2006 United States Senate election in Vermont

The 2006 United States Senate election in Vermont was held November 7, 2006. Incumbent independent Senator Jim Jeffords decided to retire rather than seek reelection to a fourth term, and Bernie Sanders was elected to succeed him.

2006 United States Senate election in Vermont
November 7, 2006 (2006-11-07)
 
Nominee Bernie Sanders Richard Tarrant
Party Independent Republican
Popular vote 171,638 84,924
Percentage 65.4% 32.3%
Sanders:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
Tarrant:      50–60%
Tie:      40–50%
U.S. senator before election

Jim Jeffords
Independent

 Elected U.S. Senator

Bernie Sanders
Independent

Elections in Vermont
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Bernie Sanders in March 2020 This article is part of a series about
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Bernie Sanders's signature

Sanders, who represented Vermont's at-large House district as an independent, won the Democratic primary, and then dropped out to run as an independent. Many Democratic politicians across the country endorsed him, and no Democrat was on the ballot. The state committee of the Vermont Democratic Party voted unanimously to endorse Sanders.[1]

Sanders won the seat with 65% of the vote. His win marked the first Republican loss since 1866, decisively ending the longest single-party Senate winning streak in history.[2]

Democratic primary

After Jeffords retired, there was brief speculation that DNC chair Howard Dean, a former governor and 2004 presidential candidate, would run for Senate. After Dean quickly issued a statement that he would not run, independent Representative Bernie Sanders became the subject of media attention, and ultimately entered and won the race.[3]

Declared

Declined

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 had been supported by leaders in the Democratic Party.[8]

Democratic primary results[9]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Bernie Sanders 35,954 94.15
Democratic Louis W. Thabault 585 1.53
Democratic Craig Hill 504 1.32
Democratic Larry Drown 403 1.05
Democratic Peter Moss 384 1.00
Democratic Write-ins 355 0.93
Total votes 38,186 100.0

Republican primary

National Republicans pressured Lieutenant Governor Brian Dubie to enter the race, and he formed an exploratory committee to do so, but the committee raised little money and Dubie opted not to run.[10][11] Governor Jim Douglas also declined to run.[10]

Businessman Richard Tarrant announced his campaign in October 2005.[11] Tarrant largely self-funded his campaign, and frequently denounced political partisanship.[12]

Candidates

Declined

Endorsements
Greg Parke
Organizations
Richard Tarrant
State officials
Individuals

Results
Republican primary[16]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Richard Tarrant 22,008 61.84
Republican Greg Parke 10,479 29.44
Republican Cris Ericson 1,722 4.84
Republican Write-ins 1,382 3.88
Total votes 35,591 100.00

General election

Candidates
  • Peter Diamondstone (Liberty Union), socialist activist and perennial candidate
  • Cris Ericson (Independent)
  • Craig Hill (Green), electronics marketer[1]
  • Peter Moss (Independent)
  • Bernie Sanders (Independent), U.S. Representative from VT-AL
  • Richard Tarrant (Republican), businessman

Campaign

In mid-August 2006, the campaign heated up considerably, with Tarrant fully engaged in heavy media advertising, most of which criticized Sanders's 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's votes against Amber Alert and against increased penalties for child pornography. Sanders responded with an ad stating that Tarrant's claims were "dishonest" and "distort my record", and presented what he viewed as more accurate explanations of his voting record.[17]

Tarrant also claimed that Sanders's election would lead to an exodus of businesses from Vermont.[18] Sanders based his campaign on a well-tested message of fixing economic inequality, and ran a positive campaign that took advantage of his high name recognition in the state.[19]

Endorsements
Bernie Sanders (I)
Federal officials
State officials
Individuals
Organizations
Newspapers and publications
Richard Tarrant (R)
Federal officials
State officials
Individuals

Fund-raising

The election was the most expensive political campaign in Vermont history.[31]

Tarrant was a self-funded candidate, with 98% of all his campaign expenditures coming from personal sources. He spent $7,315,854 total.[32] Sanders' top contributors include the plaintiffs' law firm Baron & Budd; the International Union of Operating Engineers; the Laborers' International Union of North America; and the Communication Workers of America. Sanders raised $5,554,466 total.[33] In total, Tarrant and Sanders spent $13,771,060.[32] Tarrant spent $85 per vote, the largest cost per vote of any race in the country during 2006, while Sanders spent $34 per vote.[34]

Debates
2022 United States Senate election in Vermont Debate
No. Date Host Moderator Link Participants
 P  Participant   A  Absent   N  Non-invitee   I  Invitee   W  Withdrawn
Richard Tarrant Bernie Sanders
1 October 23, 2006 C-SPAN Thom Hallock C-SPAN P P

Predictions
Source Ranking As of
The Cook Political Report[35] Likely I November 6, 2006
Sabato's Crystal Ball[36] Solid I November 6, 2006
Rothenberg Political Report[37] Solid I November 6, 2006
Real Clear Politics[38] Solid I November 6, 2006

Polling
Source Date Bernie
Sanders (I)		 Richard
Tarrant (R)


Research 2000 November 1, 2005 64% 16%
Rasmussen January 5, 2006 70% 25%
Doyle Poll March 7, 2006 62% 26%
Research 2000 May 11, 2006 61% 24%
Rasmussen June 16, 2006 67% 29%
American Research Group July 27, 2006 56% 35%
Rasmussen August 3, 2006 62% 34%
American Research Group September 15, 2006 55% 40%
Research 2000 September 18–19, 2006 58% 33%
Rasmussen September 24, 2006 64% 32%
Research 2000 October 23–24, 2006 57% 36%

Results

Official results from the Vermont United States Senate.[39] Sanders won a majority of the votes in every county in the state, with 57% as his lowest county total.

