VTGOP Chair Paul Dame put out the following statement regarding the Republican primary for U.S. Senate and U.S. House.
We congratulate Gerald Malloy for putting together an effective campaign that caught people’s attention. I believe that Myers Mermel’s consistently negative ads attacking Christina Nolan ended up hurting both him and Nolan. And while Malloy kept a positive approach in his campaign and stayed engaged with the party once he joined in the race, it helped him to consolidate the conservative vote and carry him to victory in the primary.
Paul Dame, chairman of the Vermont GOP
In the U.S. congressional race, the majority of Republicans wanted to send a conservative woman to Congress. Some 16,000 Republicans voted for a conservative woman, and 10,700 did not. The problem was that Anya and Ericka split the conservative vote too evenly for either of them to come out ahead the way Gerald Malloy did. If either candidate had been able to win over just half of the other woman’s supporters, that candidate would have won the primary. On the Democrat side Kesha Ram dropped out of the congressional race to consolidate her supporters behind Becca so they wouldn’t split the larger progressive vote. If either of our women would have done the same, they likely would have also prevailed. Likewise, if Ram had stayed in the race, she would have likely split votes with Becca and Molly Gray might be the candidate from the Left.
When conservatives fail to unite they fail to win. That was true in the primaries — and if nothing changes it will be true in November as well.
The fact that Liam entered the race as a Republican says something important. It says that even people who have a mix of conservative and liberal beliefs are more willing to work with Republicans because of our genuine commitment to openness, transparency and fairness. Democrats have routinely blocked out the people that don’t have party loyalty, or don’t follow the dictates of their leaders. See Bernie Sanders in the presidential race, or Cynthia Browning in the VT State House. Independents know that Republicans are open minded and independent thinkers.
Liam is not a traditional Republican who came from inside the party apparatus, and won a multi-candidate race surprising many. You know who else did that? Donald Trump. A lifelong democrat donor, who previously ran as an Independent.
Trump won his primary in VT with 30%, he had similar numbers in early primaries in other states. Many discounted him, but it’s undeniable that he activated a voter base that had not previously voted Republican. People came out and voted for Trump that had been ignored by the party establishment. One of the things I’m trying to evaluate is whether Liam is tapping into a voter base that had been ignored by everyone previously and may be harder to categorize as being right or left – depending on the issue. There are 10,000 Republicans in Vermont that think he is the best person to represent us. And while I suspect that there are few — perhaps no one in this room who voted for Liam — that indicates to me that about one third of Republican primary voters are not being represented by the people in this room. If we don’t know anyone who voted for the winner of our party’s primary — then it says that our circles are too small, and there are other Republicans out there that we need to meet, and listen and learn from. What would our party look like if these people came in and worked alongside us to defeat the Progressive agenda that is getting out of control?
Liam received 10,701 votes from people who are Republican enough to go vote in the August primary and pull a Republican ballot despite an intense primary on the Democrat side. Liam’s number of votes is very close to Christina Nolan’s 10,825.
I heard from others that we need to know that there are Republicans — real Republicans — out there in VT that have no connection to our current party structure. The same was true of all of us at one point. I think we have to consider whether Liam’s campaign has the potential to draw in some new people that have been on the sidelines.
Secondly it is important to note a few things about Ericka. While she is running as a Libertarian, our state party rules prohibit us from supporting her in any way because she is running in the general election after losing in the Republican primary.
Our State Committee met this morning, and after a lot of deliberation the committee decided at this time that the state party would not commit any resources toward his campaign due to his unwillingness to commit to caucusing with Republicans in Congress.
Republicans will look forward to the November elections to make sure that we will put two Republicans at the top of our state government, by working to help Joe Benning join Gov. Phil Scott’s cabinet as Vermont’s next Lt. Governor. In addition we aim to win at least 51 House Seats to provide Governor Scott the veto-sustaining power to lead Vermont in a more affordable direction.
