1996 United States House of Representatives election in Vermont

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1996 United States House of Representatives election in Vermont's at-large district
Flag of Vermont.svg
  1994 November 5, 1996 1998  
  Bernie Sanders 104th Congress.jpg 3x4.svg 3x4.svg
Nominee Bernie Sanders Susan SweetserJack Long
Party Independent Republican Democratic
Popular vote140,67883,02123,830
Percentage55.2%32.6%9.4%

VermontHouseofRepresentivesElection1996.svg
1996 United States House Election in Vermon by Municipality.svg
Sanders:     30–40%     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%
Sweetser:     30–40%     40–50%     50–60%     70–80%

U.S. Representative before election

Bernie Sanders
Independent

Elected U.S. Representative

Bernie Sanders
Independent

The 1996 United States House of Representatives election in Vermont was held on Tuesday, November 5, 1996, to elect the U.S. representative from the state's at-large congressional district. The election coincided with the elections of other federal and state offices, including a quadrennial presidential election.

Contents

Republican primary

Republican primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Susan Sweetser 18,829 95.27
Republican Write-ins9354.73
Total votes19,764 100.00

Democratic primary

Democratic primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Jack Long 9,291 67.95
Democratic Bernie Sanders (Write-in)4,03729.52
Democratic Susan Sweetser (Write-in)2031.48
Democratic Write-ins1431.05
Total votes13,674 100.00

Liberty Union primary

Liberty Union primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Liberty Union Peter Diamondstone 237 88.76
Liberty Union Write-ins3011.24
Total votes267 100.00

General election

Candidates

Campaign

National Republicans were eager to unseat Sanders, and had placed him on a list of 10 incumbent Representatives they would most heavily target in the 1996 cycle. [4] The Republican nominee, state senator Susan Sweetser, was viewed as a rising star within the party [4] and campaigned as a "social moderate and fiscal conservative", though she was viewed as a strictly conservative Republican. [5] [6] Sweetser's gender was viewed as a potential advantage by University of Vermont political analyst Garrison Nelson, who felt that it would prevent Sanders from utilising his traditional aggressive campaign style. [7] There was also a prominent Democratic candidate in the form of Jack Long, former commissioner of the Vermont Environmental Conservation Department, who campaigned as a moderate alternative to the other major candidates. [8] Long's campaign faced staunch opposition from national Democratic strategists, with Rob Engel, political director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, accusing him of being a spoiler candidate attempting to throw the election to Sweetser. [9]

Sweetser's campaign faced a major scandal after it was revealed that she had hired private investigator Cathy Riggs, the wife of California Congressman Frank Riggs, to perform opposition research on Sanders, with Riggs proceeding to investigate Sanders' first marriage by calling his ex-wife. [10] This tactic was denounced by both Sanders and Long as a violation of privacy and political etiquette. Sweetser quickly apologised and claimed that she was not aware of Riggs' activities, but the event severely damaged her campaign nonetheless, as it was largely viewed as unacceptable "dirty campaigning" by the electorate. [11] [4]

Polling

Poll sourceDate(s)
administered
Sample
size
Margin
of error
Bernie
Sanders
Susan
Sweetser
Jack
Long
OtherUndecided
Becker Institute [12] October 199652%33%5%10%

Endorsements

Jack Long (D)

State officials

Newspapers and publications

Bernie Sanders (I)

Executive officials

Federal officials

State officials

Individuals

Organizations

Susan Sweetser (R)

Executive officials

Federal officials

Individuals

Results

Vermont's At-large congressional district election, 1996 [25]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Independent Bernie Sanders (incumbent) 140,678 55.23
Republican Susan Sweetser83,02132.59
Democratic Jack Long23,8309.36
Libertarian Thomas J. Morse2,6931.06
Liberty Union Peter Diamondstone 1,9650.77
Grassroots Robert Melamede1,3500.53
Natural Law Norio Kushi8120.32
Write-insN/A3570.14
Total votes254,706 100.00
Independent hold

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References

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  12. Becker Institute
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