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1988 United States House of Representatives election in Vermont

The 1988 United States House of Representatives election in Vermont was held on November 8, 1988. Republican nominee Peter Plympton Smith defeated Independent candidate Bernie Sanders and Democratic nominee Paul N. Poirier.

1988 United States House of Representatives election in Vermont
← 1986 November 8, 1988 1990 →
 
Nominee Peter Plympton Smith Bernie Sanders Paul N. Poirier
Party Republican Independent Democratic
Popular vote 98,937 90,026 45,330
Percentage 41.20% 37.49% 18.88%
Smith      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
Sanders      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Poirier      30–40%      40–50%
Representative before election

Jim Jeffords
Republican

Elected Representative

Peter Plympton Smith
Republican

Incumbent Republican Representative Jim Jeffords chose to run for a seat in the United States Senate instead of seeking reelection to the United States House of Representatives. Former Lieutenant Governor Peter Plympton Smith won the Republican nomination against David Gates. State Representative Paul N. Poirier won the Democratic nomination against Peter Welch, James A. Guest and Dolores Sandoval. Sanders, the Mayor of Burlington, ran as an Independent candidate.

This is the most recent election in which a Republican was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Vermont's at-large congressional district.

Background

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From 1854 to 1958, the Vermont Republican Party won every statewide election in Vermont. William H. Meyer became the first member of the Democratic Party to win a statewide election in Vermont since 1853, when he won election to the United States House of Representatives from Vermont's at-large congressional district in the 1958 election.[1]

Jim Jeffords, a member of the Republican Party, was elected from Vermont's at-large district in the 1974 election and served for fourteen years.[2][3] In the 1986 election he faced no Democratic opponent and won with 89.12% of the popular vote against three other candidates.[4]

Republican primary

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Candidates

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Declined

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Campaign

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Senator Robert Stafford, who had been appointed to the United States Senate in 1971, announced on April 10, 1987, that he would not seek reelection in the 1988 election.[5] Representative Jeffords announced that he would seek the Republican nomination to succeed Stafford in the United States Senate instead of seeking reelection to the United States House of Representatives.[6]

Dennis Delaney, a member of the Vermont Senate, considered running in a congressional, gubernatorial, or lieutenant gubernatorial election.[7]

Smith had run in the 1986 gubernatorial election with the Republican nomination, but placed second to Democratic Governor Madeleine Kunin in the popular vote and in the Vermont General Assembly vote as no candidate had received more than 50% of the popular vote.[8][9] David Dillon served as Smith's campaign manager.[10]

Smith defeated Gates in the primary with 77.60% of the popular vote.[11]

Results

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1988 Vermont Republican congressional primary[11]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Peter Plympton Smith 37,230 77.60%
Republican David Gates 9,964 20.77%
Write-in 784 1.63%
Total votes 240,131 100.00%

Democratic primary

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Candidates

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Campaign

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On April 8, 1987, Paul N. Poirier, the Majority Leader of the Vermont House of Representatives, announced that he would seek the Democratic nomination for congressional election.[7][12]

Results

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Poirier defeated Welch, Guest, and Sandoval in the primary with 41.27% of the popular vote.[13]

1988 Vermont Democratic congressional primary[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Paul N. Poirier 11,024 33.98%
Democratic Peter Welch 10,758 33.16%
Democratic James A. Guest 8,301 25.58%
Democratic Dolores Sandoval 2,131 6.57%
Write-in 231 0.71%
Total votes 32,445 100.00%

Minor parties and other candidates

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Bernie Sanders

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Bernie Sanders won election as Mayor of Burlington, Vermont, in the 1981 mayoral election as an independent and won reelection in the 1983, 1985, and 1987 elections.[14][15][16][17] Sanders had run for governor in the 1986 election and had received 14.45% of the popular vote in the election and support from one member of the state legislature.[8][9] During the 1987 campaign Sanders stated that he would not seek reelection in 1989, stating that "eight years is enough and I think it is time for new leadership, which does exist within the coalition, to come up".[18] Sanders announced on March 10, 1988, that he would run in the election as an independent candidate.[19] Terry Bouricius served as Sanders' campaign treasurer.[20] During the campaign he received the support of the Rainbow Coalition.[21]

Other parties

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Jim Hedbor announced that he would run in the election with the Libertarian nomination on February 25, 1988, at a press conference in Montpelier, Vermont.[22] Hedbor won the Libertarian primary without opposition.[23]

Peter Diamondstone, who had unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the United States House of Representatives five times, announced on June 3, 1988, that he would run in the election with the nomination of the Liberty Union Party.[24] Diamondstone faced no opposition in the party's primary.[25] Diamondstone also sought the position of Vermont Attorney General during the 1988 election. During the campaign he accused his opponents of excluding the candidates of smaller parties from debates and forums.[10]

Morris Earle, who had unsuccessfully ran in five elections including for Vermont's at-large congressional district in 1986, announced that he would run and appeared on the Small Is Beautiful ballot line.[26]

1988 Vermont at-large congressional district Libertarian primary[23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Libertarian Jim Hedbor 80 84.21%
Libertarian Write-ins 15 15.79%
Total votes 95 100.00%
1988 Vermont at-large congressional district Liberty Union primary[25]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberty Union Peter Diamondstone 124 92.54%
Liberty Union Write-ins 10 7.46%
Total votes 134 100.00%

General election

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Campaign

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Three debates was held during the campaign which were attended by all of the candidates.[27][28][29][30] Two candidates forums were held with one on foreign policy and the other on elderly issues.[31][32] Smith accused Poirier of conducting a negative campaign while Poirier questioned Smith's statements that he had founded and served as president of the Community College of Vermont.[33]

A straw poll of the six candidates was conducted during one of the debates in which they were asked who they would support if they were not on the ballot. Smith and Earle stated that they would support Poirier, Sanders stated that he would support Earle, Poirier stated that he would support Sanders, and Diamondstone refused to vote.[34]

Smith won in the general election with 41.20% of the popular vote against Sanders' 37.49% and Poirier's 18.88%.[35][36] Smith won the popular vote in eight counties while Sanders won the popular vote in five counties.[37] Smith's victory was the last time that a member of the Republican Party was elected to the United States House of Representatives from Vermont.[38]

Polling

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Poll source Date(s) Sample size Margin of Error Smith Sanders Poirier Hedbor Diamondstone Earle Undecided
Terry Bouricius (internal Sanders poll)[39] April 11–12, 1988 424 voters ± 5% 32% 30% 7% 2% N/A N/A 29%
Rutland Herald
Barre Montpelier Times Argus
University of Vermont[40] 		October 6–9, 1988 502 registered voters ± 4.5% 40% 25% 17% 0% 0% 0% 16%

Endorsements

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Paul N. Poirier (D)

Organizations

Bernie Sanders (I)

Organizations

Peter Plympton Smith (R)

Organizations

Results

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1988 Vermont at-large congressional district election[35]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Peter Plympton Smith 98,937 41.20% −47.92%
Independent Bernie Sanders 90,026 37.49% +37.49%
Democratic Paul N. Poirier 45,330 18.88% +18.88%
Libertarian Jim Hedbor 3,110 1.30% +1.30%
Liberty Union Peter Diamondstone 1,455 0.61% −3.13%
Small is Beautiful Morris Earle 1,070 0.45% −2.65%
Independent Write-in 203 0.08% −0.05%
Total votes 240,131 100.00%