Laura, the people in our VT GOP leadership who “backed” Liam in the Vermont Republican Party primary were also blindsided. They took him at face value. Well, he was NOT transparent or truthful. Liam is looking more and more like a Progressive to me. He hadn’t even read the GOP Platform when he first decided to run as a Republican. He seems to be making up his positions on the fly. He had not been to his town or County Republican leadership to reach out to them and tell them he was thinking of running. That tells me he wasn’t serious at all about that Platform which so many grassroots Republicans worked hard to write. I heard there was a vote (I wasn’t there) in the GOP at a past State Committee meeting to restrict who could use the R label and to strip Republicans of Party membership if they did not abide by the principles laid out in the Platform. The vote failed by 1/3 to 2/3rds, so I learned later. So there you have it. We want to be kicked in the teeth. Actually, we have no teeth. We are so afraid of offending anyone that we will lose our Party or watch it morph into Democrat positions. We keep moving to the Left. What someone stands for doesn’t seem to matter as long as they have an R after their name, apparently. And who is partly responsible for the state of our Party? Phil Scott, a man who sticks an R after his name and doesn’t support the Party he uses to advance his own political career. He voted for Trump. He bashes conservative Republicans. He is not pro-life. He is a good mentor for Liam. Phil pontificates about how he chooses principles over party when it accrues to his benefit, but bashes grassroots Republicans for doing likewise. Please. The double standard is so obvious. I am a Republican and I am voting for Ericka Reddick.
Here’s a video for you Paul
https://choiceclips.whatfinger.com/2022/08/15/hes-on-his-way-whatfingers-7/
Paul, when a man steals a primary from two Vermont GOP women, women who entered it honestly right from the beginning, you should offer more than platitudes about how we work with the victor. Sorry, but I don’t vote for a Manchurian candidate. Where was Liam’s honesty and transparency? Who are his funding sources? Why had I not heard his name before? Why did he keep himself well-hidden? He has started his political career as a “typical politician” and a sneak. I will be voting in November for the Republican woman who finished second, Erica Reddick. She ran openly as a Republican and a Libertarian. I will vote for her now as a Libertarian. And I won’t be sneaky about it. I urge my fellow Republicans to do the same. Let’s take all those votes for our two female candidates and unite them under the GOP woman who finished second in the Congressional race. I am sick of fake “Republicans” like Liam, and of the State GOP mealy-mouthing platitudes about how we have to support our Republican candidates (no matter what?). Liam is NOT a Republican. He does not share some very important values that we hold. For example, his stance on being okay with abortion for the first six months, and not sure about how he might vote concerning that dangerous Article 22. If he goes to Congress, he does not plan to even caucus with the Republicans. He will sample the various caucuses and travel from one to the other. Great. And what might he tell the other Party’s caucus of what he has learned in the opposite caucus? My money and vote will not support that. This mess is in fact partly our fault. I have personally asked many VT GOP Party leaders for years (decades!) to support legislation to have closed primaries, as many states do. I have been given the same answer by my VT GOP Party leaders for years. “We don’t have the votes.” They all say exactly the same thing. That reflects a defeatist, surrender attitude. The Democrats never let minority-party status stop them when they wanted to change the law. They put their demands out there and pushed for them, and the Legislature debated it. Their demands may fail but eventually many pass. I have begged my VT GOP elected leaders to do the same for decades. They refuse, and I always get the same response. “We don’t have the votes.” If the legislation had been introduced years ago, there would have been open debates on the floor of the Legislature. The issue would have been kept in front of the voters for years. Eventually it may have passed. But we never even entered the fray. So now we are reaping the results. It is time that we, the Vermont GOP, introduced legislation to have closed primaries in Vermont and allow the Parties to vet people who claim their label. It is a political debate well worth having. Not to have it is just gutless on our part as Republicans. We didn’t want to enter that battle, so now the battle has come to us. Someone just slapped our face with a glove. Answer the challenge. The Party needs to defend its own legitimate and open GOP candidates. NOT abandon them while offering excuses. We need to support our Republican female candidate who came in second. Remember, Erica’s and Anya’s votes combined added up to more than Liam’s. That means the winning conservative and moderate GOP votes are out there for our real candidate. Erica can still win this. Vote for Erica Reddick in the November election. Liam has forced this course of action upon us. Just do it!
Do you think they will change their minds? NO
NO….because they like it like this.
NO….because this is their plan.
