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Heffernan, Hart, Beck, Brennan, Mattos and Douglass to join seven GOP Senate incumbents
Two longtime incumbent senators defeated at the polls
By Guy Page
Six senate seats now filled by Democrats will be occupied by Republicans in January, bringing the total number of GOP solons to 13 – not enough to control the Senate, but likely enough to influence its leadership choices and definitely enough to support Gov. Phil Scott’s vetos.
Vermont voters re-elected every incumbent Republican senator:
Randy Brock, Franklin
Bob Norris, Franklin
Richard Westman, Lamoille
Brian Collamore, Rutland
David Weeks, Rutland
Terry Williams, Rutland, and
Russ Ingalls, Essex.
They also sent two longtime Democrat incumbent senators to defeat: Larry Hart defeated Mark MacDonald in Orange County, and Steve Heffernan finished second in two-seat Addison, ousting Senate Natural Resources and Energy Chair Chris Bray.
Voters also elected Republicans:
Pat Brennan of Colchester to the Grand Isle – Colchester seat long held by Richard Mazza, who resigned shortly before his death earlier this year;
Chris Mattos, defeating Democrat Irene Wrenner in the Chittenden North district that includes Milton and Essex;
Scott Beck easily bested Amanda Cochran for the Caledonia County seat held by Democrat Jane Kitchel, who chose not to seek re-election;
Sam Douglass roundly defeated Rep. Katherine Sims to win the Orleans County seat, now held by retiring Sen. Bobby Starr, a Democrat.
In Washington, Windham, Windsor, and Bennington Counties, as well as in two Chittenden County senator districts, Democrats held on to their seats.
Full results can be seen on the Vermont Secretary of State’s website.
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Categories: Elections
This goes to show Vermonter’s understood the destructive direction the state was in
with the progressive nonsense with it’s tax & spend agenda, and the refusal to listen to its citizens concerns.
Vermonter’s want Vermont, to be just that Vermont, not some offshoot of LA, these transplant in the progressive party are a cancer to the state, and this shows Vermont
want conservative policies
Deep Blue Vermont, has just became a few shades lighter, and we can become a red state again under conservative values.
Mr. Heffernan’s VDC October 4 commentary provides a logical next step when the CHS collapses with its multi-billion dollar credit costs and huge administrative costs. 70% of Vermonters will pay that credit cost on every gallon purchased until 2050; whether or not their home can be weatherized and a heat pump installed.
Estimates have about 30% of Vermont’s dwellings cannot be weatherized because of structural deficiencies or vermiculite panels in the attic. They would have to pay for the expensive credits per gallon regardless for the next 25 years.
The Senator wants to expand Vermont’s Weatherization Assistance Program. It is a brilliant idea: use and expand what already works.
WAP weatherized 1,200 homes last year and projects another 1,500 this year. All those homes are receiving Low Income Heat Energy Assistance and owners are required to allow their homes retrofitted. And, he would allow WAP to expand into the low, median income homes providing the same free-of-cost retrofit provided to LIHEAP clients.
WAP could and should double the projected homes but workforce shortages now make that unlikely. However, Mr. Heffernan’s bill would increase their salaries to $30 over several years. That will attract new employees.
They provide a human benefit to energy burdened families. His “Healthy Homes Act” is the only recourse the legislature has to replace CHS when it is defeated or the Governor’s veto is sustained.
Understand, the Clean Heat Act 18 will come to the General Assembly next January DOA. But, the Global Warming Solutions Act will allow the Conservation Law Foundation to continue to sue the State for non-compliance.
GWSA must be rewritten as a “goal to reduce heating fuels emissions–not a mandate”. Senator Heffernan’s idea to expand W.A.P. can satisfy a Judge that Vermont is doing all that it can to comply while it struggles to add more installers to the workforce.
John,
The Vermont GWSA needs to be REPEALED not rewritten. Let’s be honest. This is ALL about the Global Agenda (Agenda 21 and 2030) NOT the climate.
Some persons (Legislators) are tools who want to help with the Global Agenda knowingly. Let’s expose them. The majority are persons who believe because they have been indoctrinated by the fear-mongering narrative of “catastrophic global warming” since Al Gore started in the 1980’s.
We also need to ask Phil Scott why he signed Vermont on as a member of the US Climate Alliance, because our agreement as a member is the foundational problem for ALL of this extreme climate nonsense.
So glad to see “buy a blanket” MacDonald out in the cold, I’d offer to buy HIM a blanket, but sorry a bit short as I just paid my $8000+ property tax. Also glad to see Steve Heffernan as my new senator, any bets on how long it will be before Bray is working for his girlfriend’s lobbyist group? You know the one that he was already “working for when he engineered the unaffordable heat act.
I would have liked to see brave challenger, Maureen Heck, oust Westman—who outRINOed even Phil Scott in last June’s veto overrides—in Lamoille and start to actually do something practical for us here. I applaud her for running, as well as Charlie Burnham, Nick Lopez, and Mac Teale. It’s nearly a miracle that Richard Bailey ran successfully for House in Lamoille.
Common sense is finally arriving in Vermont! Kudos to the new LG and all those new senators and representatives for stepping forward and to the voters for electing them!