audio, stills, text and or video: Go to zReportage.com to see more - In October 2015, Bernie Sanders' campaign for President of the United States was starting to gain steam on a national level. Small donations from individuals, not major corporations or Super-PAC funds, were providing fuel for the Vermont Senator's grassroots campaign, and the prevailing wisdom was that the more America got to know him, the more they would like him. Vermonters, however, already knew Bernie pretty well. Sanders moved to a small town in Vermont in the late 1960's and became active in progressive politics before going on to become the mayor of Burlington and serving in the US House of Representatives and US Senate. This photo essay sheds light on some of the unique people, places, and political accomplishments from the Presidential candidate's 30+ year history in the state, and documents the mood of everyday Vermonters - from dairy farmers in the Northeast Kingdom to punk rockers in Burlington - at a time when their hometown candidate was starting to become a household name around the country.
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Oct. 4, 2015 - Middlesex, Vermont, U.S. - SHIRLEY LAPLANT at home on Shady Rill Road a few houses down from Bernie Sanders' first home in the state of Vermont. ''Bernie's a pretty smart guy. We knew him very well when we was runnin' the dairy farm up here. Once in a while he'd come and take some milk...he used to walk down because he didn't have a car. Everybody liked him around here. He was funny in lots of ways,'' she recalls. Her husband James adds, ''We hope he wins.''
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Oct. 4, 2015 - Middlesex, Vermont, U.S. - A currently abandoned home in the woods near Shady Rill Road which according to public record was owned by Bernie Sanders and his first wife in the 1960's after Sanders relocated to Vermont from Brooklyn, NY.
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Oct. 4, 2015 - Westfield, Vermont, U.S.- LYLE ''SPUD'' EDWARDS on the organic dairy farm he runs with his wife Kitty in the rural Northeast Kingdom region of Vermont, one of over 200 organic dairy farms in the state. His family roots go back to 1799 in the state. ..''Don't underestimate him. Bernie is no fool. He knows how to win. And he's unorthodox too,'' says Edwards. ''What he's doing win or lose will change the debates. And change America in time...if you care about your children or grandchildren then you have to care about politics.''..''It's surprising the number of conservatives that are gonna back Bernie, because he's a straight shooter. There's a reason he gets 70% of the vote here. Yeah, Vermont is a liberal state but it's not 70% liberal. Vermont historically has been fiscally conservative and socially liberal. Of course Vermont was its own country before it joined the Union. We were the first state to join the union. We abolished slavery before we entered the Union...so the state's been independent. The backbone of the state is hard work. We didn't hire slaves to cut the trees, and burn the stumps and clear the land. We did it,'' he says.
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Oct. 7, 2015 - Shrewsbury, Vermont, U.S. - The sun rises through morning mist in a small town near the Green Mountains of Vermont.
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Oct. 5, 2015 - Montpelier, Vermont, U.S. - BILL DOYLE, 89, Republican member of Vermont State Senate and Professor of Government at Johnson State College, where he taught Bernie Sanders for a semester in the early 70's. ''I think his attitude was...'I want this college to work for me', so he instituted radio stations and did a lot of innovative things to his credit. He made contributions as a student that most students would never make, because they didn't know how to do it, or lacked enthusiasm or leadership. I obviously have great respect for students like that; it makes no difference what their ideology is,'' says Doyle...''If anybody asks me should Bernard Sanders run for the President, anybody that runs for an office like that, the odds are so great that I can't necessarily encourage it, but I do think it's good for the process that he runs, if a person has different points of view, lay 'em out on the table. I think most Americans agree and that's why he's doing well...I hope he wins the nomination of his party...it's such a long shot, but most people are for the underdogs anyway.''..On politics in the state, he adds, ''The Republican party in Vermont is not a monolith and we can think for ourselves in Vermont and still call ourselves Republicans.
© Elijah Hurwitz/ZUMA Wire

Oct. 7, 2015 - Townshend, Vermont, U.S. - A graffiti covered van sits on bucolic farm land near route 30 in Vermont.
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Oct. 4, 2015 - Troy, Vermont, U.S. - DEXTER RANDALL, organic dairy farmer for Organic Valley and former Progressive Party member of the Vermont House of Representatives, who hosts annual pig roasts on his farm that Bernie Sanders frequently attends...''In the mid-80's when our friend Ronald Reagan dropped the support price for milk and then interest rates went through the roof, I was buried in debt so got it from both corners. That's where Bernie came along into the picture...we had a protest in 1990, there used to be a milk plant in Troy, there was about a hundred tractors, we surrounded the place, of course people thought we were gonna blow the place up or whatever and I could care less. Bernie was there and stood right beside me when I made a pitiful speech,'' he laughs...''It was an emotional time because I was on the brink of losing everything. That was when my own real activism started taking place. I met Bernie before that but that's what set off the whole thing. And if you know how activism works it depends on what's going on and how mad you get.''..''1986 is when I started getting to know Bernie, during the family farm crisis, when Willie Nelson had his first Farm-Aid. So Bernie started coming on the scene. I met Bernie at a fundraiser.''..''If there was anything on the side of the people who were getting walked on, Bernie was always there, I don't care if there were 10 people or thousands.''..''I won't be totally shocked if in the end, if Bernie can get through all the crooked bullshit, he can win. Because I think it's the will of the people, not the will of the money.''
© Elijah Hurwitz/ZUMA Wire

Oct. 15, 2015 - Kirby, Vermont, U.S. - A large painted mural of Bernie Sanders is seen on a barn in the rural Northeast Kingdom region of Vermont. The mural is the work of Venice, CA, based street artist Jules Muck.
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Oct. 5, 2015 - Barnard, Vermont, U.S. - ANNA LEWIS stands in front of pumpkins for sale outside her family's home. She works as a bookkeeper for the family farm and expressed concern about Bernie Sander's becoming President. ''Well, I'm not happy with healthcare in Vermont. It's a welfare state. The working class doesn't get a lot of breaks. You know we're practically working just to pay our taxes. Why would you want to bring a child into this world? Just more and more taxes. You either have to quit to get assistance or you make too much to get a break,'' she said. ''I don't think Bernie's been overly successful in Vermont so I don't have confidence he'd do better as President.''
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Oct. 13, 2015 - Burlington, Vermont, U.S. - Young supporters of Bernie Sanders watch a Democratic Debate on CNN at a party hosted by the Progressive party of Vermont at Arts Riot in Burlington.
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Oct. 6, 2015 - Dummerstone, Vermont, U.S. - PETER DIAMONDSTONE and wife Doris outside their home. Peter is co-founder of the anti-war and socialist Liberty Union Party, on whose ticket Bernie Sanders campaigned for US Senate in 1971 along with Doris who ran for the US House. ''What held this party together until 1976 was the war in Vietnam, the anti-war movement. This was the beginning of the split between Sanders and myself on deep levels. We had brotherly arguments for many years...he and I differed on the blockade. On Israel. And we disagreed on the most petty things. We couldn't talk to each other without having an argument. A lot like a brother. And it went on long after he left our party in 1977. We remained pretty good friends until 1984 when Bernie became a Democrat and stumped around the state for Walter 'Fritz' Mondale,'' says Peter Diamondstone...Adds Peter, ''Sanders doesn't call himself a socialist anymore. He calls himself a social democrat. He's not running away from the word, but he uses Sweden as an example. They're as capitalistic as the US, just with a better safety net. When he talks about protecting the middle class, well that's the class that protects the ruling class from the working class. The bourgeoisie.
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Oct. 12, 2015 - North Hero, Vermont U.S. - Benches with political party labels of ''Democrats'', ''Republicans'' and ''Sandernistas'' in front of a General Store and gas station on North Hero island. The middle chair labeled ''Sandernistas'' references supporters of Bernie Sanders, an Independent traditionally caucusing with Democrats who has drawn support across traditional party lines during his career in Vermont.
