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 County results Municipality resultsSanders: 30–40% 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Sweetser: 30–40% 40–50% 50–60% 70–80% | |||||||||||||||||||||
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The1996 United States House of Representatives election in Vermont was held on Tuesday, November 5, 1996, to elect theU.S. representative from the state'sat-large congressional district. The election coincided with the elections of other federal and state offices, including a quadrennialpresidential election.
Incumbent IndependentBernie Sanders won re-election to a fourth term, defeating Republican Susan Sweetser and Democrat Jack Long.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Susan Sweetser | 18,829 | 95.27 | |
| Republican | Write-ins | 935 | 4.73 | |
| Total votes | 19,764 | 100.00 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Jack Long | 9,291 | 67.95 | |
| Democratic | Bernie Sanders (Write-in) | 4,037 | 29.52 | |
| Democratic | Susan Sweetser (Write-in) | 203 | 1.48 | |
| Democratic | Write-ins | 143 | 1.05 | |
| Total votes | 13,674 | 100.00 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberty Union | Peter Diamondstone | 237 | 88.76 | |
| Liberty Union | Write-ins | 30 | 11.24 | |
| Total votes | 267 | 100.00 | ||
National Republicans were eager to unseat Sanders, and had placed him on a list of 10 incumbent Representatives they would most heavily target in the 1996 cycle.[4] Sanders had only narrowly won re-election to a third term in 1994, amidst a nationalred wave. The Republican nominee, state senatorSusan Sweetser, was viewed as a rising star within the party[4] and campaigned as a "social moderate and fiscal conservative", though she was viewed as a strictly conservative Republican.[5][6] Sweetser's gender was viewed as a potential advantage byUniversity of Vermont political analyst Garrison Nelson, who felt that it would prevent Sanders from utilizing his traditional aggressive campaign style.[7] There was also a prominent Democratic candidate in the form of Jack Long, former commissioner of the Vermont Environmental Conservation Department, who campaigned as a moderate alternative to the other major candidates.[8] Long's campaign faced staunch opposition from national Democratic strategists, with Rob Engel, political director of theDemocratic Congressional Campaign Committee, accusing him of being a spoiler candidate attempting to throw the election to Sweetser.[9]
Sweetser's campaign faced a major scandal after it was revealed that she had hired private investigator Cathy Riggs, the wife of California CongressmanFrank Riggs, to perform opposition research on Sanders, with Riggs proceeding to investigate Sanders' first marriage by calling his ex-wife.[10] This tactic was denounced by both Sanders and Long as a violation of privacy and political etiquette. Sweetser quickly apologized and claimed that she was not aware of Riggs' activities, but the event severely damaged her campaign nonetheless, as it was largely viewed as unacceptable "dirty campaigning" by the electorate.[11][4]
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Bernie Sanders | Susan Sweetser | Jack Long | Other | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Becker Institute[12] | October 1996 | 52% | 33% | 5% | 10% |
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| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | Bernie Sanders (incumbent) | 140,678 | 55.23 | |
| Republican | Susan Sweetser | 83,021 | 32.59 | |
| Democratic | Jack Long | 23,830 | 9.36 | |
| Libertarian | Thomas J. Morse | 2,693 | 1.06 | |
| Liberty Union | Peter Diamondstone | 1,965 | 0.77 | |
| Grassroots | Robert Melamede | 1,350 | 0.53 | |
| Natural Law | Norio Kushi | 812 | 0.32 | |
| Write-ins | N/A | 357 | 0.14 | |
| Total votes | 254,706 | 100.00 | ||
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