Monday, November 14, 2016
Vermont’s Senate Democratic caucus unanimously nominated Sen. Tim Ashe (D/P-Chittenden) to serve as president pro tempore Monday evening, all but ensuring his election in January as the next leader of the state Senate.
Tags: Vermont Senate , Tim Ashe , Claire Ayer , Dick Mazza , Image , Web Only
The departures include morning show host Gina Bullard, reporter Alex Apple, reporter Eliza Larson and producer Kristen Tripodi. According to Tebbetts, all the departures are voluntary and all of the positions will be filled.
Tags: WCAX , Gina Bullard , Alex Apple , Eliza Larson , Kristen Tripodi , Image , Web Only
Friday, November 11, 2016
The Washington, D.C., party organization, after all, spent more than $3 million on television advertisements selling his candidacy and knocking his Democratic rival, Sue Minter. Less than two weeks before the election, corporate lobbyists affiliated with the RGA held an $18,000 fundraiser for Scott's campaign in Washington.
Minter and the Vermont Democratic Party repeatedly noted that the RGA's top donor this year has been Koch Industries, owned by billionaire bogeymen Charles and David Koch.
The attacks clearly fell short (perhaps, in part, because Minter herself benefited from more than $1.4 million worth of Democratic Governors Association advertising). Scott defeated Minter on Tuesday by more than 8 percentage points.
Now, the governor-elect is preparing for his first out-of-state trip since winning the election: to an RGA conference in Orlando, Fla. According to Scott spokesman Ethan Latour, Scott will take part in a two-day retreat next Tuesday and Wednesday with fellow Republican governors at the Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek resort.
Tags: Phil Scott , Republican Governors Association , Sue Minter , Koch brothers , Image , Web Only
There can be no doubt that Scott won a mandate to govern. Unofficial results from the Secretary of State's Office show that he defeated Minter by a resounding 27,555 votes — or 52 to 43.4 percent. A town-by-town analysis conducted by Seven Days demonstrates that his victory cut across nearly every corner of the state: He won 11 out of 14 counties and 193 of 246 towns and cities.
But the message from the electorate appears more nuanced than Scott would have it. The same voters who sent a moderate conservative to the governor's office also dispatched a liberal activist, Sen. David Zuckerman (P/D-Chittenden), to the lieutenant governor's office — and wholeheartedly embraced the rest of the Democratic slate. In the legislature, Democrats held on to their near-supermajority status in the Vermont House and picked up two additional seats in the Vermont Senate, leaving Republicans with just seven out of 30 positions in the upper chamber.
If anything, the results of the 2016 election demonstrate that Vermonters, as always, are perfectly willing to split their tickets.
Tags: Sue Minter , Phil Scott , Donald Trump , Hillary Clinton , David Zuckerman , Randy Brock , Patrick Leahy , Scott Milne , T.J. Donovan , Deb Bucknam , Image , Web Only
Thursday, November 10, 2016
Former Vermont governor Howard Dean announced Thursday that he hopes to reclaim the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee.
“The dems need organization and focus on the young,” he wrote on Twitter. “Need a fifty State strategy and tech rehab. I am in for chairman again.”
Dean served as chairman of the DNC once before — from February 2005 through January 2009 — following his 2004 bid for the presidency. During his time at the helm, he pursued a “50-state strategy” focused on rebuilding state parties in regions that had been written off as reliably Republican.
In an interview with Seven Days Thursday evening, Dean said he hoped to revive that strategy and convince young voters to become more engaged.
“They understand politics does matter. They’re in shock. They’re largely demoralized. We need to harness their energy and get them back in the saddle,” the 67-year-old said. “It’s basically going to be a youth movement.”
Key to that, he said, was to articulate “a coherent message.”
“I think we need to provide a real alternative to Donald Trump,” he said. “We can’t be Republican-lite.”
Tags: Senator , Howard Dean , Bernie Sanders , Keith Ellison , Democratic National Committee , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Many foreigners are recoiling in horror at what American voters wrought on Wednesday. Immigrants and minorities and their supporters are alarmed. People are joking — or maybe not joking — about fleeing abroad.
