The 2016 Vermont gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2016, and elected the

governor of Vermont The governor of Vermont is the head of government of Vermont. The officeholder is elected in even-numbered years by direct voting for a term of 2 years. Vermont and bordering New Hampshire are the only states to hold gubernatorial elections every ...

, concurrently with the

2016 U.S. presidential election The 2016 United States presidential election was the 58th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket ...

, as well as

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative ...

to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

in other states and

to the

United States House of Representatives 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 ...

and various

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

and

local elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...

. Incumbent Democratic Governor

Peter Shumlin Peter Elliott Shumlin (born March 24, 1956) is an American politician from Vermont. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 81st governor of Vermont from 2011 to 2017. He was first elected to the office in 2010, and was reelected to ...

was eligible to run for re-election to a fourth term in office, but opted to retire instead. The primaries were held on August 9. Former

Vermont Agency of Transportation The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) is a government agency of the state of Vermont that is responsible for planning, constructing, and maintaining a variety of transportation infrastructure in the state. This includes roads, bridges, sta ...

Secretary Sue Minter won the Democratic nomination, and Lieutenant Governor

Phil Scott Philip Brian Scott (born August 4, 1958) is an American politician, businessman and stock car racer who has served as the 82nd governor of Vermont since 2017. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected governor in the 2016 general electi ...

won the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

primary, with Scott defeating Minter in the general election. This was the first gubernatorial election in Vermont in which the winner was of a different party than the incumbent president since 1992.

Background

Two-term Democratic Governor

ran for re-election in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

and was widely expected to win easily. However, he only took a plurality of the vote, 46.36%, to Republican

Scott Milne Scott Edward Milne (born March 10, 1959) is an American businessman and political candidate from North Pomfret, Vermont. A Republican, Milne was the party's nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Vermont in 2020, losing to Democrat Molly Gray; the ...

's 45.1%, and thus the result was decided by the

Vermont General Assembly The Vermont General Assembly is the legislative body of the state of Vermont, in the United States. The Legislature is formally known as the "General Assembly," but the style of "Legislature" is commonly used, including by the body itself. The G ...

. The Assembly picked Shumlin by 110 votes to 69. Shumlin announced in June 2015 that he would not run for a fourth term. Vermont and

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

are the only states in the country whose governors are elected every two years.

Democratic primary

In August, Vermont House Speaker

Shap Smith Shapleigh "Shap" Smith, Jr. (born December 16, 1965) is an American politician who served as the 92nd Speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives. In August 2015 Smith announced his candidacy for the 2016 Democratic nomination for Governor ...

announced that he would be a candidate, but ended his candidacy in November 2015, after his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. In September,

Matt Dunne Matt Dunne (born November 20, 1969) is an American politician and businessman from the U.S. state of Vermont. He served four terms in the Vermont House of Representatives, two terms in the Vermont State Senate, was the Democratic candidate in ...

announced that he would also be a candidate. Also in September, former state legislator Sue Minter, then serving as Vermont's Secretary of Transportation, announced that she would resign her position in order to join the Democratic race. Former Ambassador

Peter Galbraith Peter Woodard Galbraith (born December 31, 1950) is an American author, academic, commentator, politician, policy advisor, and former diplomat. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he helped uncover Saddam Hussein's gassing of the Kurds. From 1993 ...

announced his candidacy in March 2016. In July, H. Brook Paige was excluded from official Democratic Party events after making derogatory comments on social media. Minter won the nomination decisively, and was endorsed by Dunne but not Galbraith.

Candidates

Declared

, former state senator, Google executive, and candidate for governor in 2010 *

Cris Ericson Cris Ericson (born May 16, 1952) is an American marijuana legalization activist and perennial candidate for public office in Vermont. She has unsuccessfully run for the governorship of Vermont nine times and for a seat in the United States Cong ...

perennial candidate A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates' existence lies in the fact that in some countries, there are no laws that limit a number of times a person can ...

(also

running Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is ...

for the U.S. Senate) *

Peter W. Galbraith Peter Woodard Galbraith (born December 31, 1950) is an American author, academic, commentator, politician, policy advisor, and former diplomat. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he helped uncover Saddam Hussein's Halabja chemical attack, gassing ...

, former state senator and former United States Ambassador to Croatia * Sue Minter, former secretary of the

and former state representative * H. Brooke Paige, former CEO of Remington News Service, candidate for

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

and Attorney General in 2014 and Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

(also ran for Attorney General)

Withdrawn

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

of the Vermont House of Representatives (running for Lieutenant Governor)

Declined

* T.J. Donovan, Chittenden County state's attorney and candidate for Vermont Attorney General in 2012 (running for Vermont Attorney General) * Deborah Markowitz, secretary of the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, former Secretary of State of Vermont and candidate for governor in 2010 *

Doug Racine Douglas Alan Racine (born October 7, 1952) is an American politician and former Vermont Secretary of Human Services, a former Vermont State Senator and was the 79th lieutenant governor of Vermont from 1997 to 2003. He is a Democrat. Racine was ...

