Senate Seat Showdowns

Vermont CBS NEWS PROJECTS BERNIE SANDERS WINNER Independent/Democrat Bernie Sanders vs. Republican Rich Tarrant (Open seat) CBS News Race Outlook: Independent Jim Jeffords is retiring; he was elected as a Republican but switched to an Independent in 2001. Vermont Democratic leaders spearheaded efforts to put Sanders on the ballot as a Democrat. Sanders made Tarrant’s money a campaign issue, saying that Tarrant was trying to buy the election, but the Caledonia Record pointed out that Sanders took money from sugar corporations outside of the U.S. and a campaign spokesman tried to explain how that money was not considered "corporate" money. Tarrant girded for an expensive election, selling three office buildings to Boston University for about $20 million, the Boston Globe reported. Sanders asked the question of Vermont voters, "Do the people of Vermont want to continue to have Republican right-wing extremists running our country?"