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intention of leaving
Tunbridge or serving in the Senate, and endorsed Leahy for reelection. They made several joint appearances, and Leahy easily won reelection in November. The campaign added to Tuttle's growing status as a folk figure and cult hero, and a steady stream of public appearances followed. However, many Republicans in Vermont resented his false candidacy which they felt denied them the right to a legitimate candidate in the Senate race since McMullen was seen as their best chance to unseat Leahy in years. He died in 2003, and was buried in Tunbridge.
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by the standards of contemporary politics. McMullen and the state
Republican Party challenged Tuttle's nominating petitions and got 95 signatures invalidated. Tuttle needed to obtain 23 more to stay on the ballot, and proceeded to obtain 2,309. McMullen sent flowers to while Tuttle was hopspitalized
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by his side. Of his death, Senator
Patrick Leahy said, "Fred Tuttle had true Vermont values and a wonderful sense of humor. Fortunately, he shared both with all of us in Vermont, and people throughout the country. Both Marcelle and I extend our condolences to Dottie and the rest of their family. We
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Tuttle defeated McMullen by 5,034 votes out of 52,813 cast in the
Republican primary after a campaign of humorous and memorable incidents. Vermont had recently adopted an open primary system and many Democrats voted in the Republican primary to help Tuttle win. He then announced that he had no
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Tuttle's subsequent general election campaign continued to generate publicity. He made several joint appearances with Leahy and continued to endorse him, saying "He knows how many tits on a cow." Tuttle commented that he did not really want to win because he would have to move to
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During their debate on
Vermont Public Radio, Tuttle asked a series of humorous local knowledge questions. McMullen was unable to correctly pronounce the names of several Vermont towns, or correctly answer Tuttle's dairy farming-related questions, such as "How many
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High School before dropping out after the tenth grade to begin a career as a dairy farmer. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II, and participated in military actions in the
European Theater.
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Tuttle was described by
Senator Leahy as "the distilled essence of Vermonthood". He was considered by many to be an example of both the "everyman" and of the unique individualist.
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got?" answering "Six", instead of the correct four. In the primary, Tuttle defeated McMullen by ten percentage points and promptly endorsed the incumbent
Democrat,
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Tuttle retired from farming in 1984, and continued to reside in
Tunbridge, where he engaged in gardening and other hobbies. Tuttle was a neighbor of filmmaker
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at his home in
Tunbridge. He was buried at Tunbridge's Spring Road Cemetery wearing his overalls, with a pen in his pocket for autograph signing and a can of
290:, who recognized that Tuttle's charisma and unique personality might come across well on film. As a result, he cast Tuttle in movie roles including parts in
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to vote in the Republican primary, and many political observers foresaw the possibility that Tuttle could draw votes across party lines.
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who apparently moved to Vermont for the sole purpose of establishing residency for a Senate run. The Vermont primary structure allows
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Tuttle retired from farming in 1984 and engaged in gardening and other hobbies. After his retirement, he appeared in several
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because it is easier and pays better than farming. He decided to run for the Republican nomination to oppose Senator
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876:"New Hampshire, Marriage and Divorce Records 1659-1947, Entry for Fred H. Tuttle and Ida May Foote"
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896:"Vermont Marriage Records, 1909-2008, Entry for Fred H. Tuttle and Charlotte Lorraine Perry"
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Despite endorsing his opponent, Tuttle garnered 48,051 votes (22 percent of the vote)
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1018: (archived October 2, 2008) Vermont Only, archived October 2, 2008, from
916:"Maine Marriage Index, 1892-1996, Entry for Fred H. Tuttle and Dorothy Hilts"
258:(July 18, 1919 – October 4, 2003) was an American dairy farmer, actor,
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1110:"1998 Election Statistics - Legislative Activities - Office of the Clerk"
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for most of his adult life. O'Brien and Tuttle targeted McMullen as a
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American farmer, actor, World War II veteran, and Republican candidate
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1051:"Statement Of Senator Patrick Leahy On The Passing Of Fred Tuttle"
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High School before going to work on his family's dairy farm.
