Voters in Vermont reelected the incumbent Republican governor, and a former lieutenant governor defeated the current one. That means Vermont's executive chamber will be split next year.
Vermont Republican Gov. Phil Scott was reelected to a sixth two-year term Tuesday, defeating Democratic challenger Amanda Janoo.
Polls had indicated a tight race between the two. Unofficial results show Scott retained the seat with 52% to Janoo’s 45%.
At about 10:45, Janoo conceded the race and congratulated Scott.
“I know we didn’t quite get the outcome that we had hoped for and I’m not going to pretend like I’m not disappointed in this moment. I know that we all worked so incredibly hard and we gave it everything. But I also want to be really honest that what we accomplished was genuinely more than I could have possibly dreamed.”
Shortly after 11 p.m. Scott appeared at the GOP watch party in Montpelier to rousing applause.
“Forty-eight hours ago the political pundits were writing my obituary and the UNH poll had us losing by about 9 points and it looks like we’re going to win by over 5, which is a 14 point swing. This has been a hard-fought election and I just received a call from Amanda Janoo congratulating us on our victory. Amanda ran a strong, energetic campaign and she and her team should be proud of what they accomplished.”
Scott expressed disappointment that Republicans lost seats in the Vermont legislature, giving Democrats a supermajority.
“We will enter the next two years with some significant differences in our political views and the approaches to our government. But I want Vermonters to know this: my commitment to you has not changed and I will continue to make the case that we need to grow our economy and make Vermont more affordable. Tonight, I extend an invitation to legislative leaders: let’s find ways to make meaningful progress on the challenges we face.”
In the Lieutenant Governor’s race, Molly Gray has retaken the seat she left in 2023, defeating Republican incumbent John Rodgers, 61% to 36%.
Gray told supporters in Burlington that they ran the race “the Vermont way.”
“We kept things positive. We focused on addressing our biggest challenges. We shared all sorts of ideas to address housing and health care. We talked a whole heck of a lot about universal primary care and we’re going to continue to. And we tried to model every single day the best that we could what we wanted from a lieutenant governor in this moment.”
John Rodgers, who did not attend the GOP watch party, issued a statement noting voters had made their decision and said, “I respect their choice and congratulate Molly Gray on a hard-fought campaign.”
Middlebury College political scientist Bert Johnson says both of the top races were competitive, and Scott was able to buffer the national blue wave.
“Phil Scott was successful despite a Democratic wave that swept not only across the country but through the Vermont legislative races. And that’s quite an achievement. It is also quite an achievement that his competitor Amanda Janoo came as close as she did, having been an unknown eight months ago.”
Johnson says there are a couple reasons Janoo was unable to take advantage of the so-called blue wave.
“In Phil Scott’s case I think he did a good job of differentiating himself from President Trump. Plus I think he’s been as consistent as anybody on this message of affordability.”
As for the lieutenant governor’s race, Johnson expects the relationship between Republican Scott and Democrat Molly Gray to be cordial.
“Neither one of them is a particularly abrasive personality, so I think they’ll be cordial. They’ll get along when they need to get along. I don’t see them working very closely on a lot of issues. But I don’t think we’ll see a lot of flame ups between the two of them.”
There were two state constitutional amendments on the statewide ballot. Proposal 3, which guarantees employees' rights to collective bargaining, passed with 74% approval, and Proposal 4, to guarantee equal protections, passed with 79% of the vote.
In the race for Vermont’s sole US House seat, Democrat Becca Balint was reelected to a third term, beating Republican Gerald Malloy 63% to 30%.
