Vermont gubernatorial election, 2016

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Vermont Gubernatorial Election

Primary Date: August 9, 2016

General Election Date: November 8, 2016

November Election Winner: Phil Scott (R)

Incumbent Prior to Election: Peter Shumlin (D)

State Executive Elections Top Ballot Governor • Lt. Governor Secretary of State • Attorney General Down Ballot Auditor • Treasurer

Vermont, which holds its gubernatorial elections every two years, held an election for governor on November 8, 2016. Lieutenant Governor Phil Scott (R) defeated Democratic challenger Sue Minter, ending the Democratic Party's trifecta control of the state government.

HIGHLIGHTS

Democrat Governor Peter Shumlin retired from office in 2017, leaving the governor's seat open for all parties.

Five Democrats and two Republicans competed for their parties' nominations in the August 9 primary elections, which were both competitive. Sue Minter won the Democratic primary, and Phil Scott won the Republican primary.

The last two open elections for governor were decided by less than 3 percentage points; early polling also promised a competitive election in 2016.

Scott won the general election on November 8, 2016, breaking a five-year Democratic trifecta.

Overview

The governor of Vermont is elected every two years and has no term limit. Three-term incumbent Peter Shumlin (D) declined to seek re-election in 2016, leaving the election an open race.

Going into the election, Vermont was under Democratic trifecta control. The office of governor had alternated party control every other officeholder since 1963; however, prior to 1963, Republicans had held the seat for over a century. The last two open elections for governor were decided by less than 3 percentage points. When Republican candidate Phil Scott won the governorship in 2016, the Democratic trifecta came to a close.

Scott was popular among voters in the mostly Democratic state. Before the election, he served as lieutenant governor alongside Democrat Gov. Peter Shumlin, which made Vermont one of the few states in which the governor and lieutenant governor belonged to different parties. Scott competed with businessman Bruce Lisman for the party nomination.

Five Democrats competed in the primary election: Google executive and former state legislator Matt Dunne, former Secretary of the Vermont Agency of Transportation Sue Minter, former state Senator Peter Galbraith, businesswoman Cris Ericson, and Brooke Paige. Minter defeated her opponents in the primary election to win the Democratic nomination.

The general election between Minter, Scott, and Liberty Union Party candidate Bill Lee was expected to be competitive. Lt. Governor Scott won the general election on November 8, 2016, breaking the five-year Democratic trifecta.

Candidates and results

Candidates

Sue Minter (D)
Former transportation secretary, former state rep.

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Phil Scott (R)
Lieutenant governor of Vermont since 2011

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Bill Lee (Liberty Union)
Former Boston Red Sox pitcher

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Click [show] to view candidates who were defeated in the primary elections.

Prominent candidates Ballotpedia uses a variety of standards to determine which candidates will feature prominently in a given race. Bruce Lisman (R) Most recent position: Founder, Campaign for Vermont Past experience: CEO of institutional equities at Bear Sterns & Company Matt Dunne (D) Most recent position: Head of community affairs at Google since 2008 Past experience: State Sen., 2003-2008; state Rep., 1993-2000 Peter Galbraith (D) Most recent position: State Sen., 2011-2015 Past experience: U.S. ambassador, senior advisor to U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Other candidates Cris Ericson (D) - paralegal H. Brooke Paige (D) - owner, Remmington News Service

Click [show] to view candidates who declined to run in this election.
Declined John Moran - former state representative Shap Smith - speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives

General election

Phil Scott defeated Sue Minter and Bill Lee in the Vermont governor election.

Vermont Governor, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Phil Scott	52.96%	166,817
	Democratic	Sue Minter	44.21%	139,253
	Liberty Union Party	Bill Lee	2.83%	8,912
Total Votes				314,982
Source: Vermont Secretary of State

Primary elections

Democratic primary election

Sue Minter defeated Matt Dunne, Peter Galbraith, Cris Ericson, and H. Brooke Paige in the Democratic primary for governor.

