BURNEN, Vt.
— A Democratic congressman from Vermont said Saturday that the group he leads in the state House of Representatives wants to be “more inclusive” and that the people who are making decisions about how to represent them in the legislature are not “all white males.”
Rep. Jared Huffman (D) said during a press conference that the state Democratic Party and the Republican Party should be more inclusive of minority groups.
“I think that’s something that should be a priority for the party,” he said.
“When you look at our demographics and when you look the way that we are going to be represented in the Legislature, that is not just the way we are represented in Congress, but it’s the way you’re going to represent the majority of Americans, and that’s what the people are asking us to do.”
Sanders has long championed a strong civil rights record, including opposing anti-Semitism, racism and sexism.
He has also pushed for more inclusion and for a federal minimum wage of $15 per hour.
He is also trying to win back the support of working-class voters who have been critical of the Democratic Party for decades.
The Vermont senator and Democratic presidential candidate has repeatedly called for a political revolution.
He wants to create a “political revolution” in the United States and said that the country is “going to have to fight for what we believe in and what is right.”
The Democratic Party is now facing a major test in the 2018 midterm elections, where it has a tight race against Republican House Speaker John Boehner and conservative Republicans.
Sanders is leading a group of about a dozen Democratic candidates who are competing to represent many of the same districts in the midterm elections.
The Democratic candidates include Rep. Adam Schiff (Calif.), who is a professor of sociology at the University of California, San Diego; Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.), a democratic socialist and self-described democratic socialist; and Rep. Keith Ellison (Minn.), who was the first Muslim to represent Minnesota in Congress.
Sanders has also endorsed Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), a former Army sergeant who is running for Congress.
The candidates will face off against incumbent Republican Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-N.J.), who has a sizable Democratic base in the district.
