The 2000 United States House of Representatives election in Vermont was held on Tuesday, November 7, 2000 to elect the

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from the state's at-large congressional district. The election coincided with the elections of other federal and state offices, including a quadrennial

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

and an election to the U.S. Senate.

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

*Karen Ann Kerin, lawyer and former engineer

Withdrawn

*Lloyd Robinson, transportation consultant

Results

Democratic primary

General election

Candidates

Peter Diamondstone Peter Isaac Diamondstone (December 19, 1934 – August 30, 2017) was an American lawyer and socialist politician from the state of Vermont, best known as a perennial candidate and co-founder of the Liberty Union Party. He ran for various Ver ...

(Democratic), perennial candidate and socialist activist *Karen Ann Kerin (Republican), lawyer and former engineer *Daniel H. Krymkowski (Libertarian), Professor at the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is amon ...

*Jack Rogers (Grassroots), farmer and educator *

Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 2007 ...

(Independent), incumbent U.S. Representative *Stewart Skrill (Independent), farmer and flower grower

Campaign

Kerin received national media attention for being the first openly

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

candidate for congress. She expressed frustration with the media focus on her transgender status rather than her political positions, stating to ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'' that she wanted reporters to "ask me more about what's in my head and less about what's between my legs". There was some surprise at Kerin's decision to run as a Republican, due to that party's opposition to

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , 33 ...

at the time; Kerin stated to ''

The Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. The Advocate, The Advocates or Advocate may also refer to: Magazines * ''The Advocate'' (LGBT magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States *''The Harvard Advocate'', a literary magazin ...

'' that she believed that Republicans were stauncher defenders of civil rights than Democrats. Kerin's campaign was primarily based around economic issues. There was substantial confusion surrounding the reason that Kerin had decided to undergo a sex change; Kerin herself claimed that it was for medical reasons after she was diagnosed with

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that sur ...

in order to avoid a Colostomy, but an investigation by several newspapers revealed that whether Kerin had ever been diagnosed with prostate cancer was in question, with Kerin's ex-wife claiming that Kerin had simply wanted to change her sex, and Kerin having given an interview to a

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

newspaper a decade prior were she discussed her reasons for changing sex, not mentioning cancer. When questioned by the ''

Barre Montpelier Times Argus The ''Barre Montpelier Times Argus'' is a daily morning newspaper serving the capital region of Vermont. It was established in 1897. The newspaper claims that "80% of all adults in the Barre/Montpelier area read the Times Argus for local news, s ...

'' Kerin was unable to explain how getting a sex change would have prevented her from needing a Colostomy.

Endorsements

Results

References

{{Bernie Sanders

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

2000 Vermont elections Bernie Sanders