2000 United States Senate election in Vermont

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.

2000 United States Senate election in Vermont

← 1994 November 7, 2000 2006 →

Nominee Jim Jeffords Ed Flanagan Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 189,133 73,352 Percentage 65.56% 25.43%

County results Municipality results Jeffords:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

U.S. senator before election Jim Jeffords Republican Elected U.S. Senator Jim Jeffords Republican

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

• Ed Flanagan, Vermont Auditor of Accounts
• Jan Backus, former Vermont State Senator and 1994 Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate

Declined

• Howard Dean, Governor of Vermont^[1]

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

• Jim Jeffords, incumbent U.S. Senator
• Rick Hubbard

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

• Bernie Sanders, U.S. Representative from VT-AL; former mayor of Burlington^[4]

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

• Sierra Club^[7]
• U.S. Chamber of Commerce^[8]

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	{{{swing}}}

See also

• 2000 United States Senate elections

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. Delaney, Bill (November 2, 2000). "Gay Senate candidate an underdog amid Vermont gay union backlash". CNN. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
6. 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" (Press release). U.S. Chamber of Commerce. May 7, 2000. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
9. "Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives".