2010 United States Senate election in Vermont

The 2010 United States Senate election in Vermont took place on November 2, 2010 alongside other elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy was re-elected to a seventh term.[1]

2010 United States Senate election in Vermont

November 2, 2010

Nominee Patrick Leahy Len Britton Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 151,281 72,699 Percentage 64.4% 30.9%

County results Leahy:      50–60%      60–70%

U.S. senator before election Patrick Leahy Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy Democratic

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Patrick Leahy, incumbent U.S. Senator
• Daniel Frielich, military doctor (also running as an independent)

Results

Democratic primary results[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Patrick Leahy (incumbent)	64,177	89.06%
	Democratic	Daniel Frielich	7,886	10.94%
Total votes			72,063	100.0%

General election

Candidates

• Len Britton (R), businessman
• Patrick Leahy (D), incumbent U.S. Senator
• Stephen Cain (I)[3]
• Pete Diamondstone (Socialist)[3][4]
• Cris Ericson (U.S. Marijuana), two-time former candidate for U.S. Senate[3]
• Daniel Freilich (I), military doctor[3]
• Johenry Nunes (I), military education and training manager[3]

Campaign

First elected in 1974, Leahy is the first and only Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate from Vermont. He won his last two re-election campaigns with at least 70% of the vote. He is the second-most-senior member of Congress. In a June 2010 poll, the incumbent was viewed very favorably by 52% of the state. 52% of the state opposed repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and 50% opposed Arizona's immigration law. Obama's approval rating in the poll was 62%.[5] Obama carried Vermont with 67% of the vote in 2008.

His Republican opponent was Len Britton, a businessman who had never run for public office before. As of August 2010, he had released two TV ads, criticizing Obama's stimulus and the deficits.[6] His campaign manager admitted "Len is an unknown candidate and we are rigorously running on a difficult campaign schedule."[7]

Debates

• October 14: All four candidates on CCTV in Burlington
• October 19: Two candidates on Vermont Public Radio[8]

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Cook Political Report	Solid D[9]	October 23, 2010
Rothenberg	Safe D[10]	October 22, 2010
Swing State Project	Safe D
RealClearPolitics	Safe D[11]	October 23, 2010
Sabato's Crystal Ball	Safe D[12]	October 21, 2010
CQ Politics	Safe D[13]	October 23, 2010

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Patrick Leahy (D)	Len Britton (R)	Other	Undecided
Rasmussen Reports	June 17, 2010	500	± 4.5%	64%	29%	3%	4%
Rasmussen Reports	September 13, 2010	500	± 4.5%	63%	32%	2%	4%
Vermont Public Radio/Mason-Dixon	October 11–13, 2010	625	± 4.0%	62%	27%	4%	7%

Fundraising

Candidate (party)	Receipts	Disbursements	Cash on hand	Debt
Patrick Leahy (D)	$3,469,878	$2,090,603	$2,598,061	$0
Len Britton (R)	$199,813	$144,541	$55,270	$69,833
Source: Federal Election Commission[14]

Results

United States Senate election in Vermont, 2010[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Patrick Leahy (incumbent)	151,281	64.36%	-6.27%
	Republican	Len Britton	72,699	30.93%	+6.38%
	Independent	Daniel Freilich	3,544	1.51%	N/A
	Marijuana	Cris Ericson	2,731	1.16%	N/A
	Independent	Stephen Cain	2,356	1.00%	N/A
	Socialist	Peter Diamondstone	1,433	0.61%	N/A
	Independent	Johenry Nunes	1,021	0.43%	N/A
Majority			78,528	33.43%
Total votes			235,065	100.00%
	Democratic hold		Swing

References

1. "Patrick Leahy Defeats Len Britton In Vermont Senate Race". Huffington Post. November 2, 2010.
2. "Vermont Results". Politico. August 24, 2010. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
3. "2010 General Election Candidate Listing as of (June 17, 2010 at 7:15 p.m.)" (PDF). Secretary of State of Vermont. June 17, 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 27, 2011. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
4. "2010 Minor Party Nominations for the November 2, 2010 Vermont General Election" (PDF). Secretary of State of Vermont. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 27, 2011. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
5. Election 2010: Vermont Senate - Rasmussen Reports™
6. http://www.lenbritton.com/2010/07/26/len-britton-unveils-2nd-humorous-ad-on-national-debt-crisis/%5B%5D
7. http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20100820/NEWS03/100820022/Senate-candidate-Britton-has-big-campaign-debt#ixzz0yENEvZ5V
8. http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20101015/NEWS03/101014037/Opponents-challenge-Leahy-in-first-debate
9. "Senate". Cook Political Report. Retrieved October 23, 2010.
10. "Senate Ratings". Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved October 23, 2010.
11. "Battle for the Senate". RealClearPolitics. Retrieved October 23, 2010.
12. "2010 Senate Ratings". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved October 23, 2010.
13. "Race Ratings Chart: Senate". CQ Politics. Archived from the original on October 28, 2010. Retrieved October 23, 2010.
14. "2010 House and Senate Campaign Finance for Vermont". fec.gov. Retrieved August 22, 2010.
15. "Vermont Election Results". The New York Times.

External links

• Elections and Campaign Finance Division at the Vermont Secretary of State
• U.S. Congress candidates for Vermont at Project Vote Smart
• Vermont U.S. Senate from OurCampaigns.com
• Campaign contributions from Open Secrets
• 2010 Vermont Senate General Election: Len Britton (R) vs Patrick Leahy (D) graph of multiple polls from Pollster.com
• Election 2010: Vermont Senate from Rasmussen Reports
• 2010 Vermont Senate Race from Real Clear Politics
• 2010 Vermont Senate Race from CQ Politics
• Race profile from The New York Times

Official campaign websites

• Pat Leahy for U.S. Senate incumbent
• Len Britton for U.S. Senate