The Fears aren't oblivious: They've lived in Germany, where his U.S. Army career took him, for most of the past three decades, and have been getting texts from friends concerned about Donald Trump's win. While he's no political zealot, Carl said he figures that, if he had done some of the things Trump has been accused of, he would be in prison.
But that didn't diminish their excitement about Maria finally taking the citizenship test.
And so on a gray Wednesday afternoon in the nearly empty U.S. District Court in Burlington, Maria became an American, one of the first to take the oath since Trump became the president-elect. She couldn't keep her eyes off the certificate proving her citizenship for more than a couple minutes.
"It was not something I was worried about," Maria said of Tuesday's election. "And I have him," she added, indicating her husband. "Everywhere we go, we make it work. We look forward, not back."
Tags: immigration , Christina Reiss , Maria Fears , Image , Web Only
“The people of Vermont have given us a mandate for fiscal responsibility,” the Berlin Republican said, standing in the Statehouse lobby in front of a bust of Abraham Lincoln. “I am putting together a very capable team to make sure we have a strong budget in place, that the transition is smooth for Vermonters and that we accomplish the goals we set during the election.”
Scott, a six-year lieutenant governor and co-owner of a Middlesex excavation company, defeated Democrat Sue Minter 52 to 43 percent in Tuesday’s election. He will replace retiring Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin on January 5.
Though several of Scott’s initial picks come from the Douglas administration, he said he would look “outside the box” as he fills out his cabinet and staff. “Being a Republican isn’t a litmus test,” he said.
“What I’m looking for is talent — people who understand the economy is important,” he added.
Tags: Phil Scott , Donald Trump , Peter Shumlin , Neale Lunderville , Image , Web Only
The House’s current composition includes 85 Democrats, 53 Republicans, six Progressives and six independents. Next term, if all current results hold, the chamber will include 84 Democrats, 52 Republicans, seven Progressives and seven independents.
Recounts are likely in several close races, including Windsor-Orange-1, where Rep. Sarah Buxton (D-Tunbridge) was leading Royalton Republican David Ainsworth by just three votes — 1,003 to 1,000. Six years ago, Buxton beat Ainsworth, then the incumbent, by a single vote.
Among the incumbents who appeared to lose reelection races this year — again, assuming current leads hold steady — were Reps. Steve Berry (D-Manchester), Joanna Cole (D-Burlington), Paul Dame (R-Essex Junction), Joey Purvis (R-Colchester), Larry Fiske (R-Enosburgh), Avram Patt (D-Worcester), Susan Hatch Davis (P-West Topsham) and Patsy French (D-Randolph).
Here are preliminary results of some of the most competitive districts:
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Democrats and Progressives appeared to pick up two seats in the state's upper chamber, giving them 23 out of 30. But Republicans successfully fended off a challenge in Franklin County, where they were defending two seats.
The biggest shock of the night came in Washington County, where Sen. Bill Doyle (R-Washington) fell to former Democratic representative and sergeant-at-arms Francis Brooks. Doyle, 90, has served in the Senate since 1969. A political science professor at Johnson State College, he is known throughout Vermont for the annual "Doyle Poll" he administers every March on Town Meeting Day.
With all 20 of the county's precincts reporting early Wednesday, Brooks led Doyle 13,685 to 13,498 votes for the third seat in the district. Incumbent Sens. Ann Cummings (D-Washington) and Anthony Pollina (P/D-Washington) won the other two seats, with 17,008 and 15,207 votes, respectively.
Tags: Bill Doyle , Francis Brooks , Dustin Degree , Carolyn Branagan , Deb Ingram , Chris Pearson , Image , Web Only
A grinning Scott took the stage around 11:30 p.m. at a Vermont Republican Party gathering at the Sheraton Burlington Hotel in South Burlington.
“I can’t believe we’re here tonight,” Scott told a ballroom full of jubilant supporters — his wife, mother and two daughters by his side. “You know, 20 years ago I didn’t have a political bone in my body. To say this blue-collar kid from Barre never expected this to happen is an understatement.”
Minutes earlier, he’d received a phone call from Minter, a former transportation secretary in the Shumlin administration, conceding the hard-fought race.
“She thanked me for the campaign we ran and wished me the best as the next governor of Vermont,” the governor-elect said.
Tags: Phil Scott , Sue Minter , Peter Shumlin , Image , Web Only