had no opposition in the Republican primary, and had approval ratings in the 60 percent range going into the General Election , although they had been slipping rapidly. Utah Incumbent Republican Orrin Hatch won re-election to a sixth term over Democrat Pete Ashdown, the founder and CEO of Utah's oldest Internet service provider, XMission. Hatch won all but one county with 60% to 70% of the vote. Ashdown won the remaining one county by 342 votes. Vermont Incumbent Independent Jim Jeffords decided to retire rather than seek re-election to a fourth term in office and Bernie Sanders was elected to succeed him over Republican businessman Richard Tarrant. Sanders represented Vermont's at-large House district as an independent, won the Democratic primary and then dropped out to run as an independent. Many Democratic politicians across the country endorsed Sanders, and no Democrat was on the ballot. The state committee of the Vermont Democratic Party voted unanimously to endorse Sanders. Sanders won the open seat with 65% of the vote. Four candidates ran in the Democratic primary.M.D. Drysdale, Primary Election Is Next Tuesday (September 7, 2009). Herald. Sanders won the primary, but declined the nomination, leaving no Democratic nominee on the ballot. This victory ensured that no Democrat would appear on the general election ballot to split the vote with Sanders, an ally of the Democrats, who has been supported by leaders in the Democratic Party. In mid-August 2006, the campaign heated up considerably, with Tarrant fully engaged in heavy media advertising, most of which criticized Sanders's public stances. Tarrant ran several ads accusing Sanders of representing himself differently from his voting record in the House of Representatives, citing such examples as Sanders's votes against Amber Alert and against increased penalties for child pornography. Sanders responded with an ad stating that Tarrant's claims are "dishonest" and "distort my record" and presented what he viewed as more accurate explanations of his voting record. Sanders won a majority of the votes in every county in the state, with 57% as his lowest county total. Virginia Incumbent Republican George Allen ran for re-election to a second term, but lost in a narrow race to Democrat Jim Webb. Allen, who previously served as Governor of Virginia and was considered a possible candidate for president in 2008, was running for his second term. Webb, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, writer and former Secretary of the Navy under Ronald