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By Guy Page
Tuesday’s huge gains in both Senate and House and in the lieutenant governor’s chair probably wouldn’t have happened without a perfect storm of about 12 events, GOP State Chairman Paul Dame explained on VDC-TV yesterday, November 7.
Often made a scapegoat for past GOP losses statewide, Dame traveled to VDC-TV’s new studio at 802 Scoop in Barre to be interviewed by Social Media Director Paul Bean.
First and foremost, the “Democrat supermajority abused its power and stopped listening to people,” Dame said.
Instead of working with the nation’s most popular governor, “they tried things they would never have tried under a Democratic governor” – passing legislation that no sitting Democrat governor would have allowed to come to him for signature. Steep school spending hikes and draconian carbon reduction measures topped Dame’s list of Supermajority acts of brinksmanship.
Democrats paid the price at the polls for deafness to citizen concerns about the Clean Heat Standard. “We saw the Clean Heat Standard, where you had more voters reaching out to their legislators any time in 20 years, and they were getting ignored,” Dame said. “You had Senate Pro Temp Baruth basically telling his Senators to ignore the people that are writing to them, ignore the press, and stick to the plan.”
Voters responded with a record turnout: more than 4,000 votes surpassing the 2020 record of 370,000. While the presidential election clearly played a role, Dame’s analysis of early mailed-in ballot returns showed a high rate of return for independent and swing voters – indicating statewide voter unrest. Also – crucially – many of the GOP candidates who were swept to victory in what VPR reporter Peter Hirschfeld called ‘a red Tsunami’ were recruited after the State mailed out the first tax bills reflecting the huge property tax increase.
Property taxes. “Obviously,” Dame said of the August Surprise 14% statewide increase. “Democrats approached the issue of property taxes with a shrug, like, ‘What can you do, everybody already voted on their budget.’ There was no sense that Democrats communicated to to the public that, yes, this is a problem and we’re going to do something about it.”
Town Meeting voters who once, twice, even three times voted down their school budgets were unhappy in the extreme when they got their tax bill. And Democrats did little to nothing to assuage them, Dame said.
“They were completely silent on those two things [property taxes, Clean Heat Standard]. They weren’t willing to admit that it was a problem that needed to be addressed,” Dame said.
Other contributing factors to the Vermont red wave include:
- Retirements in the Senate. Two of the five departed senators may have sought re-election “if [Senate Pro Tem] Phil Baruth had not been so arrogant,” Dame said – naming specifically Sen. Jane Kitchel in Caledonia County and Brian Campion in Bennington County. The GOP picked up Caledonia and ran a strong but unsuccessful challenge in Bennington.
- Unprecedented campaign cooperation between Gov. Phil Scott, state, county and town committees, and legislative candidates.
For the full list of about a dozen reasons why Democrats lost their supermajority, and for insights into how Republicans hope to consolidate their gains and add more seats in 2026, see the entire interview on YouTube (above).
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Categories: politics
Paul is correct that the VTGOP cannot win if we fail to field candidates. Jim Douglas has been saying this for decades. Every seat in the House and Senate should be contested, but that’s just step one. Step two is attracting and developing candidates who will stay focused on the pocketbook issues that Vermonters have the biggest concerns about. Bill Clinton was correct when he said: “It’s the economy, stupid.” Hopefully we start that recruitment process now while the pendulum has begun to swing in our direction. Just my two cents.
If the Vermont GWSA is not repealed and it is allowed to stay in place for the Leftists to see through ALL of their extreme and expensive plans, Vermont will have a massive economy problem. Act 18 was just the first step with many more extreme climate mandates to come.
Did Governor Scott start this extreme climate ball rolling when he signed Vermont up to be a member of the US Climate Alliance? Reading what the organization is all about, it seems this is a foundational problem for Vermont.
I would also like to understand how a Governor of a US State can commit the entire state and its people to join such an organization? If Scott took an Oath to follow the US and Vermont State Constitutions, how is it he can sign us up to commit to a Global Climate Agenda Plan?
Joe is 100 percent correct.
