On November 4, eight Progressive Party members were elected to the Vermont State Legislature. Some of them were only nominated by the Progressive Party. Others were the nominees of both the Progressive Party and the Democratic Party, but they consider themselves Progressive Party members. Vermont allows fusion. On the ballot, the candidate’s party of membership is listed first, followed by the name of any other party that also nominated that candidate.
The two State Senate Progressive winners are David Zuckerman and Anthony Pollina. The six House members are: Christopher Pearson, Diana Gonzalez, Susan Hatch Davis, Robin Chesnut-Tangerman, Mollie S. Burke, and Sandy Haas. Thanks to Eric Garris for the news.
Richard, do you happen to know how many Progressives were elected from the Burlington area? The number of non-Burlingtonians in their legislative caucus would be a good indication of how successful this third party is as of now in extending itself statewide.
There is an additional member of the Vermont legislature who has some association with the Progressive Party. Tim Ashe was elected to the State Senate in 2008 as a Progressive; according to ourcampaigns.com he also had Democrat and Republican nominations in the same election.
He has been re-elected in 2010,2012 and this year, each time with Progressive and Democrat nominations. He lists himself on the ballot as a Democrat/Progressive, but he is listed on the Vermont Progressive Party website as a Progressive officeholder http://www.progressiveparty.org/elected-progressives/state-officeholders/senate
Prior to his election to the Senate, he was a Progressive member of the Burlington City Council. So it is possible that the Vermont Progressives have 9 legislators, a record for that party.
Only three of the six Progressive Party legislators are from Burlington.
Only three of the eight Progressive Party legislators are from Burlington.
3rd parties in Alabama should work for similar laws in this state.
If this trend continues in Vermont, the day may come when the Progressive Party will be one of three major parties in this state. Or should I say one of two major parties in this state? Does the GOP even exist in this very liberal/progressive state?
There are four “Major Parties” in Vermont. Major Party status is achieved, in part, by winning 5% of the vote or more in at least one statewide race. These are:
*Democratic Party;
*Republican Party;
*Vermont Progressive Party;
*Vermont Liberty Union Part;
The Progressives are populous and social-democratic in nature (they were essentially founded by now US Senator Bernie Sanders). They have one statewide office (Auditor-Doug Hoffer), 10% of the VT Senate, and 6 seats in the VT House.
The Liberty Union is a far left socialist party. They, at times, have won a few local town elections, but currently have no office holders. In 2012 they received 13.1% in the VT Secretary of State race. This year (2014) they received 7.9% for VT Treasurer, and 10.2% for VT Secretary of State.
David Van Deusen:
How many Republicans hold office in Vermont? Very few, I would assume.
Vermont permits nomination by multiple parties, just like California did back when it had partisan nominations.
Those listed had either actively ran for the Democratic nomination and then got the Progressive nomination by write-in; or ran in the Progressive nomination, and then won the Democratic nomination as a write-in or ran in districts where there were insufficient Democrats for the number of seats. No Progressive who had Democratic opposition won, and most were easily squashed. If the Democratic Party decided to squash the Progressive Party, they likely could.
There were only 231 candidates for 150 seats (1.54 per seat), and the primaries only eliminated about a dozen or so candidates. It appears that voters treat the primary as a quasi-blanket primary.
One candidate who was running as an independent managed to secure the Democratic, Republican, and Progressive nominations by write-in. The sole primary on-ballot candidate was running for the Progressive nomination, and he even won that nomination. It appears that write-in candidates have to canvass their own votes, so I suspect that there were many more who could have qualified as Democratic/Republican or Republican/Democratic if they had wanted to bother.
One independent candidate, who said that she had been approached by both major parties to run as their candidate and declined, nonetheless managed to gain a tie by write-in vote for the Republican nomination against an on-ballot candidate. A party caucus then had to choose the nominee, and chose the candidate who had been on the ballot. The independent was then elected in the general election.
Because Vermont representative districts are really small, personal campaigning is quite feasible, and perhaps totally necessary. So independent candidacies are quite feasible.
Vermont should simply dump the primary and require a majority for election. They could also eliminate the indirect election of governor that way.
The Lieutenant Governor-elect is a Republican elected with 62% of the vote. The governor could be a Republican. (Since no candidate received a majority, the legislature decides). The Republican gubernatorial candidate received 45.1% of the vote, to 46.4% for the incumbent Democratic governor.
The actual number is 10. Don’t forget Chittenden Co Senator Tim Ashe (Dem/Progressive), and Addison 1 House Representative Amy Sheldon (Dem/Progressive).
Oh, and per someone’s earlier question re: where the candidates are from, the answer is all over the place:
Sen. Zuckerman – Hinesburg (Chittenden)
Sen. Ashe – Burlington (Chittenden)
Sen. Pollina – N. Middlesex (Washington)
Rep. Davis – Williamstown (Orange)
Rep. Chesnut-Tangerman – Middletown Springs (Rutland)
Rep. Burke – Brattleboro (Windham)
Rep. Haas – Rochester (Windsor)
Rep. Gonzalez – Winooski (Chittenden)
Rep. Pearson – Burlington (Chittenden)
Rep. Sheldon – Middlebury (Addison)
Sadly we no longer have our Franklin Co. State Rep– Cindy Weed of Enosburg– who unfortunately lost her re-election bid. But she plans to run again in 2016.
Vermont doesn’t have registration by party, so the only objective way to measure whether a fusion candidate is a member of one particular party or the other party is to see which party the candidate chooses to list first on the November ballot. Senator Ashe and Representative Sheldon chose to be “Democratic/Progressive” on the ballot, not “Progressive/Democratic” so I don’t believe that an objective source should list them as anything other than Democrats. The web page of the Democratic Party considers them Democrats.
Since the party name on the ballot represents who nominated them rather than which party they represent, the logical order would be votes cast in the primary.
Or even better, include the vote totals such as “Democratic 187, Progressive 4” etc. To make it fair, put all candidates on all primary ballots, and let the voter select a party or none in secret. In the general election, a candidate could reject the endorsement of voters of certain parties.
Or best yet, eliminate the tomfoolery of party primaries.
All ten listed Progressives (on the previous post) are considered Party members by the Vermont Progressive Party. The Progressives also have their own caucus in the Vermont Legislature.
Not many. After this election, the statewide offices are:
Democrat (including Governor)-4
Progressive (Auditor, Doug Hoffer)-1
Republican (Lt Gov-Phill Scott)-1
The Vermont Senate is:
Democrat-18
Progressive-3
Republican-9
VT House:
Democrat-lets just say ‘lots’
Progressive-7
Republican-about one third
That said, even though the Democrat, Peter Shumlin, won about 2000 more votes than his Republican challenger, he will not officially become the next governor until the Legislature votes him in next January. In Vermont when a candidate does not receive 50+ of the vote (which did not happen in this election) it goes to a vote of the Legislature. Here, it is not realistic to think Shumlin will not be voted in this winter.
It may also be of interest to note that the one statewide elected Republican, Phill Scott, is very moderate. I would venture to say that is he were a politician in the South, he would be considered a Democrat.
Correction: Yes, Progressives have 7 seats in the Vermont House, and 3 seats in the Vermont Senate. 10 Seats in the VT General Assembly in all.
David Van Deussen:
Thanks for correcting me on how “few” Republicans there are in public office in Vermont. At one time, Vermont was one of the strongest Republican states in the Union. The mass migration of liberal Democrats from New York State, I think, changed this.
And you are probably correct, Phill Scott would most likely not get elected in the South, unless he were a Democrat. I suppose most Republicans in Vermont are moderate to liberal.