United States Senate election in Vermont, 2006

United States Senate election in Vermont, 2006

2000 ← November 7, 2006 (2006-11-07) → 2012

Nominee Bernie Sanders Richard Tarrant Party Independent Republican Popular vote 171,638 84,924 Percentage 65.4% 32.3%

Municipality Results

Senator before election Jim Jeffords Independent Elected Senator Bernie Sanders Independent

The 2006 United States Senate election in Vermont was held on November 7, 2006. Incumbent Republican turned independent U.S. Senator Jim Jeffords decided to retire. Bernie Sanders, who has represented Vermont's At Large district as one of the few federally elected independents in the country, won the Democratic primary and then dropped out to run as an independent. Many liberal and Democratic politicians across the country endorsed Sanders, as no Democrat was on the ballot. Sanders won the open seat with 65% of the vote. CNN called the race in Sanders' favor shortly after 7 p.m. on the day of the election.

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Larry Drown, former trustee of Northfield Village
• Peter D. Moss
• Louis W. Thabault
• Bernie Sanders, U.S. Congressman

Results

Sanders won the Democratic primary, but declined the nomination, leaving no Democratic nominee on the ballot. This victory ensured that no Democrat would appear on the general election ballot to split the vote with Sanders, an ally of the Democrats, who has been supported by leaders in the Democratic Party.

Republican Primary

Candidates

• Cris Ericson
• Greg Parke
• Richard Tarrant, businessman

Results

Tarrant won.

General election

Candidates

• Pete Diamondstone (Liberty Union)
• Cris Ericson (I)
• Craig Hill (Green)
• Peter Moss (I)
• Bernie Sanders (I)
• Richard Tarrant (R)

Campaign

In mid-August 2006, the campaign heated up considerably, with Tarrant fully engaged in heavy media advertising, most of which criticized Sanders' public stances. Tarrant ran several ads accusing Sanders of representing himself differently from his voting record in the House of Representatives, citing such examples as Sanders' votes against Amber Alert and against increased penalties for child pornography. Sanders responded with an ad stating that Tarrant's claims are "dishonest" and "distort my record" and presented what he viewed as more accurate explations of his voting record.

Endorsements

Since Sanders is allied with the Democrats in the House of Representatives, Democratic leadership successfully dissuaded any serious challengers from their party. Sanders was endorsed by prominent Democrats such as DNC Chairman and former Vermont Governor Howard Dean, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, and Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. On February 13, 2005 Sanders received an endorsement from Democracy for America, the political action committee that was founded by Dean after he withdrew from the 2004 Presidential race.

Fundraising

The election was the most expensive political campaign in Vermont history. Tarrant did not seek outside funding, raising 98% of all funds through personal sources, for a total of $7,315,854. Sanders' top contributors include the plaintiff's law firm Barron & Budd, Operating Engineers Union, Laborers Union, and Communication Workers of America, for total raised of $ 5,554,466. In total, Tarrant and Sanders spent $13,771,060. Tarrant spent $85 per vote, the largest cost per vote of any race in the country during 2006, while Sanders spent $34 per vote.

Polling

Source	Date	Sanders (I)	Tarrant (R)
Research 2000	October 23-24, 2006	57%	36%
Research 2000	September 18-19, 2006	58%	33%
American Research Group	September 15, 2006	55%	40%
Rasmussen	August 3, 2006	62%	34%
American Research Group	July 27, 2006	56%	35%
Rasmussen	June 16, 2006	67%	29%
Research 2000	May 11, 2006	61%	24%
Doyle Poll	March 7, 2006	62%	26%
Rasmussen	January 5, 2006	70%	25%
Research 2000	November 1, 2005	64%	16%

Results

Official results from the Vermont Secretary of State [1]:

2006 United States Senate election, Vermont
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Bernie Sanders	171,638	65.4	n/a
	Republican	Richard Tarrant	84,924	32.3	-33.2
	Independent	Cris Ericson	1,735	0.6	n/a
	Green	Craig Hill	1,536	0.5	n/a
	Independent	Peter D. Moss	1,518	0.5	n/a
	Liberty Union	Peter Diamondstone	801	0.3	-0.2
	Write-ins		267	0.1	0
Majority			86,741	33.1
Turnout			262,419
	Independent hold		Swing

Sanders won a majority of the votes in every county in the state, with 57% as his lowest county total.

See also

• United States Senate elections, 2006
• Vermont United States House of Representatives election, 2006
• Vermont gubernatorial election, 2006

External links

• Vermont Secretary of State's Draft list of candidates (Excel spreadsheet). (Final version due to be released on July 24, 2006).

References

Preceded by 2004 Patrick Leahy (D)

Vermont U.S. Senate elections 2006 Bernie Sanders (I)

Succeeded by 2010 TBD