No one wants to join the Republican party in Vermont because the Republican party in Vermont shuns the MAGA Republicans. When Phil Scott needs and uses progressive voters to get elected, tells people he does not support and did not vote for Donald Trump and tells Vermonters Donald Trump must be stopped at any cost,
https://vermontdailychronicle.com/vermonters-should-do-everything-they-can-to-stop-trump-scott-says/ then is put on a poster along with Trump and JD Vance that says vote for us just illustrates the hypocrisy of the Vermont Republican Party. Maybe Scott should start off with an apology to Trump and the MAGA constituants that he was wrong, but he won’t because all the Commiecrats that voted for him would kick him to the curb and he would never get elected in this state.
What about the existing first and second steps that everyone is ignoring?
“Tuesday’s huge gains in both Senate and House and in the lieutenant governor’s chair probably wouldn’t have happened without a perfect storm…”.
Is it that the VT GOP had so little to do with these ‘huge gains’ that they’re trying to convince us this was no big deal?
And what was that perfect storm. Well, for starters, one presidential candidate received at least 74,216,672 votes at last count, while the other received 70,327,230 votes, even with the likes of our Governor, our LG elect (if the leftist legilature can contain themselves), publicly voting for the latter. Perhaps we should stop listening to the logic of Vermont’s pretend conservatives, not to mention the so-called 11 million 2020 shadow voters across the country who curiously disappeared into the November 5th night under long awaited scrutiny by our election officials.
Re: “Just my two cents.”
Yep. That’s about what it’s worth.
You need to be careful supporting the clowns that were in power during the lockdown, as they sold you out and hope you will forget their names.
It is potentially the start of a Republican comeback in Vermont.
Not with Phil Scott as governor.
Phil Scott only gets elected because the progressives put him in office. Now what does he owe them? If he were to embrace MAGA which most of the country did the Progs would never vote for him and he would never be elected. He should be thrown out of the Republican Party; he is not a Republican. He is a Quisling.
Yes, Vermont’s progressive ” Super Majority” , is it’s own worst enemy, it only listen to it’s donors and special interest groups, not the citizens of the state, just look at the legislation they promote and support………………….. stupid majority comes to mind !!
Vermont’s GOP needs to step up every election with candidates that can hold the GOP perspective, we only need to pick away a few seats every election period, sooner or later we will have enough seats to stop the nonsense, all any GOP candidate needs to do is show the progressive nonsense, common sense will prevail………
Wake up people, Vermont needs to be Vermont, not an offshoot of California cesspool !!
Well done Paul, Gov Scott,
I would have lost massive amounts in betting on this one. We are reportedly facing another double digit increase next year.
Hopefully you can all support and build the team, while you guys may not love the 119k who voted for Trump in Vermont they did support all the candidates on the ticket.
There is a great income resource that is untapped in the Vermont political landscape, they have much to grieve too. It’s the second homeowner who’s getting taxed on purchase with insane amounts and now even more insane property taxes.
You guys have done an amazing thing here, best of luck building the team and bringing some sanity to Vermont.
Hopefully Scott can support more people strategically down ticket. Well done, well done.
The Clean Heat Standard became a Law on May 24, 2023 in Vermont. It would need to be repealed, totally. What are the chances that would happen with the new Legislature? Just asking. And, if it were to happen, what are the chances that this same policy would not be re-named and repackaged as something very similar as the Clean Heat Standard? As mentioned below, Vermont is supposed to ” . . . meet the requirements of the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2020 . . .” – that would need to be cancelled as well in order to totally STOP the increased taxes and the scam.
First 2 Paragraphs from the Public Utility Commission website on the Clean Heat Standard:
On May 24, 2023, Act 18 of 2023 became effective. The Act states that “it is the intent of the General Assembly that the Clean Heat Standard be designed and implemented in a manner that achieves Vermont’s thermal sector greenhouse gas emissions reductions necessary to meet the requirements of [the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2020], minimizes costs to customers, protects public health, and recognizes that affordable heating is essential for Vermonters.”
Act 18 directs the Vermont Public Utility Commission (“Commission”) to design a potential Clean Heat Standard and to file its recommendations with the Vermont General Assembly by January 15, 2025. This website is an informational resource for public use designed to share information, increase understanding, and encourage public involvement in this process. The Commission encourages everyone to participate in these proceedings by submitting public comments, becoming a participant and contributing to ongoing discussions, and attending workshops. Your perspective and ideas will help the Commission best design the proposed rule.
