The 2000 United States Senate election in Vermont took place on November 7, 2000. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Jim Jeffords won re-election to a third term in office. In May 2001, Jeffords left the Republican Party and announced that he would become an independent who would caucus with the Democratic Party. His party exit broke the 50–50 lock in the Senate and effectively gave the Democrats the majority. Thus, that switch marked the first time since 1855 that Vermont had no Republicans in its entire congressional delegation.

Despite the 40-point victory, this is the last federal election in Vermont won by a Republican, and the last time as of 2024 that either party won this seat.[a]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

Declined

Results

Democratic Primary results[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Ed Flanagan 17,440 49.24
Democratic Jan Backus 16,444 46.43
Democratic Write-ins 1,533 4.33
Total votes 35,417 100.00

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

Republican primary results[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Jim Jeffords (Incumbent) 60,234 77.79
Republican Rick Hubbard 15,991 20.65
Republican Write-ins 1,204 1.55
Total votes 77,429 100.00

Independents and minor parties

Independents

Declared

  • Rick Hubbard

Declined

General election

Flanagan was widely seen as having little chance of beating the highly popular Jeffords, who was thought of as a liberal Republican.[5][6] Flanagan campaigned on "shaking up Washington" and portrayed himself as a reformer.[6] Both candidates supported same-sex civil unions and remained silent on the issue of same-sex marriage, but Flanagan, who was openly gay, noted receiving backlash from voters opposed to same-sex marriage.[5] The LGBT community in Vermont was divided between which candidate to support, as Jeffords had been strongly supportive of LGBT rights and had received a perfect score from the Human Rights Campaign.[6]

Endorsements

Jim Jeffords (R)

Organizations

Results

United States Senate election in Vermont, 2000[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Jim Jeffords (Incumbent) 189,133 65.56% +15.24%
Democratic Ed Flanagan 73,352 25.43% −15.14%
Constitution Charles W. Russell 10,079 3.49%
Independent Rick Hubbard 5,366 1.86%
Grassroots Billy Greer 4,889 1.69%
Libertarian Hugh Douglas 3,843 1.33%
Liberty Union Jerry Levy 1,477 0.51%
Write-ins 361 0.13%
Majority 115,781 40.13% +30.38%
Turnout 288,500
Republican hold Swing

Results by county

County Jim Jeffords
Republican		 Ed Flanagan
Democratic		 Various candidates Margin Total
# % # % # % # %
Addison 11,696 68.1% 4,185 24.4% 1,289 7.5% 7,511 43.7% 17,170
Bennington 11,413 66.4% 4,447 25.9% 1,325 7.7% 6,966 40.5% 17,185
Caledonia 8,545 64.1% 3,164 23.7% 1,622 12.2% 5,381 40.4% 13,331
Chittenden 45,839 65.1% 19,380 27.5% 5,201 7.4% 26,459 37.6% 70,420
Essex 1,793 64.4% 646 23.2% 345 12.3% 1,147 41.2% 2,784
Franklin 12,805 67.5% 4,796 25.3% 1,370 7.3% 8,009 42.2% 18,971
Grand Isle 2,373 65.8% 936 25.9% 300 8.3% 1,437 39.9% 3,609
Lamoille 7,174 64.7% 2,698 24.3% 1,221 11.0% 4,476 40.4% 11,093
Orange 8,777 60.9% 3,249 22.5% 2,388 16.6% 5,528 38.4% 14,414
Orleans 7,879 66.1% 2,695 22.6% 1,354 11.4% 5,184 43.5% 11,928
Rutland 20,421 70.9% 5,837 20.3% 2,560 8.9% 14,584 50.6% 28,818
Washington 19,479 66.5% 7,538 25.7% 2,262 7.7% 11,941 40.8% 29,279
Windham 11,786 56.3% 6,803 32.5% 2,354 11.2% 4,983 23.8% 20,943
Windsor 19,153 67.1% 6,978 24.4% 2,424 8.5% 12,175 42.7% 28,555
Totals189,13365.6%73,35225.4%26,0159.0%115,78140.2%288,500

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Bernie Sanders, who replaced Jeffords, is an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, like Jeffords did during his final term.

References

  1. ↑ Rudin, Ken (August 20, 1999). "Democrats Waiting On Vermont and Delaware". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
  2. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on December 27, 2010. Retrieved June 3, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on December 27, 2010. Retrieved June 3, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ↑ "Senator Jeffords on Firm Ground for Re-election Bid". The New York Times. October 5, 2006. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
  5. 1 2 Delaney, Bill (November 2, 2000). "Gay Senate candidate an underdog amid Vermont gay union backlash". CNN. Archived from the original on May 9, 2001. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 Ferdin, Pamela (July 24, 2000). "Gay Official Aims to Shake Up Senate". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
  7. ↑ "Leaders Wanted". Sierra Club. August 2000. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
  8. ↑ "U.S. Chamber Announces Latest of Political Endorsements". U.S. Chamber of Commerce. May 7, 2000. Archived from the original (Press release) on July 11, 2021. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
  9. ↑ "Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives".

Official campaign websites (archived)

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_United_States_Senate_election_in_Vermont