Notice only the people are complaining, nobody within the party?
This is their plan. Your commentary even supports this.
This is NOT, NOT the plan of the people.
Kay, that’s the plan for my family…………………………..the VT-GOP needs flushing !!
THERE ARE NO DEMOCRATS.
THERE ARE NO REPUBLICANS.
THERE ARE NO INDEPENDANTS.
THERE ARE ONLY PROGRESSIVES AND PATRIOTS.
Pick one.
As far as Liam Madden is concerned, why send a wolf when a weasel will do.
I was at the GOP meeting this week. Liam Madden PLAINLY said that he wasn’t a republican.
Liam Madden clearly SHOWS on his campaign website that he holds some of the most leftist views in the state . Hardly ANY of which would match up to the VT GOP platform.
He was not honest with us in his 30 + minutes he was given to present himself at the meeting , contradicting things from his own website.
We had a vote after hearing all sides of the issue and, voted to not allow any support , financially or promotionally , to Mr Madden. I supported this vote 100%
To Mr Dame, you’re allowed your view on the subject of Anya and Erica but, both of them running for the same spot was NOT the problem. They are both good , worthy candidates and strong conservative advocates.
The BIG problem is that Mr Madden sold everyone a false bill of goods and scammed people into believing him.
Actually, the weirdest part of this is Liam’s blog of “Experiments with Sexual Energy Meditation- Initial Results and Insights”
WHAT. THE. HELL . IS . THAT?
As far as the primaries are concerned I am a very conservative independent and I will look at who in the conservative looks the best and that person’s chances of winning. If that person has a very good chance of winning. I will not use the republican ballot. I will look at the dem ballot and pick the one that I could most tolerate and vote for them. When Trump ran I was pretty sure he would get it, so, I voted in the Dem ballot and chose Tulsi Gabbard and Now I am convinced that was my best second choice.
RINO Paul Dame is doubling down on his 1984-esque gaslighting of conservative voters, attempting to portray the brazen hijacking of the Republican primary under his abysmally failed leadership as some kind of kumbaya moment rather than the stunning slapping of the GOP by the Left that it is.
Dame should resign immediately.
Regarding Dame’s comments. Sorting out the candidates is what primaries are all about. Some win some lose, and sometimes things do not go the way we would like. It has always been that way.
However it is sliced, Gerald Malloy won that race he worked for; He is very much a candidate that Republicans could and did vote for. AND a real CONSERVATIVE! All of the above in the face of Republican Establishment politicians at the state and National levels who supported Nolan. My, My!! So now the real questions will be front and center, the major one being this: To trounce Rep Welch and send him back to Norwich VT, will take a monumental doing. If all hands in the R party get on the same page, Malloy can beat Welch. By “all hands” I mean the state GOP, the National RNC, and individuals who traditionally work directly with the candidate. EVERYONE must be on the same page and pulling the freight in the same direction, no if’s or but’s about it. Let’s see who fishes and who cuts bait.
You sir are asking a lot.
Well, Paul again you did not explain how an Independent got on the Republican ticket,
it’s not the ” come one, come all ticket “, it’s the GOP Ticket, and look what you got
another progressive, so Madden may have won, but he will not be getting any of my of
family’s votes in November and a Scott / Benning RINO pairing is also out of the question.
Being a real Vermonter in my seventies I see Vermont’s GOP party is like a junkie,
until it hits rock bottom and almost dies, it will keep losing and never learn, yes we
did lose, sad but true, look what we just went through……..what a shame !!
This is the year, if all conservatives and independents that think Vermont is headed
in the wrong direction better get out and vote or anyone who has a firearm and enjoys
using it better get to the polls this fall, you can put your head in the sand and think that
that will never happen ” trust’em “, and that’s what they are hoping for you’re not part
of the agenda……………….. Vermont is not Vermont !!
Actually it is. Under current Vermont State law, anyone who gathers the required signatures on their petition can get on the party ballot. Just like open primaries. Like it or not, the rules are the rules.
Uniparty speaks.
Uniparty victory
The people and Republic lose.
I need some hip waders…..
