Senate

	2010 Legislative Election Results
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Other 2010 Election information
	State legislative election results • Statewide elections, 2010 • State Senate elections • State House elections

	2010 Legislative Election Results
State-by-State Analysis
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Other 2010 Election information
	State legislative election results • Statewide elections, 2010 • State Senate elections • State House elections

	2010 Legislative Election Results
State-by-State Analysis
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	State legislative election results • Statewide elections, 2010 • State Senate elections • State House elections

Edits not complete yet, as defeated categories have not been added.

Vermont State Senate Election Results

This page contains macro-level election results and analysis for the Vermont State Senate. For results in individual contests see our Vermont State Senate elections, 2010 page. The following is a breakdown of the state senate before and after the election:

Vermont State Senate
Party		As of November 1, 2010	After the 2010 Election
	Democratic Party	23	22
	Republican Party	7	8
Total		30	30

What You'll See on This Page

This page displays the following lists of candidates

Incumbents who ran on November 2
Incumbents who were defeated
Challengers who defeated an incumbent
Newly elected senators
List of all winners
Unopposed candidates
Third party candidates

State Senate Overview:

There were 25 incumbents who ran in the November 2 general election. 1 incumbent lost, and thus 24 incumbents were re-elected to the Vermont State Senate.

There will be 6 new senators sworn-in, 4 Democratic candidates and 2 Republicans.

Of the 30 seats up for election, 22 were won by Democrats and 8 by Republicans.

1 candidate was unopposed, Democratic incumbent Richard Mazza.

Only 14 candidates ran as an independent or third party candidate in the general election.

Incumbency Analysis

Of the 1,167 state senate seats up for election in 2010, incumbents ran for 894 (76.6%) of them. Of these 894, 94 lost their re-election bids, 89 Democrats and 5 Republicans. In Vermont, 5 incumbent senators did not run for re-election on the November 2 ballot, while 25 incumbents (83.3%) ran for re-election. There was 1 incumbent defeated, Matthew Choate (D).

Incumbents who ran on November 2

Claire Ayer, first elected to the Vermont State Senate in 2002. Ayer won re-election in 2010.

The following is a list of all of the incumbents who ran on the November 2 general election ballot:

Incumbents defeated

Matthew Choate, first elected to the Vermont State Senate in 2006. Kauffman was defeated in her re-election bid in 2010.

The following is a list of incumbents defeated on November 2:

Candidate	Party	District
Matthew Choate

Challengers who beat an incumbent

The following is a list of challengers who defeated an incumbent on November 2:

Candidate	Party	District
Joe Benning

New State Senators and General Election Winners

388 new senators were elected across the country. This includes challengers who defeated incumbents as well as candidates who won open seats. Of these 388, 278 were Republicans and 110 were Democrats. In Vermont, 6 new senators will be sworn-in, 4 Democrats and 2 Republicans. In total, Vermont elected 30 senators, 8 Republicans and 22 Democrats.

Newly elected senators

The following is the newly-elected members of the Vermont State Senate:

Democratic

Republican

Robert Starr (D) won re-election to the Vermont State Senate in 2010. He was first elected in 2004.

Open Seat Winners

The following is a list of candidates who won election in seats where no incumbent was running:

Democratic

Republican

Richard Westman

Candidates who won election

The following is a list of all candidates elected to the Vermont State Senate:

Democratic

Vincent Illuzzi was first elected to the senate in 1980. He was re-elected in 2010.

Republican

Competitiveness

Jim Honeyford was one of 4 unopposed Republican senate candidates in 1998. He was first elected in 2006.

Across the nation, 1,167 state senate seats were up for election in 2010. 1,143 of those seats were partisan seats (24 seats were up for election in Nebraska's nonpartisan unicameral legislature). In 320 (28.0%) of these state senate contests, there was a major party candidate with no major party opposition. In Vermont, 1 candidates (3.3% of seats) faced no major party opposition -- Democratic incumbent Richard Mazza.

Unopposed candidates in general election

The following candidates did not face major party competition:

Democratic

Richard Mazza

Republican

All Republican candidates faced a Democratic opponent.

Ballot Access

Across the nation, 140 independent or third party candidates ran for state senate. In Vermont, 14 (20.9%) of the 67 senate candidates ran as an independent or third party candidate. None won election in 2010. Two Democrats, Timothy Ashe and Anthony Pollina, who won election were also members of the Progressive Party.

