Bernie Sanders to revert to independent for rest of Senate term.

By Peter Nicholas 

‘I was elected as an independent; I’ll stay two years more as an independent’. - Bernie Sanders

Bernie Sanders waves after moving to suspend the rules and nominate Hillary Clinton during the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on Tuesday. 

PHILADELPHIA — Bernie Sanders said he plans to return to the Senate as an independent, despite winning 13 million votes in the Democratic Party’s presidential primary contest.

“I was elected as an independent; I’ll stay two years more as an independent,” Sanders said.

Sanders Delegates Walk Out at DNC After Clinton Nomination

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After Hillary Clinton officially won the Democratic presidential nomination on Tuesday, some Bernie Sanders delegates walked out of the convention arena to protest what they call a rigged election. Photo: T.J. Kirkpatrick for The Wall Street Journal

Speaking at the Bloomberg Politics breakfast on Tuesday, Sanders also said the resignation of Debbie Wasserman Schultz as chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee doesn’t go far enough in fixing the situation and that more staff members need to leave following embarrassing disclosures of thousands of internal emails.

Read: Some Bernie-backers blame ‘corporate media’ for Clinton, Trump nominations

“We need a DNC which has as very different direction,” he said. “I honestly don’t know many of the people there. But my guess is we’re going to need new leadership, a new direction and new personnel.”

Asked after the event whether Sanders considers himself a Democrat or an independent, a campaign aide said, “He ran for president as a Democrat but was elected to a six-year term in the Senate as an independent.”