Vermont State Senate elections, 2016

Vermont 2016 elections

* * *

Presidential • U.S. Senate • U.S. House • Governor • Lt. Gov • Attorney General • Secretary of State • State executive offices • State Senate • State House • Local judges • State ballot measures • Candidate ballot access |

|
|

2016 Vermont
Senate Elections

Primary| August 9, 2016
General| November 8, 2016
2016 Election Results

2014・2012・2010・2008
2006・2004・2002・2000
2016 Elections

Choose a chamber below:
Select an election Alaska Senate Alaska House Arizona Senate Arizona House Arkansas Senate Arkansas House California Senate California Assembly Colorado Senate Colorado House Connecticut Senate Connecticut House Delaware Senate Delaware House Florida Senate Florida House Georgia Senate Georgia House Hawaii Senate Hawaii House Idaho Senate Idaho House Illinois Senate Illinois House Indiana Senate Indiana House Iowa Senate Iowa House Kansas Senate Kansas House Kentucky Senate Kentucky House Maine Senate Maine House Massachusetts Senate Massachusetts House Michigan House Minnesota Senate Minnesota House Missouri Senate Missouri House Montana Senate Montana House Nebraska Senate Nevada Senate Nevada Assembly New Hampshire Senate New Hampshire House New Mexico Senate New Mexico House New York Senate New York Assembly North Carolina Senate North Carolina House North Dakota Senate North Dakota House Ohio Senate Ohio House Oklahoma Senate Oklahoma House Oregon Senate Oregon House Pennsylvania Senate Pennsylvania House Rhode Island Senate Rhode Island House South Carolina Senate South Carolina House South Dakota Senate South Dakota House Tennessee Senate Tennessee House Texas Senate Texas House Utah Senate Utah House Vermont Senate Vermont House Washington Senate Washington House West Virginia Senate West Virginia House Wisconsin Senate Wisconsin Assembly Wyoming Senate Wyoming House

All 30 seats in the Vermont State Senate were up for election in 2016. Democrats gained one seat in the November 2016 general election..

HIGHLIGHTS

* Democrats fielded unopposed candidates in 13 seats, while Republicans had three unchallenged candidates.

* Three incumbents—two Democrats and one Republican—did not run for re-election in 2016.

* If Republicans were to make any gains, it would have been in the 14 seats that had general election competition between major party candidates.

* Democrats held a state government trifecta heading into the election.

## Contents

* 1 Introduction
* 1.1 Majority control
* 2 Incumbents retiring
* 3 List of candidates
* 4 General election
* 5 Primary election
* 5.1 Important dates and deadlines
* 5.2 Competitiveness
* 5.2.1 Candidates unopposed by a major party
* 5.3 Races we watched
* 5.3.1 Primary contests
* 5.3.2 Primary challenges
* 5.3.3 Retired incumbents
* 5.3.4 Results from 2014
* 5.3.5 Historical context
* 5.4 Campaign contributions
* 5.4.1 State comparison
* 5.5 Qualifications
* 5.6 See also
* 5.7 Footnotes

## Introduction[edit]

Elections for the Vermont State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election took place on August 9, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was May 26, 2016.

### Majority control[edit]

See also: Partisan composition of state senates

Heading into the election, the Democratic Party held the majority in the Vermont State Senate:

Vermont State Senate

Party  | As of November 7, 2016  | After November 8, 2016
| Democratic Party | 19 | 21
| Republican Party | 9  | 7
| Vermont Progressive Party | 2  | 2
Total |  30 |  30

## Incumbents retiring[edit]

Three incumbents did not run for re-election in 2016. Those incumbents were:

Name  | Party  | Current Office

|
|

David Zuckerman |  Democratic | Chittenden
Helen Riehle |  Republican | Chittenden
John Campbell |  Democratic | Windsor

