Last month, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), an "independent" progressive leftist who reliably votes along with Democrats, was easily re-elected by a nearly two-to-one margin for what will be his fourth six-year term in the U.S. Senate.

Sanders indicated in a recent interview that this coming term will also likely be his last, as he foresees himself retiring instead of running for a fifth term in 2030 because of his advanced age, according to the New York Post.

The 83-year-old self-declared socialist from Vermont was first elected as a senator in 2006, but he has been a lawmaker in Washington D.C. since he was first elected to the House of Representatives in the 1990 election, and deserves a fair amount of the credit or blame, depending upon one's perspective, for the Democratic Party's undeniable leftward shift over the past few decades.

Probably his final term in office

Politico reported this week that when asked if this coming term would be his last in the Senate, Sen. Sanders replied, "I’m 83 now. I’ll be 89 when I get out of here. You can do the figuring. I don’t know, but I would assume, probably, yes."

This fourth Senate term for Sanders will expire at the beginning of 2031, and if he does indeed announce his retirement instead of another re-election run in 2030, he will have served a total of 40 years in D.C. as either a congressman or senator.

Though he is technically an "independent," Sanders is for all intents and purposes a Democrat and stands aligned with that party, having twice run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016 and 2020, finishing second both times.

He is not afraid to occasionally criticize his Democrat allies, though, as he told Politico of the party's electoral losses across the board last month, "The average American is hurting. You’ve got to recognize the reality of what’s going on. And I’m not sure that enough Democrats are doing that."

After all of the years, Sanders remains fully committed to the progressive left's agenda, including single-payer socialized healthcare in the form of Medicare-for-all, and told the outlet, "We are the only major country on earth that doesn’t guarantee health care to all of its people. And we pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. My vision is pretty clear as to where we have to go."

Shut down early rumors of retirement

Given his advanced age, there had been some speculation earlier this year that Sen. Sanders would retire this cycle instead of running for a fourth term in office, but he shut that talk down in the spring and cited the possible re-election of former President Donald Trump as the reason why he felt compelled to continue serving, according to a May report from the Associated Press.

In announcing his re-election bid, Sanders opined that Trump's re-election bid had made 2024 "the most consequential election in our lifetimes," and pondered of a Trump victory, "Will the United States continue to even function as a democracy, or will we move to an authoritarian form of government?"

"I have been, and will be if re-elected, in a strong position to provide the kind of help that Vermonters need in these difficult times," he said of not just his planned opposition against President-elect Trump's incoming administration but also his top-ranked position on multiple committees and his role with the Senate Democrats' leadership team.

Sanders responsible for Democrats' leftward shift

According to GovTrack, Sen. Sanders serves as the Senate Democratic Outreach Chair, in which he helps set the party's legislative agenda and priorities, which tend to be highly progressive given his status as the most left-leaning member of the Senate.

Both Politico and the Post observed that Sanders bears substantial responsibility for the Democratic Party's leftward lurch over the years, as evidenced by the growth of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, which now includes more than 100 representatives and senators after it was first formed in 1991 by then-freshman Rep. Sanders and five others.

Of the current crop of ideological allies in the House and Senate, Sanders told Politico, "Dozens of them are really strong progressives who share my perspectives."