Democratic primary for governor, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Sue Minter	49.27%	36,046
Matt Dunne	36.50%	26,706
Peter Galbraith	9.04%	6,611
Cris Ericson	0.73%	537
H. Brooke Paige	0.49%	361
Write-in votes	3.96%	2,899
Total Votes (275 of 275 Precincts Reporting)		73,160
Source: Vermont Secretary of State

Republican primary election

Phil Scott defeated Bruce Lisman in the Republican primary for governor.

Republican primary for governor, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Phil Scott	59.77%	27,728
Bruce Lisman	39.04%	18,113
Write-in votes	1.19%	553
Total Votes (275 of 275 Precincts Reporting)		46,394
Source: Vermont Secretary of State

About the primary

A primary election is an election in which voters select the candidate they believe should represent a political party in a general election. Primaries usually take place several months before 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. Vermont state law is unique in that it allows candidates to run in multiple primary elections at the same time, whether for multiple offices or for the same office under multiple parties. However, a candidate may only appear once on the general election ballot.

Vermont's primary elections took place on August 9, 2016.

Party control

Vermont Party Control: 1992-2024
Ten years of Democratic trifectas  •  No Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
Governor	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
Senate	D	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
House	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D

Going into the election, Vermont was under Democratic trifecta control: Democrats had held the governorship and majorities in both chambers of the state legislature since Republican Governor Jim Douglas left office in 2011. The state's electoral votes had gone to the Democratic presidential candidate since 1992, though Vermont went to Republicans for the six presidential elections prior. The state had been represented in the U.S. Senate by Democrat Patrick Leahy since 1975 and by Bernie Sanders since 2007; Sanders won election as an independent candidate but changed party affiliation in 2015 to seek the Democratic nomination for president.

The office of governor in Vermont had changed party hands every other officeholder since 1963, with no governor serving more than four two-year terms. In fact, every open election since 1968 had shifted partisan control of the seat. Before Philip Henderson Hoff's election in 1962, Republicans had held the seat since 1856. While incumbent governors had tended to win re-election by comfortable margins, two open elections prior to 2016—in 2002 and 2010—were both decided by less than 3 percentage points. With Republicans having won the governorship in 2016, the five-year Democratic trifecta came to an end.

Additionally, Vermont often elects notable state politicians to the governorship. The previous two Republicans to win election as governor held statewide offices at the time of their election—Jim Douglas was state treasurer and Richard A. Snelling was the lieutenant governor. Lieutenant Governor Howard Dean (D) succeeded Snelling upon his death in 1991 and won election to a full term the following year; Peter Shumlin (D) was president of the state Senate at the time of his election in 2010.

Debates

Democratic primary debate: August 2, 2016

Matt Dunne, Peter Galbraith, Cris Ericson, H. Brooke Paige, and Sue Minter participated in a live debate on Vermont Edition on August 2, 2016. Renewable energy was a major issue in the debate, with Galbraith criticizing Dunne and Minter for supporting renewable wind projects in the state, which Galbraith asserted were ruining Vermont's "pristine" ridgelines. Galbraith also criticized Dunne for his recent release of a policy position stating that local communities should have approval over new wind projects, calling it an "eleventh-hour flip," which Dunne denied. Paige also voiced opposition to wind projects, stating that they posed health risks to nearby residents. Ericson proposed decorating solar farms with holographic butterflies and building ice cream stands to serve as tourist attractions.

Paige and Galbraith both expressed support for abolishing the state's healthcare exchange, Vermont Health Connect. The candidates also discussed how they would address cuts to state spending and broadband internet access. Minter accused Dunne of conducting a smear campaign against her after he attempted to connect her to individuals implicated in a recent controversy involving fraudulent housing investments.

Republican primary debate: August 1, 2016

Lt. Governor Phil Scott and Bruce Lisman debated on August 1, 2016, during a Vermont Public Broadcasting System event. The two candidates discussed how they would grow Vermont's economy. Lisman pointed to budget management practices, stating that he would cap state budgets at a 2 percent growth rate and cut inefficient spending. Scott stated he would only cap budgets for agencies that experienced 0.5-1.0 percent growth the previous year. Both candidates agreed they would abolish the state's healthcare exchange, Vermont Health Connect.

