Bernie Sandersthe Vermont independent beloved by progressives was re-elected Tuesday to a fourth six-year term in the U.S. Senate.

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

The 83-year-old senator is a self-described democratic socialist who caucused with Democrats and twice came close to winning the presidential nomination. More recently, he has worked closely with the Biden administration to shape its domestic policy goals on health care, education, child care and workers’ rights. He is the longest-serving independent in Congress.

Sanders said he ran again as 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.

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

Malloy, 62, who served 22 years in the military and was a defense contractor for 16, said he thought Sanders would retire — and thinks he should — after 34 years in Congress. Malloy said Sanders isn’t getting results.

“I have 40 years of very relative experience: business, government, military and foreign policy,” Malloy said during the debate.

Malloy, a West Point graduate with a master’s degree in business administration, had said he would work to create good-paying jobs in Vermont, promote business and innovation, and that he does not support a tax increase. Malloy had said he would try to enforce immigration laws and secure the border.

Sanders, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said he is very proud of his record in Congress. He has been a consistent advocate for better health care paid for by the government, higher taxes for the wealthy, less military intervention abroad and major solutions to climate change.

Sanders is a fierce critic of former President Donald Trump and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race. Sanders strongly disagrees with Biden on aid to Israel years of war with Hamas and tried to block US arms sales to Israel.

Sanders got his political start as mayor of Burlington, Vermont’s largest city, from 1981 to 1989. He later served as a congressman for sixteen years. He sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016 and 2020. He said more than a year ago that he would give up another presidential bid and would support Biden.