Tuesday, December 6, 2016
Chen notified Department of Health staff by email that it was a difficult decision he made during the Thanksgiving holiday. “My six years as your commissioner have been without a doubt the best job of my career,” he wrote.
Tags: Harry Chen , Peter Shumlin , Phil Scott , health commissioner , department of health , Image , Web Only
Friday, December 2, 2016
His departure leaves three candidates in the race to fill the post, which opens up in March 2017 when interim chair Donna Brazile’s term expires.
The 67-year-old Dean, who served as the DNC chair from 2005 to 2009, first announced his intention to run last month.
Tags: Howard Dean , DNC , Democratic National Committee , Image , Web Only
The list includes two of Donovan’s deputy prosecutors, Bram Kranichfeld and Sarah George, as well as Colchester attorney Ted Kenney, according to outgoing party chair Cameron Russell. The final tally has not been released, but Russell said that Kranichfeld was the top vote-getter, followed by Kenney and then George.
Tags: T.J. Donovan , Ted Kenney , Bram Kranichfeld , Sarah George , Faisal Gill , Phil Scott , Chittenden County , Democrats , Image , Web Only
Thursday, December 1, 2016
“It appears I might’ve won,” Ainsworth said during a break from the briefing. “I’m just here to get up to speed.”
“Appears” and “might’ve” were the operative words, however.
Both Ainsworth and Frenier seem to have the edge, but their races are still in legal uncertainty three weeks after the election.
Tags: David Ainsworth , Sarah Buxton , Bob Frenier , Susan Hatch Davis , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
The 90-year-old Montpelier resident said advisers persuaded him that a recount would not change the outcome of the election. He trailed Democrat Francis Brooks by 191 votes.
Brooks finished third in the race for three Senate seats, behind incumbents Ann Cummings (D-Washington) and Anthony Pollina (P/D-Washington).
“I have decided to stand aside and let the initial results be certified as the final ones,” Doyle said in a statement.
Doyle said that he wanted to give Brooks, who taught his children science at Montpelier High School, time to gear up for the legislative session that starts in January.
Doyle was matter-of-fact about the end of his political career. “It’s a remarkable opportunity to serve even one term in the legislature,” he said. “To serve that many is a real honor.”
Doyle continues to work as a political science professor at Johnson State College. He said he will still be back in the Statehouse in January, leading his students in his annual two-week course.
Tags: Bill Doyle , Francis Brooks , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Jason Gibbs, who volunteered as a senior adviser to Scott’s campaign, will be his chief of staff when Scott takes office in January. Gibbs, 40, of Waterbury, served as communications director for former Republican governor Jim Douglas before serving as commissioner of the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. Gibbs ran unsuccessfully for secretary of state in 2010 and most recently has been a communications and project management consultant.
Brittney Wilson, who was Scott’s campaign coordinator, will serve as his secretary of civil and military affairs. Wilson, 30, of Groton, formerly worked in the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation, the state Auditor’s Office and the state Department of Libraries. Her new position is a constitutionally established post that traditionally serves as a policy adviser to the governor.
Tags: Jason Gibbs , Brittney Wilson , Rachel Feldman , Kendal Smith , Phil Scott , Image , Web Only
The race, in which Republican Phil Scott prevailed over Democrat Sue Minter, cost approximately $13.34 million, according to a Seven Days analysis of this week’s post-election campaign finance reports.
The total is just shy of the $13.7 million spent on the 2006 U.S. Senate race between then-congressman Bernie Sanders and Republican businessman Rich Tarrant.
Regardless, the candidates, political parties and special interest groups spent a heap of money deciding Vermont’s first open race for governor in six years.
Tags: Senator , Phil Scott , Sue Minter , Rich Tarrant , Bernie Sanders , gubernatorial race , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
The hymn books at the First Unitarian Universalist Society Meeting House where they gathered went unopened. Instead, people in the pews paged through hardback copies of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) hefty new book, Our Revolution: A Future to Believe In, waiting for the man himself to appear at the pulpit. It proved a fitting setting for a former presidential candidate who’s now famous for his political proselytizing.
Hosted by Phoenix Books and held in Sanders’ hometown of Burlington, the event was one of several sold-out stops on his nationwide book tour. Sanders announced his Senate campaign at the same church in 2006 and some of his most zealous fans attended Tuesday night’s sermon.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Donald Trump , Phoenix Books , Our Revolution , Image , Web Only
Monday, November 21, 2016
“This is kind of crazy,” Buxton said by phone late Monday afternoon.
Election Day results showed Buxton ahead of Ainsworth by three votes, 1,003 to 1,000. After ballots were recounted by tabulator machines Monday at the Windsor County Courthouse in Woodstock, the candidates stood at 1,000 to 1,000, with two ballots in dispute.
Buxton said a judge will review those two ballots. She argued that the voters’ intent on both of them is unclear and that it’s also unclear whether the vote tabulator counted them.
Vermont Republican Party executive director Jeff Bartley disagreed, saying that the two votes are for Ainsworth and they were not included in the 1,000-to-1,000 tally. “If he gets either, he wins,” Bartley said.
Buxton said that if she believes the ballots are still questionable after a ruling from the judge, she may request a recount by hand.
If the vote were to remain tied after a judge’s ruling, state law calls for a revote within three weeks, Secretary of State Jim Condos said.
Tags: Sarah Buxton , David Ainsworth , Cindy Weed , Larry Fiske , Susan Hatch Davis , Robert Frenier , Jim Condos , Jeff Bartley , Image , Web Only
The Onion City would put on paper its practice of not asking residents about immigration status while “providing municipal services or in the course of law enforcement,” according to a city council resolution. The resolution describes the city as Vermont’s “most diverse community.”
Councilors on Monday evening will discuss and possibly vote on the resolution, which would set in motion the research and development of specific policy, Mayor Seth Leonard said.
Tags: winooski , sanctuary city , seth leonard , refugees , immigration , Image , Web Only