Bernie Sanders Independent Bernie Sanders Independent The 1996 United States House of Representatives election in Vermont was held on Tuesday, November 5, 1996, to elect the U.S. representative from the state's at-large congressional district.
National Republicans were eager to unseat Sanders, and had placed him on a list of 10 incumbent Representatives they would most heavily target in the 1996 cycle.
[4] The Republican nominee, state senator Susan Sweetser, was viewed as a rising star within the party[4] and campaigned as a "social moderate and fiscal conservative", though she was viewed as a strictly conservative Republican.
[5][6] Sweetser's gender was viewed as a potential advantage by University of Vermont political analyst Garrison Nelson, who felt that it would prevent Sanders from utilising his traditional aggressive campaign style.
[8] Long's campaign faced staunch opposition from national Democratic strategists, with Rob Engel, political director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, accusing him of being a spoiler candidate attempting to throw the election to Sweetser.