Tuesday’s primary election races for Democrats and Republicans saw few surprises, yet on the GOP side, a conservative political newcomer advanced in the U.S. Senate race, and a relatively unknown independent candidate sprang to victory in the race for U.S. House.
U.S. Senate
In the GOP primary for U.S. Senate, military veteran and business professional Gerald Malloy upset the establishment favorite, former U.S. Attorney for Vermont Christina Nolan, with 40% of the vote, followed by 35% for Nolan and 17% for Myers Mermel.
On the Democratic Party side, political veteran Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., trounced his two Democrat opponents with 84.9% of the vote.
Malloy and Welch will face off in the general election in November.
“I would like to especially thank my supporters thus far, who have recognized that America desperately needs real fixing and who chose me and my platform to best represent their needs. We the people are one step closer to having a real influence on everyday politics and policies that have been enacted by out-of-touch, federal elites,” Malloy said in a statement following his victory.
U.S. House
In the GOP race for U.S. House, Marine Corps veteran and political independent Liam Madden won with 35% of the vote. He beat YouTube “Generally Irritable” show host Ericka Redic, who earned 27% of the vote, while Anya Tynio, a former GOP congressional nominee, had 22%.
SURPRISE: Independent candidate Liam Madden is set to run against Vermont Senate President Pro Tempore Becca Balint, D-Windham in the race for U.S. House.
Madden said he’s not sure he will accept a GOP nomination for U.S. House. If he chooses to run as an independent, the GOP could appoint another candidate to fill his spot, which would make it a three-way race with the Democrat candidate.
He told True North on Wednesday that he believes many voters are tired of the two-party system. In addition, speaking about green energy, he said he wants to reduce carbon output with the help of cost-effective nuclear power, rather than with wind and solar, which are expensive, intermittent and drive up electricity rates.
“I believe of the available proven technologies, nuclear has to be the majority source of our energy going forward,” he said. “That’s another area I tend to side more with conservatives on.”
He also said he’s for controlling investments in public programs, as opposed to increased spending.
“I think, economically, I tend to lean a little bit more towards, if this is an investment for the people, I tend to want to invest in the infrastructure, education, and things that actually improve people’s lives,” Madden said.
On the Democrat side, Vermont Senate President Pro Tempore Becca Balint, D-Windham, won her primary race with 59% of the vote, defeating second place Lt. Gov. Molly Gray who had 36%.
Supporters tout that Balint is both a woman and openly gay. She now will face Liam Madden in November in the race to succeed U.S. Rep. Peter Welch.
Lieutenant governor
In the race for lieutenant governor of Vermont, former Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman won the Democrat primary with 41% of the vote, followed by state Rep. Catherine Toll, D-Danville, who won 37.3%. In the past, Zuckerman has identified as both a Democrat and a Progressive.
On the GOP side, state Sen. Joe Benning, R-Caledonia, won 48% of the vote, defeating challenger Gregory Thayer, who earned 40%.
Benning and Zuckerman will face off in the November general election.
Attorney general
Democrat Charity Clark won her primary over Rory Thibault with 58 % of the vote versus Thibault’s 28%. Clark has said she wants to address “bias in the criminal justice system by advocating for increased data collection related to racial disparities; requiring anti-bias training for criminal justice practitioners; requiring funding for mental health and substance abuse treatment; and transforming our cash bail system to a risk-based system,” according to her campaign site.
On the GOP side, candidate H. Brooke Paige, of Washington, ran uncontested for secretary of state, state auditor, and state treasurer.
In the past, Paige has said he runs for multiple offices to prevent Democrats from writing in their own candidates when the GOP doesn’t have a candidate on the ballot. Paige plans to focus on running for secretary of state in November, which means the GOP will likely choose a nominee for attorney general.
Secretary of state
For secretary of state, Rep. Sarah Copeland Hanzas, D-Bradford, won the Democratic primary with 36% of the vote. She narrowly beat Deputy Secretary of State Chris Winters, who had 34%.
On her campaign page, Copeland Hanzas highlighted her work in mitigating climate change, protecting abortion, promoting vote-by-mail, and allowing gender changes on birth certificates, among other initiatives. She faces Republican H. Brooke Paige in November, who is a strong critic of universal mail-in ballots.
Governor
Democrat Brenda Siegel ran uncontested in her primary and so will face off against the GOP incumbent, Gov. Phil Scott, in the November gubernatorial race.
“Together, we’re going to work to address housing for all Vermonters, heal the overdose crisis, take bold climate action, and support our teachers and state employees,” Siegel said Tuesday. “We can and will take on Vermont’s status quo. We can and will prove doubters wrong. We can and will show Vermonters that we can and must do better than the current Republican administration.”
Siegel said she hopes to “make history” as the first single mom and first bisexual woman to become governor of Vermont.
Michael Bielawski is a reporter for True North. Send him news tips at bielawski82@yahoo.com and follow him on Twitter @TrueNorthMikeB.
It appears from their social media posts that, after treating him horribly and sabotaging his campaign by putting their thumb on the scale for Christina Nolan, GOP/VTGOP are now attempting to claim Gerald Malloy as their own, take credit for his win, and subsume him into the reeking cesspool of the Vermont Republican Party.
Let’s be clear: The entire Republican establishment machine aligned AGAINST Gerald Malloy to support Christina Nolan, a traitor against We The People, the Constitution and the Republic, who is colluding in Biden election theft.
