“Will the big money interests and well-paid consultants who control the Democratic Party learn real lessons from this disastrous campaign? Will they understand the pain and political alienation experienced by tens of millions of Americans? Do you have any ideas on how we can take on the increasingly powerful oligarchy that wields so much economic and political power? Probably not.”

Ms. Sanders won re-election to a fourth six-year term in the Senate on Tuesday.

“I will work as hard as I can”

He defeated Republican Gerald Malloy, a U.S. Army veteran and businessman. Also on the ballot were independent candidate Steve Berry and minor party candidates Mark Stewart Greenstein, Matt Hill and Justin Schoville.

The 83-year-old describes himself as a democratic socialist who aligns himself with the Democrats and has twice come close to winning the presidential nomination. More recently, he has worked closely with the Biden administration to set its domestic policy goals in health care, education, child care and workers' rights. He is the longest-serving independent in Congress.

In his victory speech on Tuesday, Mr. Sanders said he and his wife, Jane, were deeply grateful for the generosity and support they had received from people across the state.

“So, Vermont, thank you very much and I promise you to work as hard as I can to protect the best interests of our state and our country,” Mr. Sanders said, according to WCAX-TV.

Mr. Sanders said he was running again because the country faces some of the toughest and most serious challenges of modern times. He described these as threats to democratic foundations, massive income and wealth inequality, climate change and challenges to women's ability to control their own bodies.

“I just didn’t feel like, because of my seniority and my experience, that I could leave Vermont and represent Vermont at this difficult moment in American history,” he said during a recent WCAX-TV debate.

Mr. Sanders is a strong critic of Trump and supported Ms. Harris after Joe Biden dropped out of the race. He strongly disagreed with Mr. Biden on helping Israel's years-long war against Hamas and trying to block U.S. arms sales to Israel.