VERMONT
      Nov. 6, 2018 U.S. Senate

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+Bernie Sanders (I) i
 183,529
 65.96%
Lawrence Zupan (R)
 74,663
 26.83%
Brad J. Peacock (I)
 3,787
 1.36%
Russell Beste (I)
  2,763
 0.99%
Edward Gilbert Jr. (I)
  2,244
 0.81%
Folasade Adeluola (I)
 1,979
 0.71%
Jon Svitavsky (I)
 1,280
 0.46%
Reid Kane (LU)
 1,171
 0.42%
Bruce Busa (I)
 914
 0.33%
write-ins
 294
 0.11%

272, 624
Registration: 490,074.  Total votes cast: 278,230.
Plurality: 108,866 (39.13 percentage points).
 VT Secretary of State 



Notes: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I), 77, was resoundingly elected to a third term, defeating Lawrence Zupan (R).  Sanders gained a national profile from his campaign for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, and he is seen as a possible 2020 candidate.  He was very active stumping for candidates around the country during 2018 (+).

As he had done in 2006 and 2012, Sanders was on the ballot in the Democratic primary, and resoundingly won (94.0% of the vote against one challenger), then declined the party's nomination.  The maneuver, which he had also utilized in 2006 and 2012—with the approval of the Vermont Democratic Party—kept his much prized status as an independent and ensured that he would not be running against a Democrat in the general election.

Zupan, from Manchester, is a real estate broker with Bean Group Stratton and a director at Benchmark Atelier.  He finished second in the Aug. 14 Republican primary for U.S. Senate to H. Brooke Page.  Paige won the primaries for Senate, U.S. House, secretary of state, attorney general, state treasurer and state auditor.  However on Aug. 24 he withdrew from all contests except secretary of state; the Vermont Republican Party state committee met on Aug. 29 and selected new nominees including Zupan for Senate.  Zupan thus faced the challenge of mounting a two-month campaign against a very well known and well funded incumbent. 

The two major candidates participated in one debate, on Oct. 29 in Colchester sponsored by VPR and Vermont PBS (1, 2).  Additionally eight candidates participated in a forum that evening sponsored by Channel 17 at The O'Brien Community Center in Winooski (>).

For 2017-18 the Sanders campaign reported total receipts of $10.2 million, total disbursements of $5.2 million and ending cash on hand of $8.8 million, while the Zupan campaign raised and spent just $170,000.

See also:
Paul Heintz. "Bernie Sanders' GOP Opponent Drops Out of Senate Race—and Five Others,"  Seven Days, Aug. 24, 2018.

Paul Heintz. "Bernie Sanders's Declines Democratic Senatorial Nomination." Seven Days, Aug. 21, 2018.

Edward-Isaac Dovere.  "Sanders to run as a Democrat—but not accept nomination."  Politico, May 21, 2018
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