The 2016 United States Senate election in Vermont was held November 8, 2016, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the state of Vermont, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. The primaries were held August 9.

Incumbent Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, the most senior member in the Senate, the longest-serving U.S. Senator from Vermont, and the first Democrat to be elected to a Senate seat in Vermont, won re-election to a record eighth term in office, the final term he would serve.

Democratic primary Candidates Declared Cris Ericson, perennial candidate, later ran as Marijuana Party nominee (also ran for governor) Patrick Leahy, incumbent U.S. Senator

Results

Republican primary Candidates Declared Scott Milne, businessman, candidate for the State House in 2006 and nominee for governor in 2014

Liberty Union primary This election was the last in which Diamondstone ran prior to his death in 2017. Diamondstone had run for Vermont statewide office in every biennial election since 1970.

Candidates Declared Peter Diamondstone, LU party co-founder, lawyer, and perennial candidate

Other candidacies Declared Jerry Trudell, independent candidate, environmental activist, candidate for House of Representatives in 2014 Cris Ericson, Marijuana Party perennial candidate, previously sought Democratic nomination

General election Candidates Patrick Leahy (D) Scott Milne (R) Jerry Trudell (I) Peter Diamondstone (LU) Cris Ericson (MJ)

Predictions Source Ranking As of The Cook Political Report November 2, 2016 Sabato's Crystal Ball November 7, 2016 Rothenberg Political Report November 3, 2016 Daily Kos November 8, 2016 Real Clear Politics November 7, 2016

Debates Dates Location Leahy Milne Ericson Trudell Diamondstone LinkOctober 18, 2016Burlington, VermontParticipantParticipantParticipantParticipantParticipantFull debate - C-SPAN

Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Margin oferror PatrickLeahy (D) ScottMilne (R) Other UndecidedSurveyMonkeySurveyMonkey November 1–7, 2016 454 ± 4.6% 75% 24% — 1%SurveyMonkeySurveyMonkey October 31 – November 6, 2016 447 ± 4.6% 75% 24% — 1%SurveyMonkeySurveyMonkey October 28 – November 3, 2016 449 ± 4.6% 69% 28% — 3%SurveyMonkeySurveyMonkey October 27 – November 2, 2016 424 ± 4.6% 65% 32% — 3%SurveyMonkeySurveyMonkey October 26 – November 1, 2016 428 ± 4.6% 64% 34% — 2%SurveyMonkeySurveyMonkey October 25–31, 2016 436 ± 4.6% 64% 33% — 3%Braun Research/WCAXBraun Research/WCAX October 19–22, 2016 603 ± 4.0% 64% 29% 3% 5%Castleton UniversityCastleton University September 29 – October 14, 2016 579 ± 3.9% 59% 22% 7% 10%Emerson CollegeEmerson College September 2–5, 2016 600 ± 3.9% 57% 34% 4% 5%Castleton UniversityCastleton University July 11–23, 2016 637 ± 3.9% 62% 23% 1% 11%

Results

By county

CountyPatrick LeahyDemocraticScott MilneRepublicanVarious candidatesOther parties#%#%#%Addison11,88262.44%6,29433.08%8534.38%Bennington10,24659.4%5,52732.04%1,4768.56%Caledonia7,34852.21%5,91041.99%8165.8%Chittenden57,33869.21%21,65426.14%3,8564.65%Essex1,32445.8%1,35646.9%2117.29%Franklin11,94855.63%8,52639.7%1,0044.67%Grand Isle2,36357.49%1,55637.86%1914.65%Lamoille7,90261.89%4,16332.61%7025.5%Orange8,07355.11%5,82339.75%7545.14%Orleans6,03350.39%5,19943.42%7416.19%Rutland15,40452.29%12,49242.41%1,5625.3%Washington19,62862.94%9,91431.79%1,6425.27%Windham14,72066.01%5,41024.26%2,1719.73%Windsor18,03460.52%9,81332.93%1,9506.55% Totals192,24361.26%103,63733.03%17,9295.71% Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Essex (largest town: Lunenburg)

References

External links Official campaign websites (Archived) Patrick Leahy (D) for Senate (MJ) for Senate Scott Milne (R) for Senate Jerry Trudell (I) for Senate

Debates Complete video of October 18, 2016 debate