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Vermont Auditor election, 2016
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August 9, 2016 |
November 8, 2016 |
Doug Hoffer (D) |
Doug Hoffer (D) |
Governor • Lt. Governor Attorney General • Secretary of State Treasurer Down Ballot Auditor |
May 26, 2016 |
August 4, 2016 |
August 9, 2016 |
November 8, 2016 |
November 23, 2016 |
January 5, 2017 |
Vermont held an election for auditor of accounts on November 8, 2016, with primary elections held on August 9. Incumbent Doug Hoffer (D) was re-elected, defeating Dan Feliciano (R) and Liberty Union Party candidate Marina Brown in the general election.
Overview
The Vermont auditor of accounts acts as a watchdog over other state agencies, performing internal audits and investigating fraud.
Going into the 2016 elections, Vermont was under Democratic trifecta control: Democrats have held the governorship and majorities in both chambers of the state legislature since Republican Governor Jim Douglas left office in 2011. The office of state auditor in Vermont has alternated party control over the past five decades, and incumbent Democrats have tended to win re-election by comfortable margins.
Republican and self-employed strategic policy analyst Doug Hoffer (R) was unopposed in the Republican primary election and will challenge incumbent Doug Hoffer (D), also unopposed in his party's primary, in the general election. Liberty Union Party candidate Marina Brown also filed to run for the seat. As of the end of the second quarter, Hoffer had reported about $2,000 in fundraising; he was the only candidate to report any fundraising activity.
Democrats were expected to retain control of the office of auditor of accounts in 2016. Hoffer won the general election on November 8, 2016.
Candidates
Doug Hoffer (D)
Incumbent auditor of accounts since 2013
Dan Feliciano (R)
Strategic policy consultant
Marina Brown (Liberty Union Party)
Unknown
Results
General election
Incumbent Doug Hoffer defeated Dan Feliciano and Marina Brown in the Vermont auditor election.
| Vermont Auditor, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Doug Hoffer Incumbent |
55.44% | 159,695 |
| Dan Feliciano | 39.31% | 113,231 |
| Marina Brown | 5.24% | 15,099 |
| Total Votes | 288,025 | |
| Source: Vermont Secretary of State | ||
Primary election results
Democratic primary election
Incumbent Doug Hoffer ran unopposed in the Democratic primary for auditor.
| Democratic primary for auditor, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Doug Hoffer Incumbent (unopposed) |
78.09% | 57,135 |
| Write-in votes | 21.91% | 16,027 |
| Total Votes (275 of 275 Precincts Reporting) | 73,162 | |
| Source: Vermont Secretary of State | ||
Republican primary election
Dan Feliciano ran unopposed in the Republican primary for auditor.
| Republican primary for auditor, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Dan Feliciano (unopposed) |
64.13% | 29,753 |
| Write-in votes | 35.87% | 16,641 |
| Total Votes (275 of 275 Precincts Reporting) | 46,394 | |
| Source: Vermont Secretary of State | ||
Context of the 2016 election
Primary elections
A primary election is an election in which voters select the candidate they believe should represent a political party in a general election. Primaries usually take place several months before 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. Vermont state law is unique in that it allows candidates to run in multiple primary elections at the same time, whether for multiple offices or for the same office under multiple parties. However, a candidate may only appear once on the general election ballot.[1][2][3]
Vermont's primary elections took place on August 9, 2016.
Incumbent Doug Hoffer (D)
Hoffer was first elected in 2010 against Republican Vince Illuzi by a margin of about six percent, also winning the endorsement of the Vermont Progressive Party. He had previously run for election in 2008 against incumbent Thomas M. Salmon (R), but lost by seven percentage points. In 2014, Hoffer ran unopposed for re-election in both the Democratic primary and general elections. He ran for a third two-year term in 2016.
Prior to his tenure as state auditor, Hoffer worked as a self-employed policy analyst.[4]
Party control in Vermont
Vermont is under Democratic trifecta control: Democrats have held the governorship and majorities in both chambers of the state legislature since Republican Governor Jim Douglas left office in 2011. The state's electoral votes have gone to the Democratic presidential candidate since 1992, though Vermont went to Republicans for the six presidential elections prior.[5] The state has been represented in the U.S. Senate by Democrat Patrick Leahy since 1975, and by Bernie Sanders since 2007, who won election as an independent candidate, but changed party affiliation in 2015 to seek the Democratic nomination for president.