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Oct. 7, 2015 - East Dorset, Vermont, U.S. - MICHAEL MURRAY waits outside a gas station in for his ride to work. He lives in a tent on the property of a man who also provides him with steady carpentry work building wine racks...''I smoke like a chimney and drink like a fish. I just started doing some woodworking. I got to the point where I couldn't keep a job for 10 days. My spinal cord is shot. I can't stand up for 4 hours. Everything's fucked up (from a construction accident years ago). So I went over to Social Security and they of course rejected me. A person I'd been helping who distributes wine and beer built himself a wine rack for his house he called me and for the last couple months have helped him build wine racks...''I have state health insurance. I had to go meet with someone from SEVCA (South Eastern Vermont Community Action), they hooked me into the Medicare system because I have medication I need to take because I've had heart attacks. They cover my medication which is nice, only costs me a couple dollars on co-pay, it's very helpful, because it would cost me all the money I'm capable of making to get my heart pills. I have to take like 9 pills everyday for my heart,'' he said...''One thing Bernie Sanders said that I like, is the country should be run by the people that live in it, not by a handful of billionaires, and I thought that was pretty insightful. But I haven't decided yet who I'm going to vote for,'' he said.
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Oct. 13, 2015 - Burlington, Vermont, U.S. - Democratic Presidential Candidate BERNIE SANDERS is seen on a large projector screen at the Arts Riot venue in Burlington during a debate party hosted by the Progressive party of Vermont.
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Oct. 11, 2015 - Burlington, Vermont, U.S. - DYLAN, 12, and her mother's boyfriend MATT, relax on their porch in the Northgate Housing complex. In the late 1980's, the property owners were planning to redevelop the complex into luxury or commercial housing which would have displaced 336 families. Bernie Sanders, then Mayor, led an effort for the city to acquire the property and ensure it remained affordable to low and moderate income families. Dylan is organizing a ''children's board'' for the community to raise issues like installing new security cameras as the skatepark to prevent vandalism...Of Northgate Housing, Dylan's mother Sarah, who has lived at Northgate since she was Dylan's age, currently works at a non-profit, says, ''I honestly can say that I don't know where we'd be if we couldn't live here.''
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Oct. 15, 2015 - Stannard, Vermont, U.S. - TOM GILBERT, local farmer and compost producer, cleans chickens with the help of local musician and friend JEAN MILLER in the backyard of his farmhouse in Stannard, Vermont, a tiny town where Bernie Sanders lived in the late 1960's. ''An important cultural value of Vermont is every person on this earth getting to live out their own story...and being authentic, accountable and transparent, and I think that's why Bernie's been successful here, because that's just sort of naturally his M.O,'' said Gilbert. ''Vermont isn't a spectator culture whether you're a progressive or not. This is a community that's engaged in their own lives, so there's not a lot of room for the rockstar thing, but I get that the media wants to make Bernie into that.'' Gilbert says,''People are definitely proud to see Bernie out there.''...Jean adds, ''His old house in Stannard is nearby, but the closest I ever came to living near him was in Burlington when some good friends of mine lived across the street from him and his wife. His wife is a super, super nice person and a huge advocate of the arts and children. I dig her. I'm a musician and met her through that.''
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Oct. 11, 2015 - Burlington, Vermont, U.S. - A tourist snaps a selfie aboard a Lake Champlain ferry docking at the Burlington Waterfront Park, where Bernie Sanders announced his 2016 campaign for President on May 26th, 2015. As Mayor, Sanders led efforts to revitalize the waterfront from an unused rail yard into a people-oriented space with a community boathouse and public amenities. His office helped win a major 1989 lawsuit based on the public trust doctrine that went to the Vermont Supreme Court which paved the way for the city to acquire more 60+ acres of waterfront land from the Central Vermont Railway.
