Democratic National Convention held July 25–28 and determine the nominee for president in the 2016 United States presidential election. The elections took place within all fifty U.S. states, the District of Columbia, five U.S. territories, and Democrats Abroad and occurred between February 1 and June 14, 2016.
The 2018 United States Senate election in Vermont was held November 6, 2018, alongside a gubernatorial election, U.S. House election, and other state and local elections. Incumbent independent Senator Bernie Sanders was re-elected to a third term. The primaries were held on August 14.
The 118th United States Congress is the current meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It convened in Washington, D.C., on January 3, 2023, and will end on January 3, 2025, during the final two years of President Joe Biden's initial term.
