The 2000 Vermont gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 2000. Incumbent Governor Howard Dean

Howard Dean

Howard Brush Dean III is an American politician and physician from Vermont. He served six terms as the 79th Governor of Vermont and ran unsuccessfully for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2005 to 2009. Although his U.S...

 won re-election. The campaign was dominated by the fallout from the passage of a civil union bill

Civil unions in Vermont

Same-sex marriage in Vermont began on September 1, 2009. Vermont was the first state to introduce civil unions in July 2000, and the first state to introduce same-sex marriage by enacting a statute without being required to do so by a court decision....

 and the subsequent backlash encapsulated by the slogan Take Back Vermont

Take Back Vermont

Take Back Vermont was a slogan and associated movement that attained prominence in the U.S. state of Vermont in the year 2000. The movement was triggered by the state legislature's passage of a civil unions bill in 2000. Its aim, though, was wider than repealing the civil unions law...

. Ruth Dwyer, the Republican nominee, was closely tied to the Take Back Vermont movement which Howard Dean, the Democratic governor, opposed.

Results

Candidates

• Ruth Dwyer, former Vermont State Representative
  Vermont House of Representatives
  The Vermont House of Representatives is the lower house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The House comprises 150 members. Vermont legislative districting divides representing districts into 66 single-member districts and 42 two-member...
  
   and 1998 Republican nominee for Governor
• William Meub, attorney

Results

Results