Scott also accused his opponent of using "typical [Washington] D.C." tactics in running television ads that raised questions about Scott's construction company receiving $2 million in state contracts during his tenure in state government. Scott denied any wrongdoing, while Lisman called his involvement in the company a conflict of interest.

Primary election debate: May 13, 2016

Five primary election candidates debated on May 13, 2016: Republicans Phil Scott and Bruce Lisman and Democrats Matt Dunne, Sue Minter, and Peter Galbraith. The two Republicans weighed in on the party's 2016 presidential nominee, Donald Trump, with Scott opposed to the candidate and Lisman noncommittal. All three Democrats expressed support for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, though Minter and Dunne both said they would have preferred her opponent Bernie Sanders to win the nomination.

All five candidates discussed the economy, healthcare, and gun control laws. Both Republican candidates wanted to repeal federal healthcare exchanges and were opposed to universal background checks for gun purchases. Lisman stated that the economy would improve with better management of state government and less variation in tax rates, while Scott pushed for population growth. All three Democrats supported universal background checks and the federal healthcare exchange; Dunne and Minter stated they would invest in education and small business to grow the economy, while Galbraith suggested fewer tax incentives for businesses.

Primary election debate: December 16, 2015

On December 16, 2015, candidates for governor of Vermont debated at the Associated Industries of Vermont annual conference. Bruce Lisman (R) said he would take a multiyear approach to recast state government:

“

I'd manage the damn budget. Set spending at 2-3 percent per year to reset our finances and no new taxes. And find 2 percent efficiencies with a brilliant, motivated management team. Recharge our government by bringing real managers into it, those people we find not because we know them but because they're talented.

”

Lieutenant Governor Phil Scott (R) called for an environment conducive to the financial well-being of working families: "I will neither propose nor will I sign a budget that exceeds these very reasonable limits. Working families need a break." He added, "What we're really doing is creating an environment that is helpful to them and a state government that is by their side and not on their back."

Both of the Republicans said the state health exchange has harmed the business climate in Vermont.

Former Transportation Secretary Sue Minter (D), who served in the administration of Peter Shumlin, said, "Growing an economy, I know, is a lot more than what government can do, but government must be a strong partner." She continued, "Growing the economy relies on innovators, investors, the ability to recruit, retain and train an educated workforce."

Dunne, a Google executive, said,

“

Under my administration, every manufacturing business in the state of Vermont would have a project manager to work on their behalf to make sure that you are not having to navigate state government from one agency to another to be able to make the changes you know are necessary.

”

Race tracking

Race rating: Toss-up

Race Ratings: Vermont Governor
Race Tracker	Race Ratings
The Cook Political Report	Likely Democrat	Toss-up
Governing	Toss-up	Toss-up
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Lean Democrat	Toss-up
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Safe Democrat	Toss-up
Daily Kos Race Ratings	Toss-up	Toss-up
Note: Ballotpedia updates external race ratings every two weeks throughout the election season.

Polls

General election matchup
Poll	Phil Scott	Sue Minter	Bill "Spaceman" Lee	Other	Not sure	Refused	Margin of error	Sample size
Vermont Public Radio September 29, 2016-October 14, 2016	39%	38%	2%	5%	14%	2%	+/-3.9	579
Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Click [show] to view polls for the primary elections.

Democratic primary match-up Poll Matt Dunne Sue Minter Peter Galbraith Neither Not sure Refused Margin of error Sample size Energy Independent Vermont June 26-29, 2016 31% 36% 8% 0% 25% 0% +/-4 600 VPR Poll, Minter v. Dunne only February 3-17, 2016 11% 19% 0% 18% 51% 1% +/-3.27 895 AVERAGES 21% 27.5% 4% 9% 38% 0.5% +/-3.64 747.5 Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org. Republican primary match-up Poll Phil Scott Bruce Lisman Neither Not sure Refused Margin of error Sample size Energy Independent Vermont June 26-29, 2016 68% 23% 0% 9% 0% +/-4 600 VPR Poll February 3-17, 2016 42% 4% 13% 40% 1% +/-3.27 895 AVERAGES 55% 13.5% 6.5% 24.5% 0.5% +/-3.64 747.5 Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Endorsements

Key endorsements, primary candidates
Matt Dunne (D)	Sue Minter (D)	Phil Scott (R)
State Senate Majority Leader Phil Baruth (D)	Former Governor Madeleine Kunin (D)	The Manchester Journal
Vermont Labor Council AFL-CIO	Former Governor Phil Hoff (D)	State House Assistant Minority Leader Brian Savage (R)
Vermont State Employees' Association	State Senate Assistant Majority Leader Claire Ayer (D)	State Senate Minority Leader Kevin Mullin (R)
Rights & Democracy	Former Lt. Governor Doug Racine	Burlington Free Press
Teamsters Local 597	Vermont Conservation Voters
Professional Firefighters of Vermont
Burlington Free Press
What is a key endorsement?

Campaign finance

General election

The following chart details the campaign finance activity for Sue Minter (D) and Phil Scott (R), the two major party candidates, for the general election. The amounts shown include money raised and spent during the primary and general elections.

Click [show] to view full campaign finance details for major party nominees in general election
Sue Minter (D) campaign finance reports 2016 Phil Scott (R) campaign finance reports 2016

Primary election

The following charts detail the campaign finance activity for the major candidates during the primary election season.

Click [show] to view full campaign finance details for prominent candidates in primary election
Matt Dunne (D) campaign finance reports 2016 Sue Minter (D) campaign finance reports 2016 Bruce Lisman (R) campaign finance reports 2016 Phil Scott (R) campaign finance reports 2016 Peter Galbraith (D) campaign finance reports 2016

Other candidates

Note: Cash-on-hand figures were not available. If a candidate is not listed below, he or she did not meet or exceed minimum reporting requirements.

Brooke Paige Campaign Finance Reports
Report	Date Filed	Beginning Balance	Total Contributions for Reporting Period	Expenditures	Cash on Hand
2nd quarter	July 15, 2016	$575.00	$5,245.00	$(880.91)	$
			Running totals
			$5,245	$(880.91)

Satellite spending

Main article: Political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns

Groups unaffiliated with candidates or campaigns—such as political action committees, super PACs, nonprofit public welfare organizations, and labor unions—often spend money to influence the outcome of an election. This satellite spending can take the form of express advocacy, which encourages votes for or against a candidate, or issue advocacy, which supports broad political or social issues. Some groups are restricted on which kind of advocacy they can engage in based on their tax status.

Disclosure regulations vary from state to state and vary based on type of organization, complicating the process of determining a comprehensive picture of all spending in a given election.

For example, nonprofits are not always required to disclose their donors to the government; they submit financial information to the federal government through regular tax filings with the Internal Revenue Service, which are only publicly available through a Freedom of Information Act request. Other organizations are required to report election expenditures to a state elections division.

Vermont gubernatorial election outside spending, 2016
Election	Amount spent	Type of spending
Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn	$222,000	Ads supporting Matt Dunne (D)
Vermonters for Strong Leadership	$120,000	Ads supporting Sue Minter (D)
EMILY's List	$72,000	Ads supporting Sue Minter (D)
American Future Fund Political Action Committee	$27,000	Ads against Phil Scott (R)
Total known expenditures:	$441,000
Note: All figures are estimates. Know of any other instances of satellite spending? Tell us!

Campaign media

Note: If a candidate is not listed below, Ballotpedia staff were unable to locate any campaign media for that candidate. Do you know of any? Tell us!

