Bernie Sanders is on his second run for President. The Brooklyn Public Library discovered high school newspapers documenting his bid for president of his student government organization in 1958. That’s 58 years ago and two Saturn cycles, making Sanders’ activities a fascinating example of Saturn’s repeating transits through the natal chart.

Saturn’s influence often relates to our goals and plans for the future. Change usually accompanies its aspects, as we make adjustments to our situation, let go of obligations and take on new responsibilities. We can characterize Saturn’s transit through the various houses and its aspects to natal planets. As we get older, we may look back on previous Saturn transits to get a general idea of what to expect when these aspects repeat. Although we’re usually not experiencing the same thing, sometimes very similar issues come up. For example, Billy Joel’s second daughter was born in 2015, 30 years after her sister’s birth.

Evangeline Adams appeared to consider Saturn’s influence in considering the outcomes of political elections, since Saturn also relates to career and status.

Transiting Saturn was in late Sagittarius when Bernie Sanders was nominated for Student President in December of 1958. By March of 1959, with Saturn in early Capricorn, he had lost the election, yet continued his philanthropic activities at his school in Midwood, Brooklyn.

Sanders was Mayor of Burlington, Vermont when Saturn was again in late Sagittarius to early Capricorn in 1988. He first ran for Congress that year, but once again lost under the same influence of Saturn. (He won the Congressional seat a few years later.)

Sanders’ campaign for U.S. president began in May of 2015 with Saturn in early Sagittarius. He laid off staffers in April of 2016 as Saturn stationed in square to his Virgo Sun. Yet he’s continued his efforts with great success. Saturn will not be far from squaring his Sun at the Democratic convention in July, and will exactly square his Sun again for the election in November 2016, closely timing expected events and suggesting some important developments.

Saturn does not seem to be helpful for Sanders’ election to the Presidency in November, but we should never base forecasts on one astrological element alone.

He won’t see the late Sagittarius transits that exactly coincide with his two previous election bids until 2017. If he follows the same pattern, he’ll continue with his work no matter what the election results are. Yet both Saturn and his increased national profile suggest that he’s entering a new phase.

Bernie Sanders was born on September 8, 1941 in Brooklyn, New York.