Burlington mayoral election, 1981

Burlington mayoral election, 1981

March 3, 1981

Nominee Bernie Sanders Gordon Paquette Richard Bove Party Independent Democratic Independent Popular vote 4,330 4,320 1,091 Percentage 43.4% 43.3% 11.8%

Mayor of Burlington before election Gordon Paquette Democratic Elected Mayor of Burlington Bernie Sanders Independent

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The 1981 Burlington mayoral election was held March 3, 1981. The incumbent Democratic mayor Gordon Paquette lost to the future U.S. senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders who won with 43.4% of the popular vote with a margin of 10 votes, and assumed office on April 6, 1981. Paquette’s loss of the election is attributed to his own shortcomings, as he did not campaign or promote his candidacy since Sanders had not yet won an election in his career, and both Sanders and Independent candidate Richard Bove weren’t seen as a serious challengers.^[1] After the first count was done Sanders had a 22-vote lead that shrunk to 10 after a recount on March 4.

Initial Results

Final Results

References