Democrats

Matt Dunne (D)
Cris Ericson (D)
Peter Galbraith (D)
H. Brooke Paige (D)
Sue Minter (D)

Republicans

Bruce Lisman (R)
Phil Scott (R)

Bill Lee (Liberty Union)

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Vermont state Governor election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Vermont gubernatorial election, 2016 - Google News

Past elections

2014

See also: Vermont gubernatorial election, 2014

Governor of Vermont, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Peter Shumlin Incumbent	46.4%	89,509
	Republican	Scott Milne	45.1%	87,075
	Libertarian	Dan Feliciano	4.4%	8,428
	Liberty Union	Emily Peyton	1.6%	3,157
	Independent	Pete Diamondstone	0.9%	1,673
	Independent	Bernard Peters	0.7%	1,434
	Independent	Cris Ericson	0.6%	1,089
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	0.4%	722
Total Votes				193,087
Election results via Vermont Secretary of State

To view the full electoral history for Governor of Vermont, click [show] to expand the full section.

2012 See also: Vermont gubernatorial election, 2012 Governor of Vermont General Election, 2012 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Democratic Peter Shumlin Incumbent 57.8% 170,749      Republican Randy Brock 37.6% 110,940      Independent Emily Peyton 2% 5,868      United States Marijuana Cris Ericson 1.9% 5,583      Liberty Union Dave Eagle 0.4% 1,303      Independent Write-in 0.3% 969 Total Votes 295,412 Election results via Vermont Secretary of State 2010 On November 2, 2010, Peter Shumlin won election to the office of Governor of Vermont. He defeated Brian E. Dubie (R) and 5 minor party candidates in the general election. Governor of Vermont, 2010 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Democratic Peter Shumlin 49.5% 119,543      Republican Brian E. Dubie 47.7% 115,212      Independent Dennis Steele 0.8% 1,917      United States Marijuana Cris Ericson 0.8% 1,819      Independent Dan Feliciano 0.6% 1,341      Independent Em Peyton 0.3% 684      Liberty Union Ben Mitchell 0.2% 429      Write-In Various 0.3% 660 Total Votes 241,605 Election results via Vermont Secretary of State. 2008 On November 4, 2008, Jim Douglas won re-election to the office of Governor of Vermont. He defeated Gaye Symington (D) and 5 minor party candidates in the general election. Governor of Vermont, 2008 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Republican Jim Douglas Incumbent 53.4% 170,492      Democratic Gaye Symington 21.8% 69,534      Independent Anthony Pollina 21.9% 69,791      Cheap Renewable Energy Tony O'Connor 1% 3,106      Independent Sam Young 0.8% 2,490      Liberty Union Peter Diamondstone 0.5% 1,710      Independent Cris Ericson 0.5% 1,704      Write-In Various 0.1% 258 Total Votes 319,085 Election results via Vermont Secretary of State. 2006 On November 7, 2006, Jim Douglas won re-election to the office of Governor of Vermont. He defeated Scudder Parker and 4 minor party candidates in the general election. Governor of Vermont, 2006 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Republican Jim Douglas Incumbent 56.4% 148,014      Democratic Scudder Parker 41.2% 108,090      Independent Cris Ericson 0.9% 2,477      Vermont Green Jim Hogue 0.7% 1,936      Vermont Localist Benjamin Clarke 0.5% 1,216      Liberty Union Bob Skold 0.2% 638      Write-In Various 0.1% 153 Total Votes 262,524 Election results via Vermont Secretary of State. 2004 On November 2, 2004, Jim Douglas won re-election to the office of Governor of Vermont. He defeated Peter Clavelle (D) and 4 minor party candidates in the general election. Governor of Vermont, 2004 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Republican Jim Douglas Incumbent 58.7% 181,540      Democratic Peter Clavelle 37.9% 117,327      Independent Patricia Hejny 0.8% 2,431      Marijuana Cris Ericson 1.4% 4,221      Libertarian Hardy Machia 0.7% 2,263      Liberty Union Peter Diamondstone 0.4% 1,298      Write-In Various 0.1% 205 Total Votes 309,285 Election results via Vermont Secretary of State. 2002 On November 5, 2002, Jim Douglas won election to the office of Governor of Vermont. He defeated Doug Racine (D) and 8 minor party candidates in the general election. Governor of Vermont, 2002 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Republican Jim Douglas 44.9% 103,436      Democratic Doug Racine 42.4% 97,565      Independent Cornelius "Con" Hogan 9.7% 22,353      Progressive Michael J. Badamo 0.6% 1,380      Restore-Justice Freedom Marilynn "Mom" Christian 0.3% 638      Liberty Union Pete Diamondstone 0.3% 625      Make Marijuana Legal Cris Ericson 0.8% 1,737      Vermont Grassroots Patricia Hejny 0.3% 771      Independent Brian Pearl 0.2% 569      Libertarian Joel Williams 0.4% 938      Write-In Various 0.1% 149 Total Votes 230,161 Election results via Vermont Secretary of State. 2000 On November 7, 2000, Howard Dean won re-election to the office of Governor of Vermont. He defeated Ruth Dwyer (R) and 6 minor party candidates in the general election. Governor of Vermont, 2000 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Democratic Howard Dean Incumbent 50.5% 148,059      Republican Ruth Dwyer 37.9% 111,359      Progressive Anthony Pollina 9.6% 28,116      Independent Marilynn "Mom" Verna Christian 0.4% 1,054      Liberty Union Richard F. Gottlieb 0.1% 337      Libertarian Hardy Macia 0.3% 785      Independent Phil Stannard Sr. 0.7% 2,148      Vermont Grassroots Joel W. Williams 0.5% 1,359      Write-In Various 0.1% 256 Total Votes 293,473 Election results via Vermont Secretary of State.