## List of candidates[edit]

# General election[edit]

2016 Vermont Senate general election candidates

District | No. of seats |  Democrat |  Republican | Other
Addison | 2 | Claire Ayer (I): 11,988 a
Christopher Bray (I): 9,545 a | Peter Briggs: 7,330
Lynn Dike: 5,963 |
Bennington | 2 | Brian Campion (I): 11,507 a
Richard Sears (I): 13,333 a | No candidate |
Caledonia | 2 | Jane Kitchel (I): 12,383 a | Joe Benning (I): 10,908 a | Galen Dively III: 2,443 (Marijuana)
Chittenden | 6 | Debbie Ingram: 40,467 a
Virginia Lyons (I): 41,223 a
Timothy Ashe (I): 44,297 a
Michael Sirotkin (I): 37,585 a
Philip Baruth (I): 37,453 a | John Gifford: 25,346 | Tom Licata: 17,021 (Ind.)
Christopher Pearson: 31,192 (Progressive-Democrat) a
Essex-Orleans | 2 | Robert Starr (I): 9,381 a
John Rodgers (I): 8,601 a | Marcia Horne: 5,199
Eric Collins: 4,637 |
Franklin | 2 | Sara Branon Kittell: 8,537
Denise Smith: 6,213 | Carolyn Whitney Branagan: 9,426 a
Dustin Degree (I): 10,546 a |
Grand Isle | 1 | Richard Mazza (I): 9,771 a | No candidate |
Lamoille | 1 | George Gay: 5,492 | Richard Westman (I): 6,219 a |
Orange | 1 | Mark MacDonald (I): 5,723 a | Stephen Webster: 4,409 |
Rutland | 3 | Korrine Rodrigue: 9,212
Scott Garren: 6,428
Cheryl Hooker: 10,641 | Kevin Mullin (I): 14,191 a
Brian Collamore (I): 13,680 a
Margaret "Peg" Flory (I): 14,782 a | Richard Lenchus: 2,067 (Ind.)
Washington | 3 | Francis Brooks: 13,689 a
Ann Cummings (I): 17,013 a | William Doyle (I): 13,498
Mike Doyle: 8,236
Josh Fitzhugh: 8,233 | Anthony Pollina: 15,212 (Progressive-Democrat) (I) a
Windham | 2 | Becca Balint (I): 11,174 a
Jeanette White (I): 11,451 a | No candidate | Aaron Diamondstone: 1,437 (Liberty Union)
Jerry Levy: 1,529 (Liberty Union)
David Schoales: 5,610 (Ind.)
Windsor | 3 | Alice Nitka (I): 14,430 a
Alison Clarkson: 15,436 a
Richard McCormack (I): 13,905 a | Randy Gray: 8,148
Mark Donka: 9,836
Jack Williams: 7,460 | Scott Woodward: 5,198 (Ind.)
|  |  |  |
Notes:

* An (I) denotes an incumbent.
* Vermont is one of ten states that use multi-member districts, or districts with more than one member in its legislative chamber.
* Candidate lists can change frequently throughout an election season. Ballotpedia staff update this list monthly. To suggest changes, click here to email our State Legislature Project.

# Primary election[edit]

2016 Vermont Senate primary candidates

District | No. of seats |  Democrat |  Republican | Other
Addison | 2 | Claire Ayer (I) a
Christopher Bray (I) a | Peter Briggs a
Lynn Dike a |
Bennington | 2 | Brian Campion (I) a
Richard Sears (I) a | No candidate |
Caledonia | 2 | Jane Kitchel (I) a | Joe Benning (I) a |
Chittenden | 6 | Faisal Gill: 6,645
Debbie Ingram: 7,386 a
Virginia Lyons: 12,185 (I) a
Louis Meyers: 2,384
Timothy Ashe: 13,175 (I) a
Dawn Ellis: 6,488
Christopher Pearson: 8,325 a
David Scherr: 7,009
Michael Sirotkin: 10,471 (I) a
Philip Baruth: 9,238 (I) a
Nick Cook: 2,830 | John Gifford a |
Essex-Orleans | 2 | Robert Starr: 1,643 (I) a
Ron Horton: 712
John Rodgers: 1,634 (I) a | Marcia Horne a
Eric Collins a |
Franklin | 2 | Sara Branon Kittell a
Denise Smith a | Carolyn Whitney Branagan: 2,570 a
Norman McAllister: 814 (I)
Dustin Degree: 2,856 (I) a |
Grand Isle | 1 | Richard Mazza (I) a | No candidate |
Lamoille | 1 | Jerry Colby: 837
George Gay: 1,460 a | Richard Westman (I) a |
Orange | 1 | Mark MacDonald (I) a | Stephen Webster a |
Rutland | 3 | Korrine Rodrigue a | Kevin Mullin (I) a
Brian Collamore (I) a
Margaret "Peg" Flory (I) a |
Washington | 3 | Francis Brooks: 3,709 a
Ann Cummings: 6,028 (I) a
Ashley Hill: 3,708
Anthony Pollina: 6,083 (I) a | William Doyle (I) a |
Windham | 2 | Becca Balint (I) a
Jeanette White (I) a | No candidate |
Windsor | 3 | Alice Nitka: 4,448 (I) a
Alison Clarkson: 5,145 a
Richard McCormack: 5,381 (I) a
Conor Kennedy: 3,720 | Randy Gray a
Mark Donka a
Jack Williams a |
|  |  |  |
Notes:

