Bernie Sanders’s son launches congressional bid in New Hampshire

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I) son, Levi Sanders, announced Monday he is running for the open House seat in New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District. 

“For over 17 years, I have represented the working class who have been beaten up by the system. It is time to demand that we have a system which represents the 99% and not the 1% who have never had it so good,” Levi Sanders said in a statement on his campaign website.

Sanders, a legal services analyst, is proposing policies similar to those championed by his father, including a “Medicare for all” health system, tuition-free college, a higher minimum wage and more.

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His candidacy was first reported by WMUR in Vermont.

Sanders, 48, is running to replace Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-N.H.), who is not seeking reelection. Sanders joins a field of seven Democrats and three Republicans vying for the seat.

He does not technically reside in the 1st District, though by law he is only required to live in the state.

The district, which includes much of southeastern New Hampshire, has a history of shifting from Democratic to Republican. President Trump received more votes in the district than Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton got in the 2016 presidential election, though the state narrowly went to Clinton.

Bernie Sanders, 76, is considered a front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, after coming in second to Clinton in the last cycle.