2006 United States House of Representatives election in Vermont, At-large district
← 2004 November 7, 2006 2008 →
 
Nominee Peter Welch Martha Rainville
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 139,815 117,023
Percentage 53.2% 44.5%
Welch:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
Rainville:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Trudell:      50–60%
Representative
At-large before election

Bernie Sanders
Independent

Elected Representative
At-large

Peter Welch
Democratic

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The 2006 United States House of Representatives election in Vermont was held on November 7, 2006 for representation of Vermont's at-large congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from January 3, 2007 to January 3, 2009.

Incumbent Congressman Bernie Sanders, an independent member of Congress who caucused with the Democrats, did not seek a ninth term in the House, instead running successfully for the United States Senate.

To replace Congressman Sanders, Democrat Peter Welch defeated Republican Martha Rainville by a surprisingly somewhat narrow margin (just under 10%) in staunchly-liberal Vermont. As of 2022, this is the last federal election in which a Republican received more than 33% of the vote.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

Democratic primary results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Peter Welch 34,706 97.11
Democratic Write-ins 1,033 2.89
Total votes 35,739 100.00

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

Republican primary results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Martha Rainville 26,199 71.31
Republican Mark Shepard 10,285 27.99
Republican Write-ins 258 0.70
Total votes 36,742 100.00

General election

Polling

Source Date Peter
Welch (D) 		Martha
Rainville (R) 		Jane
Newton (LU)
Research 2000 October 23–24, 2006 51% 41%
Greenburg Quinlan October 8–9, 2006 52% 41%
Research 2000 September 18–19, 2006 45% 39%
American Research Group September 14, 2006 48% 45% 2%
American Research Group July 27, 2006 41% 42%

Results

Vermont's At-large congressional district election, 2006[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Peter Welch 139,815 53.22
Republican Martha Rainville 117,023 44.54
Independent Dennis Morrisseau 1,390 0.53
Independent Jerry Trudell 1,013 0.39
Green Bruce R. Marshall 994 0.38
Independent Keith Stern 963 0.37
Liberty Union Jane Newton 721 0.27
Independent Chris Karr 599 0.23
Write-ins 208 0.08
Total votes 262,726 100.00
Democratic gain from Independent

Counties that flipped from Independent to Democratic

Counties that flipped from Independent to Republican

References

  1. ^ a b "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on April 27, 2012. Retrieved March 31, 2012.((cite web)): CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ "2006 Election Statistics". clerk.house.gov.
Preceded by
2004 		U.S. House of Representatives elections (Vermont's at-large congressional district)
2006 		Succeeded by
2008
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