Gerald Malloy won IN SPITE OF the Vermont Republican Party and their Machiavellian treachery.
Let’s be clear about something else: VTGOP needs Gerald Malloy, Gerald Malloy does not need the VTGOP. They are losers trying to attach themselves to a winner and parasitically suck off his victory.
But VTGOP’s stature would not be enhanced by association with Gerald Malloy, Malloys stature would be diminished by association with VTGOP. His pristine reputation as a patriot loyal to the Constitution would be destroyed by aligning with the seditious lying RINOs of the Vermont Republican Party.
Malloy beat the entire Republican establishment machine as a GRASSROOTS OUTSIDER, and that is the same way he can win against Peter Welch.
We beg of Gerald Malloy to trust God, remain true to We the People, the Constitution and the Republic, and reject the assocation of traitors.
Sorry folks but this outcome creates a guaranteed win for welch. No way will any dems vote for malloy so a win is impossible. Best we can hope for is a mrna induced blood clot for him (which is entirely possible). Sometimes you have to compromise some principles in voting in exchange for strategy to acheive a less problematic outcome. Welch is worst case scenario.
I’m old enough to remember the days when candidates for office ran on their accomplishments, not their sexual orientation. l miss those days.
I am not a Repub. I would have voted for Christina Nolan because she is a moderate. The extremism of both parties is intolerable. I had to choose btw voting for Nolan and voting against Sarah George. I chose the latter.
I wonder though if Nolan lost because of ‘her’ transgenderism. Interestingly, political commentators did dare speak of it.
You wrote, “Gerald Malloy upset the establishment favorite.”
Christina Nolan was backed by the entire Republican establishment machine.
Mitch McConnell headlined a DC Swamp fundraiser for Nolan that was attended by Susan Collins.
Swamp kingpin Rod Rosenstein attended the fundraiser and William Barr donated.
Here in VT, former Governor Jim Douglas chaired Nolan’s campaign, VTGOP Committeeman Shephard organized the fundraiser and heavily campaigned for her, and Brian Dubie and Phil Scott endorsed her.
The RINOs organized concerts with Nashville musicians for her.
Some Douglas crony from Middlebury posted photos of his ballot and gushed about how great Nolan is.
The entire Republican establishment machine aligned behind Nolan against Malloy and he beat them all.
It’s a stunning victory for Gerald Malloy.
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men ___________________________
Fill in the blanks.
It’s a stunning victory for Vermont Republicans who know the establishment aka Uniparty does not defend the constitution, nor the people of this state and nation. This should give some hope to all the downtrodden.
It’s very sad to see how once respected people of the Republican party all team up for one person running. It shows HOW VERY RIGGED the Vermont Republican party truly is.
Did they give the same support, money and time to others? Huh? Huh?
Meanwhile we got infiltrated by opposition, who now wants to shun the R and run as an independent……hoodwinked just like Bernie did to the Vermont Dems…
But don’t fall for the trap. They “let” it happen on purpose. When your big tent allows marxists to run for office…..you need a house cleaning.
Hey Gerald Malloy, Congratulations now the real work begins……………..
Let’s see if the VT-GOP really wants this seat by the push they have for Gerald !!
So Liam Madden won with the GOP ticket, and now said he’s ” not sure ” he will accept
a GOP nomination for U.S. House………………..
So why didn’t he run as an independent as that’s the banner he waves, or a write-in
candidate ??
Sounds like more political games ” spoiler ” to get a candidate ahead of the GOP party
members, 2022 shenanigans
Absolutely. This was a strategic plan to have him runs as an R. I know lots of Republican voters, no one I know voted for Madden. How is that possible?
All the dems voted for him! That’s how! Pretty easy to win a three way race that way. Course there couldn’t be any voter fraud…nope.
Wonder what the marketing on the Dems side had to say…..???
I’m confused… Was he on another ballot besides the Republican ballot? You can only vote on one.
you can write anyone in on any ticket. you can vote Republican even as a registered democrat….
of course, there are other ways to cheat too….
Gerald Malloy’s victory was one of the most uplifting experiences in along time in our beautiful state.
Now we need to keep the momentum going to achieve success in the general election.
What a wonderful person we have chosen to represent us.
We ARE with you.
Compared to the number of Democrats picking up their party ballot for Congressman, the vote on the Republican side was so small that strange results are not hard to explain.
Don’t think that wasn’t perhaps the plan all along, not they can get two “organizers” on the ticket, so they win either way…….
We’ve been played, yet once again. “The Big Tent” where we let marxists, communists, organizers, pimps for the NWO and any other United Nations degenerate on the ticket.
Oh, but we’ll win a seat they say! That’s how we get a republican in office! How fn’ dumb do we have to be? God help us, our lead guy votes for Build Back Better, the slogan for one world government and we think we won.
And I get an email 5 minutes before the election is over from Paul Dame….
The word is UNITY……give us money! Why so we can be the first colony of the united nations? If we can’t identify the problem we can never solve it…
So an “organizer” takes the spot of a Republican in the primaries and then rejects the position?
Does this sound familiar?
This is what Bernie Sanders has done every year to keep a non-communist off the Democratic ticket. How can this be? We’ve been massively played. Not only that, he’s said he wouldn’t accept all along.
Wonder why the VTGOP is lost? Here’s your sign.
Wonder if many on the left voted him up?
By the way, it’s a one party system…..