Senator Bernard Sanders announced Wednesday he will run for president of the United States in 2016, and even though he is an independent, he’s running as a Democrat to make it easier to get his name on the ballot.

“I am running in this election to win," he said. "We've got a long path forward. Most people in America have never heard of Bernie Sanders. More than 90 pencent of Americans have heard of Hillary Clinton. ... I will absolutely be out-spent. But I do believe we have a chance to raise significant amounts of money through small, individual contributions.”

“I’m not a billionaire,” said the 73-year-old Vermont legislator to MSNBC. “To run outside of the two-party system would require enormous sums of money and a great expenditure of energy and time just to get on the ballot.”