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The1990 United States House of Representatives election in Vermont was held on Tuesday, November 6, 1990, to elect theU.S. representative from the state'sat-large congressional district. The election coincided with the elections of other federal and state offices.
IndependentBernie Sanders, the formermayor of Burlington, defeated incumbent RepublicanPeter Plympton Smith.
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| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Peter Plympton Smith (incumbent) | 27,339 | 60.31 | |
| Republican | Timothy Philbin | 17,444 | 38.48 | |
| Republican | Write-ins | 550 | 1.21 | |
| Total votes | 45,333 | 100.00 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Dolores Sandoval | 5,979 | 41.27 | |
| Democratic | Peter Diamondstone | 5,711 | 39.42 | |
| Democratic | Bernie Sanders (write-in) | 2,005 | 13.84 | |
| Democratic | Other write-ins | 791 | 5.46 | |
| Total votes | 14,486 | 100.00 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Libertarian | Write-ins | 127 | 100.00 | |
| Total votes | 127 | 100.00 | ||
Smith, aliberal Republican, was considered to have acquitted himself well in his first congressional term, andThe Washington Post noted that under most circumstances he would have been considered safely assured of re-election.[5] However, the presence of Sanders, who was well known in Vermont and who was considered more famous than Smith, meant that he faced a tough re-election battle.[5] Sanders, ademocratic socialist, had narrowly lost to Smith in 1988, which was widely attributed to the presence of a strong Democratic candidate in the form of Vermont House Majority LeaderPaul N. Poirier.[5] No such event occurred during the 1990 cycle, as the Democratic nominee, Professor Dolores Sandoval, held positions to the left of Sanders on several issues, with her advocating for the legalization ofheroin.[5][6] Smith received the support of some Democrats including Poirier, former Speaker of the State HouseTimothy J. O'Connor, and former GovernorThomas P. Salmon.[7] Other Democrats, including former governorPhilip H. Hoff andPeter Welch, who was the runner-up to Poirier in the Democratic primary in 1988 and was the party's nominee for governor in theconcurrent gubernatorial election, backed Sanders.[5][8]
Smith had an advantage in the polls until March 1990, when he backed a series of bills designed to alleviate thesavings and loan crisis, including abailout bill and a bill that cut funding for social programs. Sanders used Smith's support for these plans to tie him to PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush, who was unpopular in Vermont,[citation needed] and to portray him as overly supportive of the rich.[9] Smith also faced backlash from voters for his support for extensive restrictions on guns, which earned him the enmity of severalgun rights organizations. These organizations turned to Sanders as the only viable alternative even though his positions on guns were not radically different from Smith's.[6] Feeling that he was losing ground in the race, Smith ran an ad campaign attempting to tie Sanders to left-wing authoritarian regimes such asCuba, and attacking him for his self-declared democratic socialist views. This decision backfired, as Smith's tactics were denounced as "red-baiting" and "McCarthyism" in the press, and many Smith backers voiced their displeasure with the campaign.[citation needed]
Ultimately, Sanders defeated Smith in a landslide, claiming 56% of the vote to Smith's 39.5%. Sandoval was a nonfactor, receiving just over 3% of the vote.
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| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | Bernie Sanders[23] | 117,522 | 56.00 | |||
| Republican | Peter Plympton Smith (incumbent) | 82,938 | 39.52 | |||
| Democratic | Dolores Sandoval | 6,315 | 3.01 | |||
| Liberty Union | Peter Diamondstone | 1,965 | 0.94 | |||
| Write-ins | N/A | 1,116 | 0.53 | |||
| Total votes | 209,856 | 100.00 | ||||
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