* An (I) denotes an incumbent.
* Vermont is one of ten states that use multi-member districts, or districts with more than one member in its legislative chamber.
* Candidate lists can change frequently throughout an election season. Ballotpedia staff update this list monthly. To suggest changes, click here to email our State Legislature Project.

## Important dates and deadlines[edit]

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

## Competitiveness[edit]

### Candidates unopposed by a major party[edit]

In 16 of the 30 seats up for election in 2016, there was only one major party candidate running for election. A total of 13 Democrats and three Republicans were guaranteed election barring unforeseen circumstances.

Two major party candidates faced off in the general election in 14 (47.0%) of the 30 seats up for election.

## Races we watched[edit]

Ballotpedia identified three notable Vermont state races in 2016, two of which were state Senate contests.

Click here to read more about Ballotpedia's coverage of notable Vermont races »

### Primary contests[edit]

Chittenden State Senate District (D)

Eleven Democratic candidates competed for six seats.
☑ Timothy Ashe (Inc.) ☑ Phil Baruth (Inc.) ☑ Virginia Lyons (Inc.) ☑ Michael Sirotkin (Inc.) ☑ Debbie Ingram ☑ Christopher Pearson ☐ Nick Cook ☐ Dawn Ellis ☐ Faisal Gill ☐ Louis Meyers ☐ David Scherr

Franklin State Senate District (R)

Three Republican candidates competed for two seats.
☑ Dustin Degree (Inc.) ☐ Norman McAllister (Inc.) ☑ Carolyn Whitney Branagan

### Primary challenges[edit]

Twelve incumbents faced primary competition on August 9. Three incumbents did not seek re-election and another 15 incumbents advanced past the primary without opposition. Incumbent Norman McAllister (R) was defeated in the primary.

### Retired incumbents[edit]

Three incumbent senators did not run for re-election, while 27 incumbents ran for re-election. The retiring incumbents, two Democrats and one Republican, can be found above.

### Results from 2014[edit]

See also: 2014 state legislative elections analyzed using a Competitiveness Index

There were 6,057 seats in 87 chambers with elections in 2014. All three aspects of Ballotpedia's Competitiveness Index—the number of open seats, incumbents facing primary opposition, and general elections between partisan candidates—showed poor results compared to the prior election cycle. States with elections in 2014 held fewer general elections between partisan candidates. Additionally, fewer incumbents faced primary opposition and more incumbents ran for re-election than in recent years.

Since 2010, when the Competitiveness Index was established, there had not been an even-year election cycle to do statistically worse in any of the three categories. See the following chart for a breakdown of those scores between each year.

Overall Competitiveness

| 2010  | 2012  | 2014
Competitiveness Index  | 36.2  | 35.8  | 31.4
% Open Seats  | 18.6%  | 21.2%  | 17.0%
% Incumbent with primary challenge  | 22.7%  | 24.6%  | 20.1%
% Candidates with major party opposition  | 67.3%  | 61.7%  | 57.0%

The following table details Vermont's rates for open seats, incumbents that faced primary challenges and major party competition in the 2014 general election.

Vermont Legislature 2014 Competitiveness

% Open Seats  | % Incumbent with primary challenge  | % Candidates with major party opposition  | Competitiveness Index  | Overall rank
14.4%  | 4.6%  | 33.9%  | 17.6  | 44

### Historical context[edit]

See also: Competitiveness in State Legislative Elections: 1972-2014

Uncontested elections: In 2014, 32.8 percent of Americans lived in states with an uncontested state senate election. Similarly, 40.4 percent of Americans lived in states with uncontested house elections. Primary elections were uncontested even more frequently, with 61 percent of people living in states with no contested primaries. Uncontested elections often occur in locations that are so politically one-sided that the result of an election would be a foregone conclusion regardless of whether it was contested or not.