Results by county

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County Peter Plympton Smith Votes Bernie Sanders Votes Paul N. Poirier Votes Jim Hedbor Votes Peter Diamondstone Votes Morris Earle Votes Scattering Votes Total
Republican Independent Democratic Libertarian Liberty Union Small is Beautiful Write-in
Addison 39.53% 5,430 44.33% 6,089 12.57% 1,726 1.53% 210 0.39% 53 1.63% 224 0.02% 3 13,735
Bennington 48.33% 7,341 21.89% 3,325 26.78% 4,067 0.74% 113 1.35% 205 0.87% 132 0.03% 5 15,188
Caledonia 49.96% 5,552 35.95% 3,996 12.37% 1,375 1.01% 112 0.49% 55 1.01% 112 0.04% 5 11,114
Chittenden 38.09% 21,675 42.12% 23,968 17.61% 10,023 1.60% 908 0.39% 151 0.27% 114 0.12% 67 56,906
Essex 54.59% 1,272 23.86% 556 19.66% 458 0.47% 11 0.69% 16 0.73% 17 0.00% 0 2,330
Franklin 34.90% 5,140 39.53% 5,823 23.45% 3,454 1.61% 237 0.29% 43 0.17% 25 0.05% 7 14,729
Grand Isle 37.91% 1,094 38.57% 1,113 17.12% 494 6.03% 174 0.10% 3 0.28% 8 0.00% 0 2,886
Lamoille 42.78% 3,456 43.69% 3,529 11.09% 896 1.63% 132 0.41% 33 0.40% 32 0.00% 0 8,078
Orange 42.97% 4,776 38.20% 4,246 16.72% 1,858 1.44% 160 0.34% 38 0.30% 33 0.03% 3 11,114
Orleans 42.29% 4,026 38.90% 3,703 16.65% 1,585 1.27% 121 0.57% 54 0.27% 26 0.05% 5 9,520
Rutland 41.99% 10,838 40.35% 10,415 15.35% 3,961 1.30% 336 0.49% 127 0.42% 109 0.09% 24 25,810
Washington 38.31% 9,972 36.51% 9,503 23.44% 6,101 1.11% 289 0.34% 88 0.27% 69 0.03% 8 26,030
Windham 42.83% 7,782 28.58% 5,193 24.87% 4,519 0.51% 93 2.47% 448 0.68% 124 0.06% 11 18,170
Windsor 43.29% 10,583 35.05% 8,567 19.69% 4,813 0.87% 213 0.58% 141 0.44% 108 0.08% 19 24,444
Total 41.20% 98,937 37.49% 90,026 18.88% 45,330 1.29% 3,109 0.61% 1,455 0.47% 1,133 0.07% 157 240,147[37]

Results by municipality

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Municipality Peter Plympton Smith Votes Bernie Sanders Votes Paul N. Poirier Votes Jim Hedbor Votes Peter Diamondstone Votes Morris Earle Votes Scattering Votes Total Reference
Republican Independent Democratic Libertarian Liberty Union Small is Beautiful Write-in
Addison 56.94% 287 30.16% 152 7.14% 36 4.17% 21 0.20% 1 1.39% 7 0.00% 0 504 [36]
Albany 42.31% 143 43.20% 146 11.24% 38 2.37% 8 0.30% 1 0.59% 2 0.00% 0 338 [36]