We are in agreement SaltLightFaith ……….
The existing Vermont GWSA has to be repealed or we will find ourselves in this position over and over as they address the plans laid out in that Bill.
While Act 18 was passed, it does have a part in the Bill toward the last pages saying that the Rules to implement Act 18 will be voted on in January of 2025.
Many are interpreting this as a way to stop Act 18. In other words: Saying NO to the Act 18 Rule Implementation to kill the Legislation.
Please look at m previous post. In doing some research I found that Governor Scott committed our State of Vermont by joining the US Climate Alliance. My point: Even if we were to see the GWSA and Act 18 repealed or ended somehow, we will still be tied to extreme climate actions by our membership in the US Climate Alliance.
“Two of the five departed senators may have sought re-election “if [Senate Pro Tem] Phil Baruth had not been so arrogant,” Phil Baruth, arrogant ? Noooo, say it ain’t so ! He’s just another refugee (Lockport N.Y.) .that knows so much more than those that were born and raised here. Just ask him .
It’s the spending on programs that should not be funded by payroll taxes like free school lunches, daycare and all the surcharges on already high payments like internet, cellphone, electric rates, etc. to fund all this unconstitutional BS.
Anyone over 65 should not be paying for the expenses of other people’s kids. When my children were young, we paid for their school lunches and daycare. If they relaxed the Daycare laws and allowed people to care for children without the nanny state sticking their nose into everything like it used to be, people could care for their own children and should.
Another area is the ridiculous auto inspection law that drove 300 garages out of the inspection business. It is almost impossible to get an appointment and when you do if your vehicle is rejected you have to get it fixed if you can get an appointment or wait a month and a half for the next one. Vermont is one of only 13 states that require inspections, and the kicker is the roads are not kept up aiding in the destruction of our vehicles. It almost seems like another plan to suck more money out of the people who can least afford it.
Vermont is a nanny state. The powers in the legislature have to justify why they are there, and they prove it by something they dream up that usually costs money. Every voter should pay attention and let them know that most people are capable of caring for themselves if they get off our backs and allow workers to keep more of the money they earned, it’s not the states money until they steel it. Supposedly, Vermont as the first state to free the slaves and then they found a way to make us all work to pay for their crazy, overburdening laws. Another form of slavery for the progressive agenda to control everything and everyone.
I’m only sorry that there wasn’t more inroads made. The GOP has power to uphold a veto and be defensive, but not enough to go on the offensive to take down some progressive fronts that need to come down. Parents should feel safe about having their children unharmed by school vaccination agendas and remove sex education agendas in early elementary grades. It would be good to have classrooms be cellphone free zones and refocus on academic agendas not prioritize SEL agendas.
Now let’s get rid of Dame ! Useless as tits on a bull !
“Often made a scapegoat for past GOP losses statewide”?????? Seriously, Mr. Page? This fellow lambasted POTUS Trump at every turn & embraced the insanity of Joe Biden’s radical party. I’m thinking Dame richly deserved his reputation for his failed GOP performances of the past. Trump scorched the Dem. Party nationwide & was OBVIOUSLY much more beloved and respected than Dame and Scott ever imagined!
And these long overdue VT successes we now celebrate in ’24? They were made DESPITE Dame, not BECAUSE of Dame, sorry.
With any grace, Trump will get rid of all this climate super grift and we’ll be done with it. If it weren’t for some in the feds, we’d have more crime and even less hope. Time will tell. Otherwise, we might be wise to follow the foots steps of Joseph….
I’m hoping for an Esther type story book, that’s the way he loves to work.
TGBTG
VTBeliever, yes, we agree. I also know about the U.S. Climate Alliance and agree that any state in the U.S. should not supersede the Constitution to join. I would assume that it is unconstitutional for any state to join. For this entity to call themselves the “U.S.” Climate Alliance is also not correct, there is nothing U.S. about it. It’s a bunch of Governors joining forces to a Climate Agenda forcing it upon the people in those states.
