Vermont 2024 Democratic Primary Results Show Absence of Sanders and Harris on Ballot

Political commentator Matthew Yglesias sparked discussion on November 3, 2025, with a tweet questioning Senator Bernie Sanders' popularity by stating, > "If Bernie Sanders is 'the most popular politician in America' why did he run behind Kamala Harris in Vermont in 2024?"

However, official results from the 2024 Vermont Democratic presidential primary indicate that neither Senator Sanders nor Vice President Kamala Harris appeared on the ballot as candidates. The primary election, held earlier in 2024, saw President Joe Biden secure a decisive victory with 83.7% of the vote.

The Vermont primary results, as reported by CNN, The New York Times, and NBC News, listed President Biden as the overwhelming winner, followed by Marianne Williamson and Dean Phillips. The absence of both Sanders and Harris as contenders in the state's Democratic primary contest makes a direct comparison of their electoral performance in that specific election impossible. Senator Sanders, a long-serving independent senator from Vermont, did not seek the Democratic presidential nomination in 2024.

Vice President Harris, as the incumbent Vice President, was part of the Biden-Harris ticket and was not a primary challenger to President Biden. Her electoral performance in 2024 would have been tied to the general election outcome as part of the presidential ticket, not as an individual candidate in the Democratic primary. This context is crucial when evaluating claims about individual candidate performance in specific state contests.

Senator Sanders has historically enjoyed strong support in his home state of Vermont, consistently winning elections by wide margins. His past presidential campaigns in 2016 and 2020 garnered significant voter turnout and enthusiasm. The tweet by Yglesias, therefore, presents a hypothetical scenario or an interpretation not supported by the official 2024 primary election data from Vermont.

The discrepancy between the tweet's assertion and the verifiable election results highlights the importance of scrutinizing claims made on social media against official records. While discussions about political popularity are common, specific electoral outcomes require factual verification to ensure accurate public discourse.