United States House of Representatives election in Vermont, 2016
2018 →
← 2014
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November 8, 2016 |
August 9, 2016 |
Peter Welch  |
Peter Welch |
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Cook Political Report: Solid D[1] Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe D[2] Rothenberg & Gonzales: Safe D[3] |
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Voters from Vermont's At-large Congressional District elected one member to the U.S. House of Representatives on November 8, 2016.
Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Democratic. Incumbent Peter Welch defeated Erica Clawson (Liberty Union) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Neither candidate faced a primary challenger.[4]
| Candidate Filing Deadline | Primary Election | General Election |
|---|---|---|
Primary: A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Vermont utilizes an open primary system, in which registered voters do not have to be members of a party to vote in that party's primary.[5][6]
For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.
Incumbent: The incumbent heading into the election was Peter Welch (D), who was first elected in 2006.
Vermont has a single At-Large Congressional District, which is made up of the entire state.
Partisan breakdown
Heading into the November 8 election, the Democratic Party held the one congressional seat from Vermont.
| Members of the U.S. House from Vermont -- Partisan Breakdown | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 2016 | After the 2016 Election | |
| Democratic Party | 1 | 1 | |
| Republican Party | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 1 | 1 | |
Election results
General election
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |  Peter Welch Incumbent |
89.5% | 264,414 | |
| Liberty Union | Erica Clawson | 10% | 29,410 | |
| N/A | Write-in | 0.5% | 1,510 | |
| Total Votes | 295,334 | |||
| Source: Vermont Secretary of State | ||||
Margin of victory
The margin of victory in Vermont's U.S. House race was 79.6 percent. This was calculated by examining the percentage difference between the two candidates who received the most votes.
Candidates
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General election candidates: Peter Welch  Erica Clawson (Liberty Union) |
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Primary candidates:[7] |
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Democratic |
Republican |
Important dates and deadlines
- See also: Vermont elections, 2016
The calendar below lists important dates for political candidates in Vermont in 2016.
| Dates and requirements for candidates in 2016 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Deadline | Event type | Event description | |
| March 15, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
| May 26, 2016 | Ballot access | Filing deadline for major party candidates; deadline for minor parties to submit nomination forms for their candidates | |
| July 15, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
| August 4, 2016 | Ballot access | Filing deadline for independent candidates | |
| August 9, 2016 | Election date | Primary election | |
| August 15, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
| September 1, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
| October 1, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
| October 15, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
| November 4, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
| November 8, 2016 | Election date | General election | |
| November 22, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
| December 15, 2016 | Campaign finance | Campaign finance report due | |
| Sources: Vermont Secretary of State, "Candidates," accessed July 9, 2015 Vermont Secretary of State, "Guide to Vermont's Campaign Finance Law," accessed July 9, 2015 | |||
District history
2014
Incumbent Peter Welch won re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. He defeated Mark Donka (R), Cris Ericson (I), Liberty Union Party candidate Matthew Andrews, Energy Independence Party candidate Jerry Trudell and Randall Meyer (I) in the general election.
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Peter Welch Incumbent |
64.4% | 123,349 | |
| Republican | Mark Donka | 31% | 59,432 | |
| Independent | Cris Ericson | 1.4% | 2,750 | |
| Liberty Union Party | Matthew Andrews | 1.1% | 2,071 | |
| Independent | Randall Meyer | 0.9% | 1,685 | |
| Energy Independence Party | Jerry Trudell | 1.1% | 2,024 | |
| N/A | Write-in | 0.1% | 193 | |
| Total Votes | 191,504 | |||
| Source: Vermont Secretary of State | ||||
2012
On November 6, 2012, Peter Welch (D) won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Mark Donka (R), James Desrochers (I), Andre LaFramboise (VoteKISS) and Jane Newton (Liberty Union Party) in the general election.
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Peter Welch Incumbent |
72% | 208,600 | |
| Republican | Mark Donka | 23.3% | 67,543 | |
| Independent | James Desrochers | 2.9% | 8,302 | |
| Third | Andre LaFramboise | 0.4% | 1,153 | |
| Third | Jane Newton | 1.4% | 4,065 | |
| Total Votes | 289,663 | |||
| Source: Vermont Board of Elections "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" | ||||
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "2016 House Race Ratings for July 11, 2016," accessed July 19, 2016
- ↑ Sabato's Crystal Ball, "2016 House," accessed July 18, 2016
- ↑ Rothenberg & Gonzales Political Report, "House Ratings," accessed July 19, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Vermont Secretary of State, "Candidates," accessed May 27, 2016
- ↑ NCSL,"State Primary Election Types," accessed October 4, 2024
- ↑ Vermont Secretary of State,"Party Organization," accessed October 4, 2024
- ↑ Candidates are listed by party and alphabetically within each party.
For information about public policy issues in the 2016 elections, see: Public policy in the 2016 elections!