Seems like the Climate Alliance is taking a hard stance against withdrawing its Climate Goals and has doubled-down as noted in the recent November 7th letter:
Press Release
November 2024
U.S. Climate Alliance Co-Chairs, Govs. Hochul and Lujan Grisham, Issue Statements on Presidential Election
November 7, 2024
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the co-chairs of the U.S. Climate Alliance – New York Governor Kathy Hochul and New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham – issued the following statements after the election of President-elect Donald J. Trump:
“The New York climate agenda doesn’t pause for elections,” said Alliance co-chair New York Governor Hochul. “Since taking office, I have implemented some of the nation’s strongest actions on climate, and make no mistake, we’ll continue leading the transition to a zero carbon future no matter who is in the White House. The U.S. Climate Alliance and its governors filled the void of leadership during President-elect Trump’s first term and Americans can be assured we’re prepared to fill it again. Together, we’ll tap every ounce of our experience and authority to protect America’s progress and press forward.”
“We’re not alone in this fight – we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with hundreds of cities, Tribes, businesses, and institutions that are fiercely committed to protecting our climate and delivering a better, healthier future for America,” said Alliance co-chair New Mexico Governor Lujan Grisham. “Governors have a decades-long track record of advancing innovative, effective climate solutions and we won’t be deterred by the result of this or any other election. No matter the obstacles, our commitment will not waver, and our progress will not be stopped.”
Through increasingly bold and ambitious climate action over the past four years, America has made historic gains, created millions of good-paying jobs, and invested billions of dollars in communities across the country. The U.S. Climate Alliance’s commitment to protecting this progress remains resolute.
The Alliance is a bipartisan coalition of 24 governors – representing nearly 55% of the U.S. population and 60% of the U.S. economy – all committed to securing America’s net-zero future through state-led, high-impact climate action. Since its creation in 2017, the coalition has been a cross-cutting, consistent source of leadership to uphold U.S. climate action both domestically and abroad. Whatever headwinds lie ahead, Alliance governors are up to the task and well-positioned to continue leading the charge.
Next week, the Alliance will lead a delegation of top state leaders to the UN Climate Change Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan. Together, the delegation will strongly affirm America’s sustained commitment to working with the global community to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Saltlightfaith, I know about the Alliance as well. It is another “end world hunger in 10 years, etc.
I worked to get Republican Senate Steven Heffernan elected. We have talked about repealing/amending the GWSA. 12 other Republican Senators can lead the charge. GWSA is the Trust Fund for the Conservation Law Foundation raising money to litigate non-compliance with the GWSA. Eventually, the legislators will learn it is an impossible to achieve, high risk law.
If you would like to collaborate, email me at jmccormick@imtd.org
It should be clear voters sent a message and a mandate. “Can you hear us now?”
The Dem/Progs performed like repugnant, elitist overlords. They scoffed at voters, ignored voters, and belittled voters who disagreed with their nonsensical lawfare warfare. Some stepped down likely because they felt the heat and couldn’t stand the heat anymore. Leaving doesn’t absolve them of their role in dirty deeds done dirty and they can’t escape the boomerang of judgement coming their way.
I hope Mark MacDonald has enough blankets. Remarks such as that (with the snidely chortling of his cohorts in response) along with countless other snotty remarks, doesn’t reflect representation of the People. It reflected despots drunk with fake power and that cannot be tolerated in a civil society or our Republic.
Those who won their seats are on a short leash. They can be tossed aside the next go around if they perform in a similar fashion. The State is a complete mess and we know who to thank for it. The Dem/Progs can either play ball like big boys and girls or they can pack up their belongings and leave, and we’ll hold the door for you.
Gigglin’s Island
On election night, I overheard a democrat rep say to another much older former democrat rep that the reason demoncrats voted the same is because dems say that the dem reps and dem senators are like a soccer team. They had to play as a team. Thus they did not listen to constituents and lost our trust.
Stupidest thing I ever heard. They are Reps who are there to represent their constituents… not a freakin soccer team.
This is a direct reply to H. Jay Eshelman. Jay, as someone who has bemoaned the lack of people normally responding to VDC’s commentary section and the removal of commentary sections from other media (which I agree with you on) I found it odd that you took a shot at my comment and somehow managed to eliminate the “reply” button. [Hey Guy Page, what’s the point of that?]