About the office

Key election dates

Filing deadline (party candidates): May 26, 2016

Filing deadline (independents): August 4, 2016

Primary date: August 9, 2016

General election date: November 8, 2016

Recount request deadline: November 23, 2016

Inauguration: January 5, 2017

Governor

Main article: Governor of Vermont

The Vermont governor is an elected constitutional officer, the head of the executive branch, and the highest state office in Vermont. The governor is popularly elected every two years and has no term limit. The 81st and current governor at the time of the 2016 election was Peter Shumlin, a Democrat first elected in 2010 and re-elected in 2014.

See also: Vermont State Legislature, Vermont House of Representatives, Vermont State Senate

Incumbent

Governor Peter Shumlin (D) was elected in 2010, succeeding four-term Republican incumbent Jim Douglas, who did not run for re-election that year. Shumlin won re-election in 2012, and although he placed first in the 2014 gubernatorial election, he did not receive 50 percent of the vote, requiring the Vermont State Legislature to choose the governor. State legislators determined Shumlin the winner in January 2015 following a vote of 110-69.

Shumlin has also served several terms in the Vermont State Senate and House of Representatives. He previously worked as both an educator and dairy farmer, and he also runs Putney Student Travel, a company founded by his parents in the 1950s, with his brother. He announced in June 2015 that he would not seek re-election to a fourth term.

State profile

Demographic data for Vermont
	Vermont	U.S.
Total population:	626,088	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	9,217	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	94.9%	73.6%
Black/African American:	1.1%	12.6%
Asian:	1.4%	5.1%
Native American:	0.3%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0%	0.2%
Two or more:	1.9%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	1.7%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	91.8%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	36%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$55,176	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	13.2%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Vermont. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Vermont

Vermont voted for the Democratic candidate in all seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, one is located in Vermont, accounting for 0.5 percent of the total pivot counties.

Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Vermont had one Retained Pivot County, 0.55 percent of all Retained Pivot Counties.

More Vermont coverage on Ballotpedia

• Elections in Vermont
• United States congressional delegations from Vermont
• Public policy in Vermont
• Endorsers in Vermont
• Vermont fact checks
• More...

See also

Vermont government:

• Vermont state executive offices
• Vermont State Legislature
• Vermont courts

Previous elections:

• State executive official elections, 2015
• State executive official elections, 2014

Ballotpedia exclusives:

• State executives compensation
• State of the state addresses
• Who runs the states?

External links

Suggest a link

• Office of the Vermont Governor