The Associated Press called Vermont for Clinton at 6:59 p.m. — just before polls closed around the state — making it the first in the nation to land in the Democrat’s column.
The outcome in Vermont was never in doubt. The state has not backed a Republican presidential candidate since 1988, when then-vice president George H.W. Bush defeated Massachusetts’ Democratic governor, Michael Dukakis. Though Trump narrowly won Vermont’s presidential primary election in March, he never came within 25 points of Clinton in state general-election polling.
With nearly every precinct reporting early Wednesday, Clinton was leading Trump in Vermont 56.3 to 30 percent. Nearly 6.5 percent wrote in another option — many, presumably, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Libertarian Gary Johnson took 3 percent of the vote and Green Party nominee Jill Stein 2 percent.
Over the past year, a series of prominent Vermont Republicans distanced themselves from Trump, saying they would write in other candidates for president. Those included Lt. Gov. Phil Scott, who would go on to win the governor’s race Tuesday, lieutenant gubernatorial nominee Randy Brock, U.S. Senate nominee Scott Milne and the party’s legislative leaders, Sen. Joe Benning (R-Caledonia) and Rep. Don Turner (R-Milton). On Tuesday, Scott said he’d decided in the end to cast his presidential ballot for Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who came in a close second to Trump in Vermont’s presidential primary.
Vermont played an outsized role in the early months of the 2016 presidential election, when home-state Sen. Sanders mounted a spirited campaign to seize the Democratic nomination from Clinton. But after Sanders endorsed Clinton in July, the state largely dropped off the presidential map.
Clinton did not once campaign in Vermont, while Trump held a single rally at Burlington’s Flynn Center for the Performing Arts in January.
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That’s American democracy for you. Hillary Clinton wins a state where over 85% of the democratic voters didn’t even want her to run. Hillary Clinton truly is a disgusting person.
You truly are a disgusting person.
Hey look. It’s the two cents nobody wants. See what happens when a party runs its number 2 finisher? HIllary Clinton is just plain vile.
Does Bernie still get to keep the Lake House?
No, it is you and all your intolerant hater friends who are just plain vile. You gave us Donald Trump for President.
Bernie would have won the election.
Actually, HIllary gave us Trump as president. First she weaseled the primary from Bernie, who would have won against Trump. Then, she worked to get Trump the nomination because it was her easiest path to winning the election. Lastly, she was so disliked as a basic human that she became the only opponent Donald Trump could have beaten.
Bernie could have beaten Trump? Yeah, by appealing to the exact same disaffected, undereducated, paranoid, white, miscogynistic, xenophobic racists that Trump did, and exploiting their dark fears and conspiratorial beliefs. After all, he ran a conspiratorial, exploitative, class warfare primary. Except guess what? He wouldn’t have beaten Trump in the general. When it comes to exploiting this dangerous, volatile demographic of disaffected white people, Bernie is bush league compared to Trump. He would have been smeared instantly as the pinko commie he is and lost in a pathetic landslide, attempting to appeal to the same Archie Bunkers that Trump did but never having a chance. Trump is willing to go lower into the gutter than Bernie, even though it’s the same gutter.
Your rhetoric is tired and old. No wonder you bought into the lies of Hillary Clinton. Look at your post. It is what is filled with hate. Bernie’s message was different than Trump’s. Too bad you cannot see that. Good luck to you.
No, Bernie’s message was alarmingly similar to Trump’s, and he appealed to the same people and the same instincts. Polls clearly showed that a large percentage of Bernie supporters would turn around and vote for Trump, and they obviously did. You are just unable to grasp that.
Clinton is a loser. Thank God. The reason she could not address her followers early Wednesday morning was because she was to busy loading up cash from her foundation (a.k.a her personal piggy bank) so she,and Bill can go on the lamb before she is put in prison for all the laws she has broken. LOCK HER UP AND THROW AWAY THE KEY. To all those anti Trump protesters 1. You should have voted. If you don’t vote you can’t complain. 2. Learn to lose with grace.