DUMMERSTON, Vt. (AP) - The man who helped found the Vermont political party that first launched Bernie Sanders for political office in the 1970s has died. Peter Diamondstone was 82.
His daughter says the co-founder of the Liberty Union Party and perennial political candidate died Wednesday in Dummerston.
His family says he dedicated his life to a vision of a fair society, "where all people have equal access to the resources necessary to actualize their full potential."
The Liberty Union Party describes itself as a nonviolent socialist party.
Sanders ran for U.S. senator and Vermont governor twice each in the 1970s under the Liberty Union banner, before becoming an independent and being elected Burlington's mayor in 1981. Sanders now serves in the U.S. senate and ran unsuccessfully for president in Democratic primaries last year.