Ballotpedia's 2012 General Election Preview Articles: Vermont Congressional Seats
October 29, 2012
By Ballotpedia's Congressional team
| Vermont's Congressional Elections in 2012 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Senate Election? | U.S. House seats | Possible competitive races? | |
| Yes | 1 | 0 | |
MONTPELIER: Vermont: Vermont has one at-large U.S. House seat and one U.S. Senate seat on the ballot in 2012. For the at-large district, incumbent Peter Welch (D) is seeking re-election. He did not have any challenger in the primary, nor did his Republican competition Mark Donka. There are also three independent candidates seeking the House seat. Vermont, along with Wyoming, had the least competitive congressional primaries in 2012, with 0% of major party primaries having been contested (0 out of 2). The national average is 54.31%.
Currently, the Democratic Party holds both the Congressional seat and the two U.S. Senate seats (one, held by Bernie Sanders, is Independent but caucuses with Democrats).
In Vermont, the polling locations open at different times, from 5 AM to 10 AM but all polls close at 7 PM local time.[1]
See also: State Poll Opening and Closing Times (2012)
U.S. Senate
Incumbent Bernie Sanders is running for re-election and was first elected to the office in 2006. Sanders is registered as an independent candidate, and was unopposed in the primary election. Republican nominee John MacGovern defeated Brooke Paige in the primary to get the nomination. The primary was held on August 28, 2012. In addition to MacGovern, four Independent candidates are also running for the Senate seat. According to race ratings, Vermont's U.S. Senate race is considered a solid Democratic seat. Sanders is expected to easily win re-election.
| State | General Election Candidates | Incumbent | 2012 Winner | Partisan Switch? |
| Vermont Class 1 Senate seat |  Bernie Sanders John MacGovern Cris Ericson Laurel LaFramboise Peter Moss Pete Diamondstone |
Bernie Sanders | Pending | Pending |
U.S. House
Welch is also expected to easily win re-election. In 2010 he won re-election by more than 30 percentage points. Here is a complete list of U.S. House candidates appearing on the general election ballot in Vermont:
Candidates running by District
| District | General Election Candidates | Incumbent | 2012 Winner | Partisan Switch? |
| 1st | Peter Welch Mark Donka James Desrochers Andre LaFramboise Jane Newton |
Peter Welch | Pending | Pending |
Partisan breakdown by district
| Members of the U.S. House from Vermont -- Partisan Breakdown | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 2012 | After the 2012 Election | |
| Democratic Party | 1 | 1 | |
| Republican Party | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 1 | 1 | |
Comparison of new and old redistricting maps
| Congressional Redistricting Map
Vermont only has 1 at-large district and therefore did not undergo any changes after the 2010 census. For more information, view Redistricting in Vermont. |
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Articles
- U.S. Justice Department and Vermont reach agreement regarding absentee ballots October 22
- 2012 elections review: Uncompetitive elections in Vermont August 29
- 2012 elections review: State executive primaries in Vermont and Arizona set ballots for November August 29
- 2012 elections preview: Vermont voters to select winners in congressional, legislative primaries August 27
See also
- Ballotpedia's 2012 General Election Preview Articles: Vermont State Legislature
- Ballotpedia's 2012 General Election Preview Articles: Vermont State Executive Officials
- Ballotpedia:2012 general election preview articles
- November 6, 2012 election results
- United States Congressional election results, 2012
- United States House of Representatives elections in Vermont, 2012
- United States Senate elections in Vermont, 2012
- Vermont elections, 2012
- National contested primary average during the 2012 U.S. congressional elections
Footnotes
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