Vermont primaries don’t have a recent history of attracting a lot of voters — even when they were held in mid-September.
That wasn’t always the case. When Vermont first switched from party caucuses to primary elections to decide the names that would appear on the November ballot, the primary was the most important election. Between 1916 and 1958, victory in the Republican primary assured candidates victory in November, according to a history of the direct primary at the State Archives Web site.
Political observers predict 55,000 to 70,000 voters will cast ballots in the primary, with 40,000 or more voting the Democratic ballot because of the five-way gubernatorial primary. That range translates to 12 and 15 percent of the state’s 444,493 registered voters.
Two years ago, only 36,716 people cast votes in the primary election — 8.5 percent of registered voters. The hottest contest in the 2008 primary was between Democratic lieutenant candidates Tom Costello and Nate Freeman.
In 2006, Republicans and Democrats each turned out nearly 40,000, but the total turnout of 81,276 still amounted to only 18.8 percent of registered voters. The draws were a Republican congressional primary featuring Martha Rainville and Mark Shepard and a Democratic lieutenant governor contest between Matt Dunne and John Tracy.
A Democratic lieutenant governor contest also was the biggest draw in 2004 when turnout totaled 47,677 or 11.3 percent of registered voters. The due battling for the nomination: Jan Backus and Cheryl Rivers.
Just over 60,000 voters turned out on primary day in 2002 — 14.9 percent of registered voters. There was a Democratic contest for treasurer between Jeb Spaulding and Ed Flanagan and a three-day Republican competition for U.S. Representative among Karen Kerin, Bill Meub and Greg Parke.
Turnout topped 100,000 in 2000. In fact the tally was 122,437 voters or 30 percent of registered voters. The big draw was the face-off for the Republican gubernatorial nomination between Ruth Dwyer and Bill Meub. More than 82,000 voters had a say in the decision to put Dwyer on the ballot again against Democratic incumbent Howard Dean.
There was a hot Democratic primary in 2000, too, between Jan Backus and Ed Flanagan for the chance to challenge Jim Jeffords for the U.S. Senate. That Democratic rivalry attracted 39,538 voters.
