Voters choose Democrats in local House and Senate legislative races

November 5, 2024 | By Lisa Scagliotti and Cheryl Casey 

Voters cast ballots in the gym at Brookside Primary School on Tuesday. Photo by Gordon Miller

Voters in Waterbury, Duxbury and the Mad River Valley as well as across Washington County elected Democrats on Tuesday to seats in the Vermont House and Senate.

Waterbury incumbent state Reps. Tom Stevens and Theresa Wood won re-election, according to results from town clerks across the Washington-Chittenden district. 

In the Washington-2 district covering Duxbury and the Mad River Valley, Rep. Dara Torre, D-Moretown, won re-election to a second term alongside fellow Democrat and first-time candidate Candice White of Waitsfield, over two independent challengers.

Stevens and Wood will return to Montpelier to represent Waterbury in Washington County and Bolton, Huntington and Buels Gore in Chittenden County. The veteran lawmakers were the top vote-getters in a four-way race that also included candidates Jonathan Griffin, a Waterbury Republican, and Independent James Haddad of Huntington.

According to the unofficial results reported by 10 p.m., Wood won 3,366 votes or 35%, Stevens won 2,822 or 29%. Griffin claimed 2,093 or just shy of 22%, and Haddad 1,348 which came to 14%.

The local Democratic wins, however, were tempered by losses in other House and Senate districts around the state and Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman, running on both Progressive and Democratic tickets, as of midnight was trailing Republican challenger John Rodgers in a tight race. 

“We have a lot of work ahead of us,” Wood said. “Significant changes are happening across the state.”

Wood said she thanks all of her supporters for their trust and wants them to know: “I have heard their concerns.”

Stevens couldn’t be reached for comment late Tuesday. 

Turnout was strong across Vermont on Tuesday given the U.S. presidential election, Congressional races and all of Vermont’s statewide offices on the ballot in addition to the entire Vermont General Assembly.

Waterbury and Bolton each saw 77% of registered voters cast ballots; in Huntington and Buels Gore, turnout was 79%, according to town clerk reports. 

Stevens, who chairs the House General and Housing Committee, is looking to return to Montpelier for a ninth term in the House. This is Wood’s fifth election for a two-year term; she was initially appointed to a one-year vacancy before running for election. Wood chairs the House Human Services Committee.

A civil engineer who works for the state Agency of Transportation, Griffin was on the ballot for the first time as a candidate, campaigning on a theme of reining in the cost of living in Vermont. Haddad, a retired certified public accountant, also was a political newcomer this year and likewise called for making Vermont a more affordable place to live.

Griffin took the results in stride. He said he was pleased that his vote total exceeded 2,000 votes, calling it “a little better than I expected, but not as good as I had hoped.” Nonetheless, the level of support makes him “optimistic the message was getting out there,” he said. 

Griffin thanked voters for their support and added that he will be watching the legislature closely as the next biennium convenes. He said he doesn’t rule out another run for office “if we’re not making strides.” In general though, he gave credit to the winners saying he is “optimistic Tom and Theresa will do a great job” and he supports them in their work. 

Haddad reflected on the results and considered his first run for office. “I probably could have run a better campaign if I had tried to attract money,” he concluded. Other candidates raised more funds and received contributions from more donors and organizations, he pointed out. He admitted that he “could have had more of an advertising presence” with more fundraising. “If I’m going to get in there again, I will have to do a better job,” he said.  

To his supporters, however, especially in Huntington, he said, “I can’t thank them enough.”

Election official Linda Gravell looks on as Christopher Wood casts his ballot at Brookside Primary School. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti

Washington-2

In Washington-2 communities, Tuesday’s election turnout ranged from 75% in Warren and Fayston to nearly 82% in Waitsfield; Duxbury saw just shy of 79% and Moretown logged 80%.

Newcomer White was the top vote-getter with 3,164 votes or 28.7%; Torre received 2,644 votes or 24%; with 2,201 votes, Moretown Independent candidate John Burns claimed 20%; Eugene Bifano of Warren running on the Common Sense label won 1,039 votes or 9.4%

Washington Senate

In the three-seat Washington Senate district, the three incumbents were headed to re-election Tuesday night as returns from all but one district community had been reported.

The Washington Senate district covers all of Washington County’s 20 municipalities along with Orange and Braintree in Orange County and Stowe in Lamoille County. Only Stowe remained to report results as of 11:30 p.m.

Sen. Ann Cummings, a Montpelier Democrat, was at the head of the pack of six candidates with 20,267 or 18.6% of the vote. Montpelier Democrat/Progressive Sen. Anne Watson was in second place with 17,403 voters or just under 16%; Marshfield Democrat/Progressive Sen. Andrew Perchlik was in third place with 16,067 or 14.7% of the vote.

Three Republican candidates rounded out the field: Donald Koch of Barre Town and Mike Doyle of Montpelier were within 13 votes of each other: Koch with 12,732 and Doyle with 12,719, both hovering around 11.7%; Michael Deering of Barre City had 10,747 votes, or just 9.85%.

This story will be updated.