By Guy Page

Farmer, writer, and attorney John Klar of Brookfield announced yesterday he is running as a Republican for the Orange County senate seat now held by Mark MacDonald (D). 

Klar achieved state prominence in 2020 when he ran for the Republican nomination for governor and led a rural, conservative movement that helped elect several first-time Republican House members. In a campaign statement, Klar said he embraces conservative proposals that are bipartisan in Vermont’s present plight – fiscal integrity rather than runaway spending, including bolstering the state’s underfunded pensions system; school choice rather than compulsion into a declining and increasingly ideological school system; nurturing small farms and regenerative agriculture, to improve both food availability and the environment.

Two Rutland County senators leaving?

First-term senator Josh Terrenzini, a Republican, announced earlier this month he will not seek re-election, due to family commitments. The Rutland resident and son of Rep. Tom Terrenzini has a large and growing family. According to off-the-record State House sources, Sen. Cheryl Hooker (Democrat) also will not seek re-election. The same source says that Terry Williams, an eighth generation Vermonter and 2020 GOP Senate nominee, is collecting signatures for another run. 

Other known 2020 Senate candidates are Republicans JT Dodge (Caledonia County), Rep. Leland Morgan (newly-created Chittenden North senate district) and incumbent Russ Ingalls (currently Essex/Orleans senator, running for new Orleans, Essex, Caledonia district). 

Conservative runs for Caledonia House seat

2020 Caledonia County Senate candidate Charles Wilson of Lyndon, a retired businessman,  announced he will run for the House. He cites the wrong direction of the current Legislature as his main reason. 

“I noticed in the last Legislative Session that in a time of needed recovery, this Legislature continues to force programs that make Government bigger and more invasive,” Wilson said in his campaign announcement this week. “They ignore the Constitutions of Vermont and America. They write redundant bills ignoring laws we already have. They write bills attacking law abiding Vermonters while protecting BLM and illegal aliens. They continue to write bills that would tax everything but the air we breathe without fair representation.” 

House chairs leaving

The Vermont House of Representatives is poised to lose at least three committee chairs. Government Operations Chair Sarah Copeland-Hanzas (D-Bradford) announced she will run for the Secretary of State post vacated by Jim Condos. She will face a challenge from Deputy Secretary Chris Winters and Montpelier City Clerk John Odum. 

Rep. Carolyn Partridge, chair of House Agriculture, is not seeking re-election. Neither is (according to statehouse reports) Rep. Janel Ancel, chair of Ways & Means, the House tax committee. 

News of lawmakers retiring and running may be sent to news@vermontdailychronicle.com.