United States Senate election in Vermont, 2016

2016 U.S. Senate Election in Vermont

General Election Date November 8, 2016

Primary Date August 9, 2016

November 8 Election Winner: Patrick Leahy

Incumbent prior to election: Patrick Leahy

Race Ratings Cook Political Report: Solid D Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe D Rothenberg & Gonzales: Safe D

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2016 U.S. House Elections

Voters in Vermont elected one member to the U.S. Senate in the election on November 8, 2016.

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated Vermont's U.S. Senate race as safely Democratic. Incumbent Patrick Leahy (D) defeated Scott Milne (R), Cris Ericson (United States Marijuana), Pete Diamondstone (Liberty Union), and Jerry Trudell (Independent) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Leahy defeated Cris Ericson in the Democratic primary on August 9, 2016.

Candidate Filing Deadline	Primary Election	General Election
May 26, 2016	August 9, 2016	November 8, 2016

Primary: A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Vermont utilizes an open primary system, in which registered voters do not have to be members of a party to vote in that party's primary.

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

Incumbent: The election filled the Class 3 Senate seat held by Patrick Leahy (D). He was first elected in 1974.

Election results

General election

U.S. Senate, Vermont General Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Patrick Leahy Incumbent	61.3%	192,243
	Republican	Scott Milne	33%	103,637
	United States Marijuana	Cris Ericson	2.9%	9,156
	Independent	Jerry Trudel	1.7%	5,223
	Liberty Union	Pete Diamondstone	1%	3,241
	N/A	Write-in	0.1%	309
Total Votes				313,809
Source: Vermont Secretary of State

Primary election

U.S. Senate, Vermont Democratic Primary, 2016

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Patrick Leahy Incumbent	89.1%	62,249
Cris Ericson	10.9%	7,596
Total Votes		69,845
Source: Vermont Secretary of State

Candidates

General election candidates:

Patrick Leahya
Scott Milne
Pete Diamondstone (Liberty Union)
Cris Ericson (United States Marijuana)
Jerry Trudell (Independent)

Primary candidates:

Democratic

Patrick Leahy - Incumbent a
Cris Ericson

Republican

Scott Milne a

Election history

2012

See also: United States Senate elections in Vermont, 2012

Bernie Sanders won re-election to the United States Senate in 2012.

U.S. Senate, Vermont, General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Independent	Bernie Sanders Incumbent	71.1%	207,848
	Republican	John MacGovern	24.9%	72,898
	Third	Cris Ericson	2%	5,924
	Third	Laurel LaFramboise	0.3%	877
	Third	Peter Moss	0.8%	2,452
	Third	Pete Diamondstone	0.9%	2,511
Total Votes				292,510
Source: Vermont Board of Elections, "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

2010

On November 2, 2010, Patrick Leahy won re-election to the U.S. Senate. He defeated Len Britton (R), Daniel Freilich (I), Stephen J. Cain (I), Johenry Nunes (I), Peter Diamondstone (Socialist) and Cris Ericson (United States Marijuana) in the general election.

U.S. Senate, Vermont, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Patrick J. Leahy Incumbent	64.3%	151,281
	Republican	Len Britton	30.9%	72,699
	Independent	Daniel Freilich	1.5%	3,544
	Independent	Stephen J. Cain	1%	2,356
	Independent	Johenry Nunes	0.4%	1,021
	Socialist	Peter Diamondstone	0.6%	1,433
	Independent	Cris Ericson	1.2%	2,731
	Write-in	Unnamed	0%	113
Total Votes				235,178

Important dates and deadlines

See also: Vermont elections, 2016

The calendar below lists important dates for political candidates in Vermont in 2016.

Dates and requirements for candidates in 2016
Deadline	Event type	Event description
March 15, 2016	Campaign finance	Campaign finance report due
May 26, 2016	Ballot access	Filing deadline for major party candidates; deadline for minor parties to submit nomination forms for their candidates
July 15, 2016	Campaign finance	Campaign finance report due
August 4, 2016	Ballot access	Filing deadline for independent candidates
August 9, 2016	Election date	Primary election
August 15, 2016	Campaign finance	Campaign finance report due
September 1, 2016	Campaign finance	Campaign finance report due
October 1, 2016	Campaign finance	Campaign finance report due
October 15, 2016	Campaign finance	Campaign finance report due
November 4, 2016	Campaign finance	Campaign finance report due
November 8, 2016	Election date	General election
November 22, 2016	Campaign finance	Campaign finance report due
December 15, 2016	Campaign finance	Campaign finance report due
Sources: Vermont Secretary of State, "Candidates," accessed July 9, 2015 Vermont Secretary of State, "Guide to Vermont's Campaign Finance Law," accessed July 9, 2015

See also

• United States House of Representatives elections in Vermont, 2016
• United States Senate elections, 2016
• Patrick Leahy

Footnotes

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Vermont's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Bernie Sanders (I)

Peter Welch (D)

Representatives

Becca Balint (D)

Democratic Party (2)

Independent (1)