The office of auditor of accounts in Vermont has alternated party control over the past five decades, though prior to the election of Jay H. Gordon (D) in 1964, Republicans had held the seat since 1853. Since then, Democrats have only held office for 20 of the past 32 years.[6]
However, Democratic challengers have still done well against incumbent Republican auditors in recent elections. In 2006, incumbent Randy Brock (R) won re-election against challenger Thomas M. Salmon (D) by 137 votes, a margin of just 0.1 percentage points. Salmon ran as dual-party candidate in 2008 on both the Republican and Democratic tickets and won the seat. Doug Hoffer (D) won the Democratic nomination in 2010 and lost to Salmon by less than seven percent. Conversely, incumbent Democratic auditors have tended to win re-election by comfortable margins. Hoffer, who won 2012's open election by six percent, ran unopposed in 2014 in both the Democratic primary and general elections. Democrat Elizabeth Ready won both election and re-election to the office in 2000 and 2002 by 11 percent. Her predecessor, Edward Flanagan, won five terms by margins of at least ten percent each election. [7]
Democrats were expected to retain control of the office of auditor of accounts in 2016.
Campaigns
Campaign finance
Note: If a candidate does not appear below, he or she did not meet or exceed minimum reporting requirements. Cash on hand figures were not available.
| Doug Hoffer Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| Second quarter | July 15, 2016 | $ | $2,150.00 | $(2,170.00) | $ | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $2,150 | $(2,170) | ||||||||
Endorsements
| Key endorsements | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doug Hoffer (D) | |||||||||
| The Professional Firefighters of Vermont | |||||||||
| Vermont Progressive Party | |||||||||
| What is a key endorsement? | |||||||||
Campaign media
Note: If a candidate is not listed below, Ballotpedia staff were unable to locate any campaign media for that candidate. Do you know of any? Tell us!
Democrats
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Republicans
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About the office
- See also: Vermont State Auditor
The Vermont auditor of accounts leads a staff of professional auditors in conducting financial and performance reviews of the state government and its agencies. Auditors act as watchdogs over other state agencies, performing internal audits and investigating fraud.
Incumbent
The incumbent was Doug Hoffer, a Democrat. First elected to the position on November 6, 2012, he succeeded former Republican auditor Thomas Salmon on January 10, 2013.
Authority
The Vermont state auditor's office is established in the Vermont Constitution. Chapter 2, Section 43 describes the officers to be elected in biennially.
Chapter 2, Section 43:
Biennial Elections
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Past elections
The governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer and auditor are elected every two years, on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November.
In Vermont, state executives are elected in even numbered years; 2016, 2018 and 2020 are all election years.
2016
- See also: Vermont Auditor election, 2016
The general election for auditor was held on November 8, 2016.
Incumbent Doug Hoffer defeated Dan Feliciano and Marina Brown in the Vermont auditor election.
| Vermont Auditor, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Doug Hoffer Incumbent |
55.44% | 159,695 |
| Dan Feliciano | 39.31% | 113,231 |
| Marina Brown | 5.24% | 15,099 |
| Total Votes | 288,025 | |
| Source: Vermont Secretary of State | ||
Full history
2014
Democratic incumbent Doug Hoffer won election without opposition on November 4, 2014.
To view the electoral history dating back to 2000 for the office of Vermont Auditor of Accounts, click [show] to expand the section. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2012
On November 2, 2010, Thomas M. Salmon won re-election to the office of Vermont Auditor of Accounts. He defeated Doug Hoffer (D) and Jerry Levy (Liberty Union) in the general election.
2008 On November 4, 2008, Thomas M. Salmon won re-election to the office of Vermont Auditor of Accounts. He defeated Martha Abbott (Progressive) and Jerry Levy (Liberty Union) in the general election.
2006 On November 7, 2006, Thomas M. Salmon won election to the office of Vermont Auditor of Accounts. He defeated Randy Brock (R), Martha Abbott (Progressive) and Jerry Levy (Liberty Union) in the general election.
2004 On November 2, 2004, Randy Brock won election to the office of Vermont Auditor of Accounts. He defeated Elizabeth M. Ready (D) and Jerry Levy (Liberty Union) in the general election.
2002 On November 5, 2002, Elizabeth M. Ready won re-election to the office of Vermont Auditor of Accounts. She defeated Bruce Hyde (R) and three third-party candidates in the general election.
2000 On November 7, 2000, Elizabeth M. Ready won election to the office of Vermont Auditor of Accounts. She defeated John S. Hall (R), Peter Baker (L) and Robin C. McKnight (Liberty Union) in the general election.
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Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Vermont Auditor election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
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Vermont government: |
Previous elections: |
Ballotpedia exclusives: |
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "State Primary Election Types," accessed January 6, 2014
- ↑ Fair Vote, "Congressional and Presidential Primaries: Open, Closed, Semi-Closed, and 'Top Two,'" accessed January 6, 2014
- ↑ Ballotpedia research conducted December 26, 2013, through January 3, 2014, researching and analyzing various state websites and codes.
- ↑ Hoffer for Auditor, "About Doug," accessed July 5, 2012
- ↑ National Archives and Records Administration, "Historical Election Results," accessed July 25, 2016
- ↑ Vermont Secretary of State, "Auditor of Accounts," accessed July 31, 2016
- ↑ Vermont Secretary of State, "Historical Election Database," accessed July 31, 2016
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