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Oct. 11, 2015 - Burlington, Vermont, U.S. - YESHUA HILL, IAN BURTON, and GAVIN GREENEWALT of the Vermont based psychedelic stoner rock band Acid Roach play dice before their show at 242 Main in Burlington. The 30 year old venue was created in a vacant water meter building with the help of the Mayor's Youth Office while Bernie Sanders was Mayor. The all-ages venue was intended to be a safe place for teenagers to see and perform music. The Youth Office was overseen at the time by Jane O'Meara Driscoll, who later married Bernie in 1988...''I identify as an anarchist, but if Bernie can make life better for people, then I support that. But I tend to be weary of this diehard 'Bernie will save the country' attitude because I think that's impossible. He's only one person and it's a giant system that's totally fucked. And you know, our country is founded on racism and we're living on stolen land. It's such a bigger thing,'' says one of the band members.
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Oct. 13, 2015 - Burlington, Vermont, U.S. - An impromptu political debate between progressives outside the Arts Riot venue in Burlington is seen on the street after a debate party ends for a Democratic Debate.
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he works hard for veterans, he works hard for the environment, he works hard for healthcare. There's thousands of these community healthcare centers around the country now. This is Bernie Sanders! When they passed the Obamacare bill, he insisted there be billions of dollars for these centers...he fought for them.''..''I think it's great what he's doing. I think people are attracted to what he stands for...it was like that when he was mayor, and you're seeing it now on a level that I'm even a bit surprised at...but people hear what he stands for, and that he's committed. He's not in it for himself. You want to be part of it. Go with your heart. Go with him. And if it goes anything like it's gone in Vermont, people are really gonna be surprised. And so far that's what it's shaped up to be.
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Oct. 14, 2015 - Waterbury, Vermont, U.S. - Solar panels are seen in fall foliage at the Energy Mill, Vermont's largest carbon net-zero office building. Bernie Sanders is a strong advocate for addressing man-made climate change and has introduced various bills to improve access to renewable energy such as the Residential Energy Savings Act, the Low Income Solar Act, the Green Jobs Act, and the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program.
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Oct. 16, 2015 - Cabot, Vermont, U.S. - MIKE COVEY, machinist and lifelong hunting enthusiast, sits with his hunting rifle in a friend's lodge decorated with taxidermy...Regarding Bernie Sander's current rise in national awareness, he said, ''There's no pride for me (as a Vermonter) in having Bernie Sanders run for President. I'd much rather see somebody like Ben Carson...Conservatives, we tend to just want to do our thing and be left alone. I can't say that about the upper echelon political conservatives, but every candidate out there, regardless of their proclaimed intent, is pandering to a base. Bernie's doing it as well...we'll see as this campaign develops, but I think that Vermont has been traditionally very straightforward about our opinion on gun rights. We recently had a two term incumbent lose a race immediately after trying to promote some gun control stuff in the state, in a relatively urban and progressive area...''I don't think either Bernie or Hillary would be necessarily a boon to the security of the individual right to bear arms. I would hate to see either of them win, but given the choice between two evils as it were, I would choose Senator Sanders.''
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Oct. 20, 2015 - Burlington, Vermont, U.S. - A composite image showing cars with different bumper stickers. A 4x4 is seen with a Pro-Bernie sticker and a Prius is seen with Pro-Ben Carson and conservative stickers.
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Oct. 3, 2015 - Rochester, Vermont, U.S. - RAY GENDRON (left) and WINSTON SHAW (right) of Mom & Pops Maple Syrup sell their goods to passerby's from their roadside stand...Ray says of Bernie Sanders' socialist leanings, ''I don't agree with handouts. Except for veterans. People have to work for what they get. Veterans can get whatever they want, but that's all I'll give. Those other buggers can all starve. They don't want to work they shouldn't get free money. Or free anything.''..Winston is a Vietnam vet who strongly supports Sanders for his support of war veterans. He suffers from diabetes and frequently visits the White River VA, which received additional funding in 2014 from the 6.3 bipartisan billion bill crafted by Bernie Sanders - who is Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee chair - and Jeff Miller of Florida.
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