Emmons wins again, Forguites to Statehouse

Democrat Alice Emmons of Springfield will again represent the Windsor 3-2 district in the Vermont House after she cruised to re-election Tuesday along with first-time candidate Robert “Bob” Forguites.
http://eagletimes.villagesoup.com/p/shumlin-holds-slim-lead-will-fail-to-hit-50-percent/1265010

Shumlin holds slim lead, will fail to hit 50 percent Scott, Welch win re-election in Vermont By Chris Garofolo | Nov 05, 2014 Share on print Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on email More Sharing Services 0 Photo by: Chris Garofolo Outgoing Town Manager Robert "Bob" Forguites of Springfield, left, campaigns Tuesday with Rep. Alice Emmons, D-Springfield, and State Sen. Alice Nitka, a Ludlow Democrat, outside Riverside Middle School. Vermont Elections 2014 Tyler Jokinen, left, campaigns Tuesday with fellow write-in candidate Paul Gibbs Jr., both of Springfield, outside the town polling station. (Photo by: Chris Garofolo) View More... Peter Shumlin may have to earn his third term in the governor’s office through the Vermont Legislature. The Democratic incumbent received 46.39 percent of the vote with 226 of 275 precincts reporting, enough to hold a scarce lead over Republican candidate Scott Milne’s 45.12 percent in a tight gubernatorial race but well short of the 50 percent required under the state Constitution to formally win. If a candidate does not garner 50 percent, the General Assembly and its overwhelmingly Democratic majority would decide Vermont’s next governor. Milne, a 55-year-old Pomfret resident with no prior campaign experience, has come close to upsetting Shumlin buoyed by his strong push in the final days leading up to the election and spurred on by voters souring on the governor’s handling of the statewide health care overhaul at the same time there have been a nationwide downturn in Democratic President Barack Obama’s approval ratings. As of 12:15 a.m. on Wednesday, the Vermont Secretary of State’s office reported Shumlin had 82,167 votes compared to Milne’s 79,695. Locally, the governor had a mixed reaction from voters. He defeated Milne by a 730 to 339 margin in Rockingham and 573 to 296 in Windsor. But Shumlin lost in Springfield to Milne by a slim 13 votes: 966 to 979. He also lost Weathersfield 380 to 424. Essex Libertarian Dan Feliciano finished third with slightly more than 4 percent of the vote as of 12 a.m. on Wednesday. Several other independent and small-party candidates all received approximately 1 percent of the vote. Other lawmakers at the state level did not have to worry about breaking the 50 percent mark. In fact, they shattered it. Lt. Gov. Phil Scott of Berlin is the highest ranking Republican in the second straight statewide election cycle. The two-term lieutenant governor defeated Progressive/Democrat Dean Corren of Burlington, by a sizable 26 percent with three-quarters of the vote tallied. “Thank you, Vermont!” Scott wrote on his social networking sites. Peter Welch, a Democrat from Norwich, won a fifth term in the U.S. House of Representatives after a sound victory over Republican Mark Donka of Hartford. In this rematch from 2012, Donka received approximately 31 percent of the vote — 53,394 as of 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday — compared to Welch’s 65 percent (111,678). Several other incumbent Democrats smoothly won re-election on Tuesday. Treasurer Beth Pearce and Secretary of State Jim Condos both had approximately 75 percent of the vote with more than half the precincts reporting. Attorney General Bill Sorrell maintained a solid 35 percent lead over Republican Shane McCormack and Liberty Union candidate Rosemarie Jackowski. Trieber, Partridge roll to re-election Two incumbent Democrats representing the Windham 3 district for the House handily won re-election Tuesday. With all six precincts reporting, Carolyn Partridge of Windham and Matthew Trieber of Rockingham were announced as the winners against Rockingham independent Deborah Wright. Partridge received 1,404 votes (46 percent) from across the six-town district, securing her ninth term in the Statehouse. Trieber had 1,230 votes (40 percent), more than enough to claim victory over Wright's 438 votes, approximately 14 percent. In Rockingham, Partridge finished on top with 907 votes. Trieber received 822 in his hometown while Wright had 257 in Rockingham. “I’m really honored by the trust that our constituents place in me and I will continue to work hard and be accessible to people and invite them to contact me with any concerns, questions or thoughts that they might have,” Partridge told reporters. Trieber also thanked the voters of the district, which covers Athens, Brookline, Grafton, Rockingham, Windham and a portion of Westminster. “I think it’s a huge honor to be chosen by this district to represent them for a third term. I’ve tried really hard over the past four years to be the best representative to the district that I can and I’m really humbled that the residents in the district put their trust in me again for another two years,” he said. Emmons wins again, Forguites to Statehouse Democrat Alice Emmons of Springfield will again represent the Windsor 3-2 district in the Vermont House after she cruised to re-election Tuesday along with first-time candidate Robert “Bob” Forguites. Emmons, who has served in the Statehouse for more than three decades, will head north in January with Forguites instead of her longtime fellow Springfield lawmaker Cynthia Martin, who opted to step down following the 2013 legislative session. Forguites is the retiring Springfield town manager running in his first local campaign. The two Democrats defeated independent candidate Tyler Jokinen, a 23-year-old Springfield resident who mounted a write-in campaign. According to the town clerk, Emmons finished with 1,376 votes. Forguites had 1,283. There were 224 write-in votes, but not all of them were for Jokinen. Huntley squeezes by Lindberg Democratic incumbent Mark Huntley and independent Stu Lindberg did not find out who would represent the Windsor 2 district covering Cavendish and Weathersfield until 12:15 a.m. on Wednesday when the Cavendish results were released to the media. Huntley won Weathersfield 434 votes to Lindberg’s 379, but the independent won Cavendish 249 to 207. Overall, Huntley won 641 to 628 in the unofficial final tally. Other local races: • Incumbents John Bartholomew, D-Hartland, and Donna Sweaney, D-Windsor, ran unopposed for the Windsor 1 district for the House covers Windsor, Hartland and West Windsor. Leigh Dakin, the incumbent Democrat from Chester, also ran unopposed for the Windsor 3-1 seat that covers Andover, Baltimore, Chester and a portion of Springfield. • Windsor County’s three delegates to the Vermont Senate all won re-election. Senate President Pro Tem John Campbell of Hartford, Richard “Dick” McCormack of Bethel and Alice Nitka of Ludlow, all Democrats, won without any competition on the ballots. A write-in campaign by Springfield Republican Paul Gibbs was unsuccessful. • Putney Democrat Jeanette White and newcomer Becca Balint, a Brattleboro Democrat, were leading in the polls against Aaron Diamondstone of Marlboro and independent Jerry Levy of Brattleboro for the two Windham County seats in the state Senate.