References

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  1. ^ "Green Old Party". Seven Days. July 2, 2003. Archived from the original on June 8, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
  2. ^ "1974 election results" (PDF). Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. November 4, 1974. p. 38. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 24, 2021.
  3. ^ "Jim Jeffords, Who Altered Power in Senate, Dies at 80". The New York Times. August 18, 2014. Archived from the original on June 14, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
  4. ^ "1986 election results" (PDF). Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. November 4, 1986. p. 40. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 10, 2021.
  5. ^ "Stafford will not seek re-election". Brattleboro Reformer. April 11, 1987. p. 1. Archived from the original on June 14, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Jeffords takes aim at vacant Senate seat". Brattleboro Reformer. April 23, 1987. p. 1. Archived from the original on June 14, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ a b "Rep. Poirier Says He'll Run for U.S. House". The Burlington Free Press. April 9, 1987. p. 19. Archived from the original on June 14, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ a b "1986 Governor General Election". Secretary of State of Vermont. Archived from the original on June 20, 2021. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
  9. ^ a b "Kunin's Legislative Election First in 74 Years". The Burlington Free Press. January 9, 1987. p. 15. Archived from the original on June 20, 2021. Retrieved June 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ a b "Small parties are left out, Liberty candidate says". The Burlington Free Press. August 31, 1988. p. 22. Archived from the original on June 20, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ a b "1988 Republican primary". Secretary of State of Vermont. Archived from the original on June 14, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
  12. ^ "Rep. Poirer to run for U.S. House". Bennington Banner. April 9, 1987. p. 14. Archived from the original on June 14, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ a b "1988 Democratic primary". Secretary of State of Vermont. Archived from the original on June 14, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
  14. ^ "Recount Puts Sanders Up By 10 Votes". The Burlington Free Press. March 14, 1981. p. 4. Archived from the original on June 7, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "1983 election results". The Burlington Free Press. March 2, 1983. p. 17. Archived from the original on August 7, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "City Elections At-a-glance". The Burlington Free Press. March 6, 1985. p. 2. Archived from the original on December 5, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "1987 election results". The Burlington Free Press. March 4, 1985. p. 11. Archived from the original on December 5, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Sanders Proclaims '87 Race Will Be His Last Mayoral Bid". The Burlington Free Press. December 7, 1986. p. 21. Archived from the original on June 9, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Bernie Sanders to run for congressional seat". Brattleboro Reformer. March 11, 1988. p. 1. Archived from the original on June 20, 2021. Retrieved June 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "Progressives criticize plan for aid to Nicaraguan opposition". The Burlington Free Press. September 19, 1989. p. 14. Archived from the original on June 19, 2021. Retrieved June 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ a b "Rainbow Coalition backs Sanders". Bennington Banner. July 14, 1988. p. 6. Archived from the original on June 14, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ "Libertarian". Brattleboro Reformer. February 26, 1988. p. 1. Archived from the original on June 20, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ a b "1988 Libertarian primary". Secretary of State of Vermont. p. 9. Archived from the original on June 14, 2021.
  24. ^ "Sixth Bid From Diamonstone". Rutland Herald. June 4, 1988. p. 1. Archived from the original on June 14, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ a b "1988 Liberty Union primary". Secretary of State of Vermont. p. 9. Archived from the original on June 14, 2021.
  26. ^ "Earle seeks House seat". The Burlington Free Press. October 10, 1987. p. 15. Archived from the original on June 20, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ "Candidates attack ads and issues". The Burlington Free Press. September 29, 1988. p. 1. Archived from the original on June 20, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. ^ "Candidates for U.S. House hold first debate". The Burlington Free Press. September 29, 1988. p. 2. Archived from the original on June 20, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. ^ "How Media Treat Fringe Candidates". Rutland Herald. October 9, 1988. p. 18. Archived from the original on June 20, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  30. ^ "Manchester candidate returns campaign contribution". The Burlington Free Press. October 21, 1988. p. 11. Archived from the original on June 20, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  31. ^ "Candidates forum set in Weston". Brattleboro Reformer. October 13, 1988. p. 10. Archived from the original on June 20, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  32. ^ "State house Candidates Forum to discuss issues on elderly". Bennington Banner. October 18, 1988. p. 5. Archived from the original on June 20, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  33. ^ "Smith knocks Poirier on 'negative' campaigning". Brattleboro Reformer. September 27, 1988. p. 1. Archived from the original on June 20, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  34. ^ "Poirier wins grudging nod from candidates". The Burlington Free Press. October 23, 1988. p. 11. Archived from the original on June 20, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  35. ^ a b "1988 election results" (PDF). Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. November 8, 1988. p. 50. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 14, 2021.
  36. ^ a b c "1988 election results by municipality". Secretary of State of Vermont. Archived from the original on June 14, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
  37. ^ a b "Detailed 1988 election results". Secretary of State of Vermont. November 8, 1988. Archived from the original on June 14, 2021.
  38. ^ "Last Republican". The Burlington Free Press. December 8, 2019. p. A7. Archived from the original on June 18, 2021. Retrieved June 18, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  39. ^ "Sanders' Poll Puts Him Close Second". Rutland Herald. April 22, 1988. p. 11. Archived from the original on June 19, 2021. Retrieved June 19, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  40. ^ "Poll: Smith, Kunin, Jeffords lead". Bennington Banner. October 17, 1988. p. 1. Archived from the original on June 12, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  41. ^ "Vermont teachers' union backs Jeffords, Poirier". Brattleboro Reformer. June 14, 1988. p. 3. Archived from the original on June 14, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  42. ^ Lee, Michelle Ye Hee (January 21, 2016). "The role Sanders's anti-assault weapons stance played in his first major loss". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 21, 2016. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
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