2006 United States Senate election in 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 0.66% N/A
Green Craig Hill 1,536 0.59% N/A
Independent Peter D. Moss 1,518 0.58% N/A
Liberty Union Peter Diamondstone 801 0.31% -0.2
Write-in 267 0.10% 0
Total votes 262,419 100.0% N/A
Independent hold

Counties that flipped from Republican to Independent

See also

References
  1. Democratic primary is far from ordinary Archived April 5, 2016, at the Wayback Machine (September 11, 2006). Barre-Montpelier Times-Argus.
  2. The partisan history of every U.S. Senate seat, in 1 awesome chart. The Washington Post.
  3. Scott, Julia (April 21, 2005). "Dean stays in his chair". Salon. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
  4. M.D. Drysdale, Primary Election Is Next Tuesday Archived July 16, 2016, at the Wayback Machine (September 7, 2009). Herald.
  5. Klein, Rick (July 13, 2006). "Party shuns Vermont Democrats in race: Seeks to clear way for independent in US Senate bid". Boston Globe.
  6. Scott, Julia (April 25, 2005). "Dean stays in his chair". Salon. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  7. Porter, Louis (July 12, 2005). "Senate hopeful plans to spend $500,000 of his own money". The Barre-Montpelier Times-Argus. Vermont Press Bureau. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
  8. Thursday, April 21, 2005, Bernard Sanders, 63, announces run for Vermont's U.S. Senate seat after Incumbent Independent Jim Jeffords announces his retirement.
  9. "2006 U.S. Senate Democratic Primary". Vermont Secretary of State. 2006. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  10. "Vermont governor won't run for Senate". The Boston Globe. Associated Press. May 2, 2005. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
  11. Freyne, Peter (October 19, 2005). "Tarrant's Political Debut". Seven Days VT. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
  12. Gram, David (May 3, 2006). "Tarrant vows to end 'partisan hatred'". The Barre-Montpelier Times-Argus. Associated Press. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
  13. "Republicans face ideological choice in primary". The Burlington Free Press. September 5, 2006. p. 1. Archived from the original on August 19, 2020. Retrieved August 19, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. Stolberg, Sheryl Gay (April 21, 2005). "Jeffords to Leave the Senate, Setting Off Vermont Scramble". The New York Times. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  15. Robeznieks, Andis (February 10, 2006). "IDX co-founder using noodle on campaign". Modern Healthcare. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
  16. "2006 U.S. Senate Republican Primary". Vermont Secretary of State. 2006. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  17. "How Bernie Sanders Responds to Negative, Mudslinging Attack Ads: Check the Facts!". Youtube. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  18. Allen, Darren M. (November 8, 2006). "Sanders whips Tarrant for U.S. Senate seat". Times Argus. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  19. Heintz, Paul (February 24, 2020). "Bernie vs. "Richie Rich": The 2006 Race That Prepared Sanders for Bloomberg". Seven Days VT. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  20. Talbot, Toby (November 30, 2016). "Bernie Sanders and Barack Obama, 2006". Journal Times. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  21. Gachon, Nicolas (2021). Bernie Sanders's Democratic Socialism: Holding Utopia Accountable. Springer Nature. p. 90. ISBN 9783030696610.
  22. Lehmann, Evan (May 10, 2005). "Howard Dean endorses Bernie Sanders' run for U.S. Senate". Bennington Banner. Retrieved January 8, 2022.
  23. "Part of Phish to play at law-maker's fundraiser". St. Cloud Times. May 1, 2006. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  24. "America Needs a new direction". The Burlington Free Press. April 30, 2006. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
  25. "DFA Backs Sanders and Welch". WCAX. February 13, 2006. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved February 3, 2007.
  26. Totten, Shay (April 30, 2005). "Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas won't run for Jeffords' Senate seat". Vermont Guardian. Archived from the original on May 1, 2005. Retrieved October 16, 2021.
  27. "Newspapers endorse Bernie Sanders". The Burlington Free Press. November 2, 2006. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  28. "Esquire Endorses America". Esquire. November 1, 2006. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  29. "Vermont Woman's Candidate Endorsements". Vermont Woman. October 2006. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  30. "McCain to support Tarrant candidacy". The Burlington Free Press. Associated Press. August 12, 2006. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  31. Wilson Ring, Sanders, Welch win in Vermont races (November 8, 2006). Associated Press.
  32. "Congressional Races - 2006 Vermont Senate". Opensecrets.org. OpenSecrets. February 2, 2007. Archived from the original on February 19, 2007. Retrieved February 3, 2007.
  33. "Vermont Senate: 2006 Race Profile - Top Contributors". Opensecrets.org. OpenSecrets. December 11, 2006. Archived from the original on December 14, 2006. Retrieved February 3, 2007.
  34. Ottenhoff, Patrick (January 31, 2007). "What's the value of a vote". NBC News.
  35. "2006 Senate Race Ratings for November 6, 2006" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 5, 2008. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
  36. "Election Eve 2006: THE FINAL PREDICTIONS". Sabato's Crystal Ball. November 6, 2006. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  37. "2006 Senate Ratings". Senate Ratings. The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  38. "Election 2006". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  39. "Our Campaigns - VT US Senate Race - Nov 07, 2006". ourcampaigns.com. 2008. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
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