, former secretary of the Vermont Agency of Human Services, former lieutenant governor, nominee for governor in 2002 and candidate for governor in 2010 *

, incumbent governor *

Peter Welch Peter Francis Welch (born May 2, 1947) is an American lawyer and politician who is a United States senator-elect from Vermont, and the current U.S. representative for since 2007. A member of the Democratic Party, he has been a major figure i ...

, U.S. Representative and nominee for governor in

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Republican primary

In September 2015, Lieutenant Governor

entered the race, and 2014 gubernatorial nominee

, who had been considering running, endorsed Scott. In October 2015, retired Wall Street executive Bruce Lisman officially announced his "outsider" candidacy. Scott was endorsed by most active Vermont Republican politicians, and held a strong lead in a February poll. Lisman's campaign criticized Scott for being too closely connected to outgoing Democratic governor

and for "plagiarizing" Lisman's ideas, and linked Scott to the "failures" of the Vermont Health Connect insurance platform and the school redistricting Act 46; the candidates' campaigns disagreed over whether this constituted "negative campaigning," and Scott's campaign said the attacks were "patently false". Scott won the nomination by a large margin.

Candidates

Declared

* Bruce Lisman, retired Wall Street executive *

, Lieutenant Governor

Declined

* Randy Brock, former state senator, former

Vermont Auditor of Accounts The Vermont State Auditor of Accounts is one of six constitutional officers in Vermont, elected statewide every two years. The Office provides an independent and objective assessment of Vermont's governmental operations. The current Auditor is ...

and nominee for governor in

(running for lieutenant governor)

Endorsements

On May 6, 2016, Scott received the endorsements of all Vermont Republican legislators (listed above) except State Representatives Donald Turner, Doug Gage, Mary Morrissey, Job Tate, and Paul Dame. Among those five legislators who did not endorse Scott, four said they always remain neutral in a party primary election, and one was waiting until after the filing deadline to make an endorsement.

Polling

Results

Liberty Union primary

Candidates

Declared

* Bill "Spaceman" Lee, former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

pitcher and

Rhinoceros Party The Rhinoceros Party (sometimes referred to in English as the Second Rhinoceros Party), officially the Parti Rhinocéros Party, is a Canadian federal-level political party. It was known as neorhino.ca until 2010, when the party changed its na ...

presidential candidate in

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

Results

General election

Debates

Complete video of debate
October 6, 2016 - C-SPAN

Predictions

Polling

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administered ! class=small , Sample
size ! Margin of
error ! style="width:100px;", Sue
Minter (D) ! style="width:100px;", Phil
Scott (R) ! style="width:100px;", Bill
Lee (LU) ! Undecided , -
SurveyMonkey
, align=center, November 1–7, 2016 , align=center, 454 , align=center, ± 4.6% , align=center, 51% , align=center, 47% , align=center, — , align=center, 2% , -
SurveyMonkey
, align=center, October 31–November 6, 2016 , align=center, 447 , align=center, ± 4.6% , align=center, 50% , align=center, 48% , align=center, — , align=center, 2% , -
SurveyMonkey
, align=center, October 28–November 3, 2016 , align=center, 449 , align=center, ± 4.6% , align=center, 46% , align=center, 51% , align=center, — , align=center, 3% , -
SurveyMonkey
, align=center, October 27–November 2, 2016 , align=center, 424 , align=center, ± 4.6% , align=center, 44% , align=center, 53% , align=center, — , align=center, 3% , -
SurveyMonkey
, align=center, October 26–November 1, 2016 , align=center, 428 , align=center, ± 4.6% , align=center, 43% , align=center, 54% , align=center, — , align=center, 3% , -
SurveyMonkey
, align=center, October 25–31, 2016 , align=center, 436 , align=center, ± 4.6% , align=center, 45% , align=center, 52% , align=center, — , align=center, 3% , -
RRH Elections
, align=center, October 24–26, 2016 , align=center, 1,052 , align=center, ± 3.0% , align=center, 38% , align=center, 45% , align=center, 4% , align=center, 13% , -
Braun Research/WCAX
, align=center, October 19–22, 2016 , align=center, 603 , align=center, ± 4.0% , align=center, 40% , align=center, 47% , align=center, 6% , align=center, 9% , - , , align=center, September 29–October 14, 2016 , align=center, 579 , align=center, ± 3.9% , align=center, 38% , align=center, 39% , align=center, 7% , align=center, 14%

Results

References

External links

;Official candidate websites
Sue Minter (D) for GovernorPhil Scott (R) for Governor
{{2016 United States elections

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 ...

gubernatorial A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...