All of Vermont’s statewide offices, a U.S. Senate seat and the at-large Congressional seat are on the ballot Tuesday. Although early voting began in late September, the candidates have continued to campaign hard for every possible vote.
It is a year of political change in the Green Mountain State.
A year ago, Democratic U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy announced he would retire after serving eight terms. That set off a domino effect as politicians in Vermont jockeyed to run for rarely available political positions.
In the race to replace Senator Leahy, current at-large Democratic Congressman Peter Welch easily won the primary and is telling constituents that democracy is at stake as they cast their vote.
“This is the most consequential election that I’ve participated in because January 6th demonstrated that our democracy is very much imperiled. The other issues of inflation, reproductive freedom, dealing with the Supreme Court that has really gone rogue that is what is at stake in this election.”
Republican Senate challenger Gerald Malloy was endorsed Thursday by former President Donald Trump. Malloy wants to stop what he says is “overspending” and seeks a balanced federal budget.
“We the people have been led to a very bad state. Crime, drugs, inflation, recession, record high oil prices and gas prices, massive overspending, and a crippling, crippling debt. We are in a leadership crisis. It is time for change.”
The two candidates disagree over the January 6th insurrection and its implications.
“That was a violent assault on the peaceful transfer of power," says Welch. "I was there. This is terrible for our democracy.”
“The American people have First Amendment rights," states Malloy. "They have right to freedom of speech, right to freedom to assemble. I’m not calling that an insurrection. It got out of control. People broke the law. They need to be held accountable. That’s what happened.”
The race for the at-large Congressional seat, opened as Congressman Welch runs for Senate, featured a Democratic primary that pitted Vermont Senate Pro Tem Becca Balint against the current lieutenant governor, Molly Gray. Balint won the primary and if elected would become the first woman from Vermont elected to Congress.
“I am an experienced legislator who has worked on issues very important to Vermonters from housing investments to climate change, reproductive rights, minimum wage increases, paid sick leave. I have done this because I care deeply about my community and I have really worked hard to serve them. The stakes right now are incredibly high. We need someone in Congress who’s going to be standing up for our human rights, who’s going to be standing up voting rights and somebody who understands that if we fail we will slide towards authoritarianism in this country.”
The Republican in the race is Liam Madden, a self-proclaimed independent who denounces the two-party system but ran as a Republican to get on the ballot.
“I think that there’s a deep hunger in the people of Vermont, whether that’s left or right, for some deep reform to the two party system. Because left and right both realize that it’s corrupt, it’s dysfunctional, it’s warlike and it’s not representing us well.”
Madden has received no support from the state GOP. In the waning days of his campaign he has been criticized on both sides for possible campaign finance violations.
“In order to qualify for a couple debates in the primary there was a minimum bar of fundraising you had to do, which I thought was BS," Madden told WVMT. "So I basically just made some legal loopholes happen to actually get into the debates which helped me win the primary.”
When Gray decided to run for Congress, it opened up her LG slot and a former holder of the seat entered the race. Democrat/Progressive David Zuckerman served from 2017 until January 2021 when he lost a race for governor.
“I have been working across the state for 20 years plus on issues relating to economics like raise the minimum wage to social equality, like marriage equality. I think there could be more urgency on some of the issues folks are facing as well as the climate and as well as dealing with some of the social injustices that are going on in our society.”
Zuckerman faces Republican Joe Benning, a 12-year veteran of the state Senate, who says he would work better with the Republican Governor Phil Scott.
“David when he was Lieutenant Governor it was made clear that he was not welcome in the Scott Administration. Phil Scott has personally endorsed me. I know his team and I have worked with his team. David has definitely not and in fact has often worked against that team.”
At the top of the statewide races, Democrat Brenda Siegel is attempting to unseat three-term Gov. Scott. Siegel is focused on affordable housing and the opioid crisis.
“In the last 6 years the things that matter most to Vermonters have not gotten better, they’ve gotten worse. Vermont has not become more affordable, it’s become less. The housing crisis has been barreling at us and there still is no plan. We have seen the most overdose deaths in the history of this state and the governor is vetoing the bills. There are solutions to the problems we face.”
Scott has outlined his efforts to counter the Democratically-controlled legislature and notes that many of the initiatives his opponent wants to create have already started.
“You didn’t elect me to be a rubber stamp for the legislature, the supermajority in the legislature. You elected me to make the tough decisions based on facts and that’s what I’ve done over the last six years. We have a lot of opportunity in front of us. We just have to make sure that we invest rather than spend the ARPA money.”
All state legislative seats are up for election.
In the race for Attorney General, Democrat Charity Clark faces Republican Michael Tagliavia. Democrat Sarah Copeland Hanzas is running against Republican Brooke Paige for Secretary of State. Incumbent Democrat Doug Hoffer faces Republican Richard Morton in the race for state auditor, and Democrat Michael Pieciak faces Brooke Paige (who is running for multiple offices) for state treasurer.
Early voting in Vermont began on September 26th. The state director of elections reports that as of Thursday morning 138,290 ballots had been returned.