Open seats: In most cases, an incumbent will run for re-election, which decreases the number of open seats available. In 2014, 83 percent of the 6,057 seats up for election saw the incumbent running for re-election. The states that impose term limits on their legislatures typically see a higher percentage of open seats in a given year because a portion of incumbents in each election are forced to leave office. Overall, the number of open seats decreased from 2012 to 2014, dropping from 21.2 percent in 2012 to 17.0 percent in 2014.

Incumbent win rates: Ballotpedia's competitiveness analysis of elections between 1972 and 2014 documented the high propensity for incumbents to win re-election in state legislative elections. In fact, since 1972, the win rate for incumbents had not dropped below 90 percent—with the exception of 1974, when 88 percent of incumbents were re-elected to their seats. Perhaps most importantly, the win rate for incumbents generally increased over time. In 2014, 96.5 percent of incumbents were able to retain their seats. Common convention holds that incumbents are able to leverage their office to maintain their seat. However, the high incumbent win rate may actually be a result of incumbents being more likely to hold seats in districts that are considered safe for their party.

Marginal primaries: Often, competitiveness is measured by examining the rate of elections that have been won by amounts that are considered marginal (5 percent or less). During the 2014 election, 90.1 percent of primary and general election races were won by margins higher than 5 percent. Interestingly, it is usually the case that only one of the two races—primary or general—will be competitive at a time. This means that if a district's general election is competitive, typically one or more of the district's primaries were won by more than 5 percent. The reverse is also true: If a district sees a competitive primary, it is unlikely that the general election for that district will be won by less than 5 percent. Primaries often see very low voter turnout in comparison to general elections. In 2014, there were only 27 million voters for state legislative primaries, but approximately 107 million voters for the state legislative general elections.

## Campaign contributions[edit]

The following chart shows how many candidates ran for State Senate in Vermont in past years and the cumulative amount of campaign contributions in State Senate races, including contributions in both primary and general election contests.[1]

Vermont State Senate Donations

Year  | Candidates  | Amount
2014  | 58  | $493,975
2012  | 62  | $536,817
2010  | 74  | $674,607
2008  | 63  | $422,378
2006  | 59  | $744,529

### State comparison[edit]

The map below shows the average contributions to 2014 candidates for state senates. The average contributions raised by state senate candidates in 2014 was $148,144. Vermont, at $8,517 per candidate, is ranked 41 of 42 for state senate chambers with the highest average contributions. Hover your mouse over a state to see the average campaign contributions for that state’s senate candidates in 2014.[1][2]

## Qualifications[edit]

The Vermont Constitution states, "No person shall be elected a Representative or a Senator until the person has resided in this State two years, the last year of which shall be in the legislative district for which the person is elected."[3]

## See also[edit]

* Vermont State Senate
* Vermont State Legislature
* State legislative elections, 2016

| Suggest a link

|

## Footnotes[edit]

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 followthemoney.org, "Contributions to candidates and committees in elections in Vermont," accessed July 28, 2015
2. ↑ This map relies on data collected in July 2015.
3. ↑ Vermont Constitution

[show]

Current members of the Vermont State Senate

Leadership

Majority Leader:Alison Clarkson

Minority Leader:Randolph Brock

Senators

Addison District

Christopher Bray (D)

Ruth Hardy (D)

Bennington District

Brian Campion (D)

Richard Sears (D)

Caledonia District

Joe Benning (R)

Jane Kitchel (D)

Chittenden District

Philip Baruth (D)

Thomas Chittenden (D)

Virginia Lyons (D)

Christopher Pearson (V)

Kesha Ram (D)

Michael Sirotkin (D)

Essex-Orleans District

Russ Ingalls (R)

Robert Starr (D)

Franklin District

Randolph Brock (R)

Corey Parent (R)

Grand Isle District

Richard Mazza (D)

Lamoille District

Richard Westman (R)

Orange District

Mark MacDonald (D)

Rutland District

Brian Collamore (R)

Cheryl Hooker (D)

Joshua Terenzini (R)

Washington District

Ann Cummings (D)

Andrew Perchlik (D)

Anthony Pollina (V)

Windham District

Becca Balint (D)

Jeanette White (D)

Windsor District

Alison Clarkson (D)

Richard McCormack (D)

Alice Nitka (D)

Democratic Party (21)

Republican Party (7)

Vermont Progressive Party (2)

v • e

2016 Elections to State legislatures

State Senate elections|

Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Maine • Massachusetts • Minnesota • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Utah • Vermont • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin • Wyoming

* * *

State House elections|

Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Maine • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Missouri • Montana • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Utah • Vermont • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin • Wyoming

* * *