Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is set to announce his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination this Thursday with a brief statement, followed by a campaign kickoff events in the weeks to come, according to Reuters:
With former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton looming as the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, few other candidates have stepped forward in the party. Former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley is expected to enter the race next month.
Sanders, an Independent, is 73 years old.
In a statement last week, Sanders blasted the TPP as a jobs-killer that favors corporations. He then raised questions about where Clinton stands on the issue.
“She’s going to have to be clear … Are you on the side of working people who would suffer as a result of this disastrous trade agreement, and seeing their jobs go to China or Mexico, or are you on the side of corporate America? It’s not a very difficult choice,” Sanders said at a rally protesting the TPP in Washington last week, according to CNN.
Sanders had said he would likely run and in recent months he has tested the waters in Iowa, a state that holds an important early contest in the nomination process.