Third party candidates

The following is a list of third party and independent candidates who ran in 2010:

House

Vermont State House Election Results

This page contains macro-level election results and analysis for the Vermont House of Representatives. For results in individual contests, see our Vermont House of Representatives elections, 2010. The following is a breakdown of the state house before and after the election:

Vermont House of Representatives
Party		As of November 1, 2010	After the 2010 Election
	Democratic Party	94	94
	Republican Party	48	48
	Vermont Progressive Party	5	5
	Independent	3	3
Total		150	150

What You'll See on This Page

This page displays the following lists of candidates

Incumbents who ran on November 2
Incumbents who were defeated
Challengers who defeated an incumbent
Newly elected senators
List of all winners
Unopposed candidates
Third party candidates

State House Overview:

There were 133 incumbents who ran in the November 2 general election. Only 5 incumbents lost, and thus 128 incumbents were re-elected to the Vermont House of Representatives.

2 Republican incumbents lost in the general election, while 3 incumbent Democratic incumbent lost.

Note: While 5 incumbents lost, 6 challengers defeated an incumbent because Vermont has multi-member districts. Thus, in one district, two challengers were elected, and each had to defeat the one incumbent who was running.

There will be 21 new representatives sworn-in. Of those 21, 12 are Democrats and 9 are Republicans

Of the 150 seats up for election, 94 were won by Democrats, 48 by Republicans, 5 by Vermont Progressives and 3 by Independents.

63 candidates were unopposed, 39 Democrats, 22 Republicans, and 2 Progressives.

Only 18 candidates ran as an independent or third party candidate in the general election.

Incumbency Analysis

Of the 4,958 state house seats up for election, incumbents ran in the general election for 4,091 (79.5%) of them. Of these 4,091 incumbents, 413 lost their re-election bids, 403 Democrats and 10 Republicans. In Vermont, 128 (85.3%) incumbents ran for re-election. Of these 128, 5 incumbent representatives were defeated. Of those 5 incumbents who lost, 3 are Democrats and 2 are Republicans.

Incumbents who ran on November 2

The following is a list of all of the incumbents who ran on the November 2 general election ballot:

Norm Johnson (R) was first elected to the house in 2008. He was re-elected in 2010.

Incumbents defeated

Geoff Simpson (D) was first elected to the house in 2000. He was defeated by Mark Hargrove (R) in the general election.

The following is a list of incumbents defeated on November 2:

Candidate	Party	District
John Rodgers (Vermont)
Joseph Krawczyk, Jr.
Jeff Young (Vermont)
Megan Smith (Vermont)
David Ainsworth
Frank Davis (Vermont House of Representatives Orleans-1 District)

Challengers who beat an incumbent

The following is a list of challengers who defeated an incumbent on November 2:

Candidate	Party	District
Brian Campion
Dustin Degree
Sam Young
Vicki Strong
James Eckhardt
Sarah Buxton

New Representatives and General Election Winners

1,345 new representatives were elected across the country. This includes challengers who defeated incumbents as well as candidates who won open seats. Of these 1,345, 988 were Republicans and 357 were Democrats. In Vermont, 21 new representatives will be sworn-in. Of those 21, 12 are Democrats and 9 are Republicans. In the 15 open seat contests, Republicans won 6 and Democrats 9. In total, Vermont elected 150 representatives, 94 Democrats, 48 Republicans, 5 Progressives, and 2 independents.

Newly elected representatives

The following are the newly-elected members of the Vermont House of Representatives:

Democratic

Republican

Open Seat Winners

The following is a list of candidates who won election in seats where no incumbent was running:

Democratic

Republican

Candidates who won election

The following is a list of all candidates elected to the Vermont House of Representatives:

Democratic

Ross Hunter was first elected to the house in 2002. He won re-election in 2010.

Republican

Susan Fagan was first elected to the house in 2009. She won re-election in 2010.

Other

Competitiveness

Across the nation, 4,958 state house seats were up for election in 2010. In 1,680 (33.9%) of these state house contests, there was a major party candidate with no major party opposition. In Vermont, 63 candidates (42.0% of all seats) faced no major party opposition. Of these 63, 39 were Democrats, 22 were Republicans, and 2 were Progressives.

Unopposed candidates in general election

The following candidates did not face major party competition:

Democratic

Republican

Other

Ballot Access

In Vermont, 18 (7.5%) of the 241 house candidates ran as independent or third party candidates. 8 won election in 2010.

Third party candidates

The following is a list of third party and independent candidates who ran in 2010:

Tom Vickery

National Partisan Trends

The following tables detail the partisan breakdown of national election results. These results provide context for Republican gains in Vermont.

Incumbents who were defeated in the general election

Across the nation, only 15 Republican incumbents were defeated while 492 Democratic incumbents were defeated. In total, 507 (10.4%) of the 4,872 incumbents running in the general election were defeated. The following is a breakdown of incumbent defeats in the 2010 general election:

The following is the breakdown of incumbents who lost.

Incumbents defeated in 2010 legislative elections
Party	Senate	House	Total
Democratic	89	403	492
Republican	5	10	15
TOTALS	94	413	507

Total new legislators elected

In total, 1,733 (28.3%) new legislators were elected in 2010. Of these 1,733, 1,266 (73.1%) are Republicans and 467 (26.9%) are Democrats.

