Sanders Files for New Hampshire Primary, Calls for ‘Political Revolution'

There had been some speculation that Secretary of State William Gardner might not accept his filing

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, whom voters have repeatedly sent to Washington, D.C. as an Independent, will be on first-in-the-nation primary ballots in New Hampshire as a Democrat running for the party's nomination for President of the United States.

New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner accepted Sanders' paperwork and $1,000 filing fee Thursday afternoon, and state Democratic Party chair Ray Buckley affirmed Sanders is a Democrat.

In his many years as an Independent, Sanders has caucused with the Democrats.

In Gardner's office, Sanders also signed something of a time capsule for candidates who file for the primary ballots, and told reporters what he wrote.

"We need a political revolution," Sanders said, recounting what he scrawled on the document. "Our government belongs to all of us, not just the 1 percent."

Outside the New Hampshire Statehouse in Concord, before an energetic and huge crowd, the Vermont Senator reiterated many of his priority issues for the campaign.

They include ending what he calls the "corrupting force" of big money on politics, leading the world on moving away from fossil fuel consumption, building an economy that puts working families first, making tuition to public universities free, making the wealthiest Americans pay what he calls their "fair share" in taxes, investing in infrastructure projects to put people to work, and aiming to end what he termed institutional racism in the United States.

"I believe the agenda we have brought forth - it's not a radical agenda, it's not some left-wing extremist agenda - this is the agenda of the middle class of this country," Sanders told his cheering supporters.

"Hillary is very nice," Nashua voter Stan Olejczak said of Sanders' chief rival, Hillary Clinton, while adding a caveat about her: "Let's try something new; Too much baggage."

"He's not working for the millionaires or the billionaires," added another Sanders supporter, Kristin Doane of Concord, N.H. "He's not going to do what's best for them. He's going to do what's best for the ordinary citizen."

Martin O'Malley also filed papers this week to appear on the Democratic primary ballot. Clinton is expected to do so soon, before the November 20 deadline.

Sanders did tell reporters he is still very much an underdog in this race, despite an encouraging number of donations that have poured into his campaign from individual donors. He has recently said a prime challenge of his is name recognition. Hillary Clinton is just much better-known nationally, Sanders has acknowledged, noting his large rallies around the country aim to turn that around.

Sanders told supporters he is confident with their grassroots backing that he can win the Democratic nomination, and, when matched up against leading Republican candidates, that he could win the general election. He said critical to that happening will be a large and enthusiastic voter turnout, adding "when voter turnout is low, Republicans win."

Other candidates who filed for the primary on Thursday included Republicans Marco Rubio and Carly Fiorina.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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