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981:"Vermont Death Records, 1909-2008 Entry for Fred H. Tuttle"
856:"Vermont Death Records, 1909-2008 Entry for Fred H. Tuttle"
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1078:"Elections | Home | Vermont Secretary of State"
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In 1947, Tuttle married Ida May Foote (1916–2000) in
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51:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
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1031:"Fred Tuttle, 84, Farmer and Celebrity, Dies"
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1241:United States Army personnel of World War II
446:Tuttle campaigned on a platform that seemed
409:In 1998, Tuttle was persuaded to run in the
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111:Learn how and when to remove this message
191:Spring Road Cemetery, Tunbridge, Vermont
1083:. Vermont-elections.org. Archived from
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1057:. Washington, DC: United States Senate
308:United States House of Representatives
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322:seat there than in his home state of
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49:adding citations to reliable sources
1002:NewEnglandFilm.com, October 1, 1998
993:"'Man With a Plan' Becomes Reality"
923:. Lehi, UT: Ancestry.com LLC. 1961.
903:. Lehi, UT: Ancestry.com LLC. 1953.
883:. Lehi, UT: Ancestry.com LLC. 1947.
863:. Lehi, UT: Ancestry.com LLC. 2003.
266:, and Republican candidate for the
1049:Leahy, Patrick (October 4, 2003).
946:"Fred Tuttle for Senate: Why Not?"
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1076:William Senning (May 9, 2017).
961:"Lights, Camera ... Fred!"
934:"Fred Tuttle: Man with a plan?"
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36:needs additional citations for
1226:People from Tunbridge, Vermont
1012:Fred Tuttle: A Man with a Plan
618:1998 General election results
498:following a day spent digging
390:directed by Vermont filmmaker
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376:White River Junction, Vermont
1251:United States Army soldiers
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936:BBC News, October 27, 1998
236:South Royalton High School
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256:Frederick Herman Tuttle
151:Frederick Herman Tuttle
477:in the actual election
419:as a way to publicize
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354:Tuttle served in the
211:Dorothy Louise Savage
1246:Farmers from Vermont
1221:American Protestants
320:United States Senate
268:United States Senate
45:improve this article
1261:Vermont Republicans
1090:on October 17, 2012
951:, September 4, 1998
949:The Washington Post
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492:Burlington, Vermont
423:. His opponent was
338:Tuttle was born in
181:Burlington, Vermont
1256:Burials in Vermont
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356:United States Army
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60:"Fred Tuttle"
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56:Find sources:
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34:This article
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1148:Find a Grave
1114:. Retrieved
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1092:. Retrieved
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1059:. Retrieved
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683:Fred Tuttle
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655:(Incumbent)
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601:Total votes
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545:Fred Tuttle
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496:heart attack
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441:Independents
433:carpetbagger
420:
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397:Nosey Parker
395:
394:, including
392:John O'Brien
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382:Later career
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360:World War II
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293:Nosey Parker
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288:John O'Brien
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264:World War II
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245:Dairy farmer
176:(2003-10-04)
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43:Please help
38:verification
35:
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1216:2003 deaths
1211:1919 births
1173:nominee for
1164:Jim Douglas
1144:Fred Tuttle
1135:Appearances
720:Independent
700:Libertarian
414:U.S. Senate
262:veteran of
127:Fred Tuttle
1205:Categories
830:Democratic
784:Write-ins
767:Jerry Levy
740:Grassroots
679:Republican
646:Democratic
626:Candidate
584:Republican
564:Republican
539:Republican
524:Candidate
411:Republican
334:Early life
242:Occupation
200:Republican
157:1919-07-18
71:newspapers
1179:(Class 3)
799:Majority
589:Write-ins
448:absurdist
437:Democrats
232:Education
101:June 2024
1116:July 15,
1094:July 15,
996:Archived
818:214,036
808:+38.95%
802:106,516
692:−20.90%
670:+18.05%
660:154,567
610:100.00%
500:potatoes
461:Holstein
1014:at the
814:Turnout
805:49.77%
777:−1.21%
689:22.45%
686:48,051
665:72.22%
605:52,813
576:44.16%
573:23,321
555:53.69%
550:28,355
417:primary
358:during
272:Vermont
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85:scholar
1139:C-SPAN
792:0.29%
774:0.58%
771:1,238
752:1.15%
749:2,459
730:1.35%
727:2,893
710:1.96%
707:4,199
629:Votes
623:Party
596:2.15%
593:1,137
527:Votes
521:Party
388:movies
206:Spouse
183:, U.S.
166:, U.S.
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1088:(PDF)
1081:(PDF)
841:Notes
504:Moxie
457:teats
270:from
220:(
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92:JSTOR
78:books
1184:1998
1118:2017
1096:2017
1063:2024
965:Time
833:hold
789:629
439:and
400:and
296:and
276:1998
171:Died
147:Born
64:news
1146:at
1137:on
274:in
47:by
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