You’ve tried to steer the conversation away from the point of this essay by suggesting President Trump’s success of 11 million nationally-added numbers somehow equates to Republican success here in Vermont. I won’t discount that the willingness of some to relax their never-Trumper positions helped with down ticket races here in Vermont, but Republican strategists here (as this essay points out) correctly observed that the real success of Vermont Republicans in 2024 stems directly from the hubris of Democrats who have gone tone-deaf with respect to the affordability issues Vermonters care about.
Look carefully at the vote count. Phil Scott: 266,439; John Rodgers: 171,876; Donald Trump: 119,395. I have argued since 2018 that the only way for Vermont Republicans to gain legislative seats is to figure out how to get Phil Scott supporters and Donald Trump supporters to work together. They did so in 2024, with VTGOP successful candidates having a unifying message of Democrat overreach at the very moment Vermonters began feeling the pain (they got their property tax bills after hearing what their future fuel bills might look like).
But we are not yet where we need to be. If we are going to continue making gains the continued circular firing squad and finger pointing has got to stop. [Yes, I counted myself as one who needed to shut up, which is why I remained silent during this election.] But we also need to correctly assess where success in 2026 will come from. I’d argue the above numbers point to Vermonters being far more concerned about affordability and their disagreement with Democratic policies impacting that than whatever or whoever is leading the GOP national ticket.
Joe, there’s a lot of ‘word salad’ in your missive. So, I’ll address the distractions first.
Re: “I found it odd that you took a shot at my comment and somehow managed to eliminate the “reply” button. [Hey Guy Page, what’s the point of that?]”
I’m not sure what you observed here. I simply expressed my point of view.
Re: “I won’t discount that the willingness of some to relax their never-Trumper positions helped with down ticket races here in Vermont,…” and “…the real success of Vermont Republicans in 2024 stems directly from the hubris of Democrats …”.
I agree.
Re: “I have argued since 2018 that the only way for Vermont Republicans to gain legislative seats is to figure out how to get Phil Scott supporters and Donald Trump supporters to work together.”
I agree.
Re: “They did so in 2024, with VTGOP successful candidates having a unifying message of Democrat overreach….”
I agree. But the VTGOP didn’t present a unifying message in all Republican campaigns. And this is the crux of my commentary to you, Joe.
I saw very little VTGOP support for many conservative Republican candidates, especially those who supported Trump. Yes, Governor Scott finally took an active role in lobbying for conservative support. But while it was a tepid change in strategy (and understandably so in the progressive bastion that is Vermont), the VTGOP was, and still is, in my opinion, ‘ineffective’ (a euphemism, to be sure).
Even VT Public’s Mitch Wertlieb, commented just minutes ago on ‘Vermont This Week’, that there were two significant reasons for the distinct change in Vermont’s political landscape. First, there was an unprecedented increase in property taxes. Second, there is a continuing increase in voter support for president-elect Trump over the last three election cycles.
That you persist with the continued and not so subtle false dichotomy that “…the above numbers point to Vermonters being far more concerned about affordability and their disagreement with Democratic policies” … “than whatever or whoever is leading the GOP national ticket”, … is the case in point.
This is not, as you continue to propose, a ‘one or the other’ assessment. The folks on VT Public’s ‘Vermont This Week’ recognized Trump’s effectiveness. And yet, you characterize my similar evaluation as a so-called ‘circular firing squad’ for disagreeing with you… a tactic more reflective of Prog/Dem hubris. And that you continue to distract from this obvious circumstance here on VDC continues to give me pause.
Change my mind, if you can.
Trump just declared war on drug dealers and we will see how well that works out in Vermont.
Gov. Scott is a Moderate at best and honestly, I can live with that. Over his tenure, the only way he stays in office is to BE that said Moderate. Now we will see if he can be a Republican. Now the Democrats MUST play ball with him as they will NOT get all that they want knowing that they can no longer override a veto anytime they want. If they choose to test those waters and push legislation based on a majority, they will lose. They also no longer have Zuckerman to help them. I remember how simple and affordable this state once was when I was growing up back when it was red. We have a long way to go but I don’t mind taking small steps to get back to it. This, People, is but a beginning.