The following is the breakdown of new legislators.

New Legislators after the 2010 legislative elections
Party	Senate	House	Total
Democratic	110	357	467
Republican	278	988	1,266
TOTALS	388	1,345	1,733

Winners of Open Seats

Open seats contests made up 1,178 (19.2%) of the 6,125 seats on November 2. Of these 1,178 open seats, Republicans won 729 (61.9%) while Democrats won 449 (38.1%). Going into the election, the number of open seats formerly held by each party was quite similar. Estimates prior to the election suggest that approximately 52% of the open seats were previously held by Republicans and 48% were held by Democrats.

The following is the breakdown of open seat winners.

Open Seat Winners in 2010 legislative elections
Party	Senate	House	Total
Democratic	108	341	449
Republican	191	538	729
TOTALS	299	879	1,178

Impact on legislative majorities

See also: Partisan balance of state legislatures

Heading into the November 2 elections, the Democratic Party held a commanding lead in state houses in the 88 legislative chambers that held elections in 2010. 52 of the 88 chambers, or nearly 60% of them, had a Democratic majority, while only 33 of them had a Republican majority. (Two chambers had an exactly equal number of Democrats and Republicans and one is officially nonpartisan.) The following is a partisan breakdown of state legislatures prior to the November 2 election:

Partisan breakdown before the November 2010 Election
Legislative chamber
State senates	23	18	1	1
State houses	29	15	1	-
Totals:	52	33	2	1

As a result of the election, Republicans picked up 20 legislative chambers while Democrats lost 20. Republicans won 53 total chambers on November 2, while Democrats won only 32. The following is a partisan breakdown of state legislatures after the November 2 election:

Partisan breakdown after the November 2010 Election
Legislative chamber
State senates	16	25	1	1
State houses	16	28	1	0
Totals:	32	53	2	1

Another way to examine the data is to gauge how many chambers had gains for the Democratic Party versus the Republican Party. Using this variable, the wide-sweeping Republican victory is further amplified. Democrats bolstered their majorities in only 7 of 88 (7.96%) state chambers. These legislatures are as follows:

State legislative chambers where Democrats gained seats on November 2
State	Chamber	Number of seats gained by Democrats
California	Assembly	+ 2
Delaware	House	+ 2
Hawaii	Senate	+ 1
Maryland	Senate	+ 2
Massachusetts	Senate	+ 1
Missouri	Senate	+ 1
West Virginia	Senate	+ 1

In 7 chambers, the GOP kept their current number of seats. In one chamber, the California State Assembly, both major parties gained seats by filling 2 vacancies and defeating an incumbent independent. Overall, the Republican Party picked up legislative seats in 75 (85.2%) of the 88 legislative chambers that held elections on November 2.

Impact on State Politics

Along with the GOP capture of the U.S. House of Representatives, state Republicans gained trifectas (control of the governorship, house, and senate) in 12 states. The following is a breakdown of trifectas across the nation, before and after the 2010 election:

Trifectas before and after the 2010 Election
Party	Before election	U.S. House seats	After election	U.S. House seats	Gain/loss states	Gain/loss congressional seats
Democratic	16	131	11	115	-5	-16
Republican	8	66	20	198	+12	+132

Before the election, 131 U.S House seats were in states with Democratic trifectas, while 66 districts were in states with Republican trifectas. After the election, Republicans trifectas control redistricting for 198 U.S. House seats while Democrats control only 115. Additionally, California, the strongest Democratic trifecta with 53 U.S. House representatives, passed propositions that take redistricting power away from state government.

Vermont

Vermont 2010 legislative election results

Senate

Vermont State Senate Election Results

What You'll See on This Page

State Senate Overview:

Incumbency Analysis

Incumbents who ran on November 2

Incumbents defeated

Challengers who beat an incumbent

New State Senators and General Election Winners

Newly elected senators

Democratic

Republican

Open Seat Winners

Democratic

Republican

Candidates who won election

Democratic

Republican

Competitiveness

Unopposed candidates in general election

Democratic

Republican

Ballot Access

Third party candidates

House

Vermont State House Election Results

What You'll See on This Page

State House Overview:

Incumbency Analysis

Incumbents who ran on November 2

Incumbents defeated

Challengers who beat an incumbent

New Representatives and General Election Winners

Newly elected representatives

Democratic

Republican

Open Seat Winners

Democratic

Republican

Candidates who won election

Democratic

Republican

Other

Competitiveness

Unopposed candidates in general election

Democratic

Republican

Other

Ballot Access

Third party candidates

National Partisan Trends

National Partisan Trends

Incumbents who were defeated in the general election

Total new legislators elected

Winners of Open Seats

Impact on legislative majorities

Impact on State Politics

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