*UPDATE - LOCAL COVERAGE - Burlington Free Press Sets The Stage*

Republican Richard Tarrant made quick work of two rivals in his party’s Senate primary Tuesday and will face off against independent Bernie Sanders in what is already the most expensive race in the state’s history.

Tarrant was leading his closest rival, retired Air Force Lt. Col. Greg Parke, by nearly a 2-1 margin at 10:20 p.m. when Parke called him to concede the race. Cris Ericson, a third candidate in the GOP primary, trailed far behind.

“It looks very positive,” Tarrant told cheering supporters at his Colchester campaign headquarters earlier in the evening. “We’re in pretty good shape.”

Sanders easily won a five-way race in the Democratic primary Tuesday, the first time he has let his name be on the Democratic ballot. He said he’ll decline the Democratic nomination today under an agreement he made with the party in January. Sanders will appear on the November ballot as an independent.

“I am an independent and proud to be an independent,” Sanders said after greeting supporters at his campaign headquarters in downtown Burlington. “But I have worked very closely with the Democrats and will be a part of their coordinated campaign.”

The looming contest between Sanders and Tarrant is expected to be heated and expensive. Sanders led Tarrant by 21 percentage points in the most recent statewide poll.

Rich Tarrant and Socialist Congressman Bernie Sanders both won their primaries tonight, making official the Senate race that we all knew was coming and one that Bernie should fear due to the obvious and shocking amount of support for the Republican Tarrant (or maybe it's just support against Bernie).

(Montpelier - AP) - Congressman Bernard Sanders and businessman Richard Tarrant breezed to victory Tuesday in their U.S. Senate primaries, setting the stage for a general election battle to replace retiring US Senator James Jeffords.

Sanders, who has said he plans to run as an independent in the November 7th general election, captured 94 percent of the vote with 61 percent of the precincts reporting, coasting past his four opponents in the Democratic primary.

Tarrant, meanwhile, took a 63-33 lead over Greg Parke in the GOP primary, with 62 percent of precincts reporting.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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HotAir is live blogging primaries across the country tonight... (h/t Malkin)

*UPDATE*
Tarrant actually cast his ballot in the gym of my old high school: