United States Senate election in Vermont, 2006

history

| image1 = | nominee1 = Bernie Sanders | party1 = Independent (politician) | popular_vote1 = 171,638 | percentage1 = 65.4% | image2 = | nominee2 = Richard Tarrant | party2 = Republican Party (United States) | popular_vote2 = 84,924 | percentage2 = 32.3% | map_image = | map_size = | map_caption = | title = Senator | before_election = Jim Jeffords | before_party = Independent (politician) | after_election = Bernie Sanders | after_party = Independent (politician) }}

The Vermont Senate election of 2006 was held on November 7, 2006, and was won by independent candidate Bernie Sanders. Sanders was elected to represent Vermont in the United States Senate from January 3, 2007 to January 3, 2013. Sanders defeated Republican nominee Richard Tarrant with 68 percent of the vote. CNN called the race in Sanders' favor shortly after 7 p.m. on the day of the election.

The election was held to fill the seat of independent Senator Jim Jeffords, formerly a Republican, who decided to retire rather than seek a fourth term.

Tarrant won the September 12, 2006 Republican primary. Sanders, then the sole independent member of the U.S. House, won a five-way race in the Democratic primary, but said he would decline the Democratic nomination under an agreement he made with the party in January. Sanders appeared on the November ballot as an independent.[http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20060912/NEWS/60913001 "U.S. Senate: Tarrant-Sanders duel set"], Burlington Free Press, September 12, 2006.

Candidates

Democratic Party
  • Bernie Sanders — won the Democratic endorsement to run as a Democrat, 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.

Defeated in the Democratic primary

  • Larry Drown — 2004 Democratic Congressional (House) nominee, former trustee of Northfield Village, and frequent candidate[http://www.drownforvermont.com new england skiing benson barton at drownforvermont.com]
  • Craig Hill (Green) — marketing consultant and 2004 nominee»Hill Senate Now
  • Peter D. Moss
  • Louis W. Thabault

Republican Party

Defeated in the Republican primary

  • Cris Ericson
  • Greg Parke

Green Party

  • Craig Hill — 2004 Senate nominee

Liberty Union Party

Independents and minor parties

Support for Sanders from the Democratic Party

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.

General 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.

Campaign finance data

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

{| class="wikitable" |- bgcolor=lightgrey ! width=175px | Source ! width=150px | Date ! width=100px | Sanders (I) ! width=100px | Tarrant (R) |- | [http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20061026/NEWS/610260344/1003/NEWS02 Research 2000] | October 23-24, 2006 | 57% | 36% |- | »Research 2000 | September 18-19, 2006 | 58% | 33% |- | [http://americanresearchgroup.com American Research Group] | September 15, 2006 | 55% | 40% |- | [http://www.rasmussenreports.com/2006/State%20Polls/August%202006/VermontGovernorSenate.htm Rasmussen] | August 3, 2006 | 62% | 34% |- | »American Research Group | July 27, 2006 | 56% | 35% |- | [http://www.rasmussenreports.com/2006/State%20Polls/May%202006/VTGovernorSenate.htm Rasmussen] | June 16, 2006 | 67% | 29% |- | »Research 2000 | May 11, 2006 | 61% | 24% |- | »Doyle Poll | March 7, 2006 | 62% | 26% |- |[http://www.rasmussenreports.com/2006/State%20Polls/January%202006/Vermont%20Senate%20January%205.htm Rasmussen] | January 5, 2006 | 70% | 25% |- | »Research 2000 | November 1, 2005 | 64% | 16% |- |}

Election results

Official results from the Vermont Secretary of State »http://vermont-elections.org:

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

See also

External links

References

home | This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. See full license termsIt uses material from the Wikipedia article "United_States_Senate_election_in_Vermont%2C_2006 ". | compliance | January 13th 2009