1986 Vermont gubernatorial election

← 1984 November 4, 1986 (1986-11-04) 1988 →

Nominee Madeleine Kunin Peter Smith Bernie Sanders Party Democratic Republican Independent Electoral vote 139 39 2 Popular vote 92,485 75,239 28,418 Percentage 47.0% 38.2% 14.4%

County results Municipality results Kunin:      30-40%      40-50%      50-60%      60-70% Smith:      30-40%      40-50%      50-60%      60-70%

Governor before election Madeleine Kunin Democratic Elected Governor Madeleine Kunin Democratic

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v t e

The 1986 Vermont gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 1986. Incumbent Democrat Madeleine Kunin ran successfully for re-election to a second term as Governor of Vermont, defeating Republican candidate Peter Plympton Smith and independent candidate Bernie Sanders. Since no candidate won a majority of the popular vote, Kunin was elected by the Vermont General Assembly per the state constitution.^[1]

This was the first time since 1912 that none of the candidates received a majority of the vote.^[2] Along with Democrats' takeover of the state House for the first time in history, Democrats won a trifecta in the state for the first time ever.

Democratic primary

Results

Republican primary

Results

Liberty Union primary

Results

General election

Candidates

• Madeleine M. Kunin (D), incumbent Governor of Vermont
• Peter Plympton Smith (R), Lieutenant Governor of Vermont
• Bernie Sanders (I), Mayor of Burlington, Vermont^[4]
• Richard F. Gottlieb (LU)

Results

After no candidate received a majority of the vote, the Vermont Legislature, consisting of 150 representatives and 30 senators, voted to decide the winner, per the state constitution.