You still didn’t explain how an independent was placed on the republican party ballot. The conservative women didn’t win because the 3rd candidate, not a republican by his own words, stole their votes. This is BS and your explanation is no explanation. Madden even contemplated rejecting the GOP offer of support until he learned that if he rejected it one of the other candidates would win the republican primary making for a 3 way race. Vermont RINOs continue to destroy the party. This is more evidence of wrong decisions during this primary.
I’d like to remind people that the Democrats will all vote as directed to do so for a ham sandwich- or an elderly man with dementia..
What is a “Traditional Republican” today anyway?
There are openly gay Christian Conservatives now Like Rick Grennell.. Caitlin Jenner is a Republican..
We have a big tent People and there are a whole lot of former Democrats now under it.. and look at the viewpoints they have… but we are getting them because no matter their values systems, we all seem to understand and agree on one thing today; what the wrong direction looks like.
If Liam did this well so far then support the man and get him over the finish line.
At this point he has to be an improvement over what is going on today.
Don’t get distracted with details that at the end of the day, matter little.
They want us disorganized and fighting among ourselves to confuse and dishearten the voters, do fall for that or allow this to happen.
We can do nothing at all if we don’t win.. the Win comes first..
*edit: don’t fall for that.
Laura, they already won.
How can you call it a win, for the republic, if the leader votes for Build Back Better? It makes no sense.
Bernie Sanders did the exact same trick.
This is how they took over the state initially in the 60’s, where they put “moderate republicans” on the ticket who were playing for the other team.
NH…is going down the same path. Trust me the results you will not like in 5 years.
They have effectively neutered the entire party. That is the plan! That is the Uniparty plan.
Question, will Vermont be closer to a Republic this fall because of the VTGOP?
After the election will we be a stronger republic or a weaker republic because of the candidate that are on the ticket? And because of those who win?
That is how you build a country. That is how everyone wins.
Liam Madden used the Republican platform to get his name out there re: primary while nixing it for others. And then he genuflected/deflected/defected as an Independent. I sense he has some money behind him. It’s slick and his persona seems a tad bit manufactured to myself. So is this how things are done these days? BTW: Benning is a disgrace to the Republican Party re: values and is way too kissy-face with Phil Scott. GET REAL please
FWIW, the committee did not pick Madden, Benning, or any other candidate for that matter. They chose to run as prospective candidates, as you could have had you filled out the petitions and gotten the requisite number of signatures. The voters of Vermont chose them in the primary. The only time the party gets a say is when a vacancy occurs due to the winner withdrawing. They mounted successful campaigns and now they are the candidates. We have two choices at this point, help them win, or hand the races to the Democrat–Progressives. The others are running as Republicans, but Liam has chosen to use the Republican Ticket to mount an independent campaign, so be it.
I agree Kevin, and Laura
one thing is for sure; things change. thats with everything in/on/around us/vermont/us/planet/sky
we either find a way to work with it or are left behind
I do not attribute to any party, but I did choose R ballot last week because I believe we are seeing the coming of hell the way it is going now.
We must be very careful where the line is drawn; ie;that change thing again
one thing always stays the same…things change
if we all want success here, everyone is gonna have to give a little or no one wins
we need to make a statement right now and in november……..The way things have been going these past 20 months is NOT OK, it must change …….so look at how the best and most successful way to do that is…….working with what there is to work with……
I agree Pat and Kevin..
At this point, people are crying over spilled milk..
It’s done, the people have spoken and they voted for him. How this all happened doesn’t even matter anymore at this point.
Now you all need to get the man over the finish line because at this point, it’s an improvement over what is going on.
Then you can get involved and steer Liam in the direction you feel is best..
I mean it’s supposed to be us running the show here.. you don’t elect the guy and then go home and drop the ball..
After he’s elected is when the work really begins in getting him to see things your way. If he doesn’t, he’s an one term wonder.
And get this, this stuff does happen.
We had a sheriff’ss race over here (I’m in NH) that was uncontested.. so we thought.
At the last minute, who ran AND WON but an new arrival to NH that is a transgender anarchist that planned on ending the police department..
This person WON the nomination !!
Because we all dropped the ball..
So we all had to pick between a far Left Sheriff or the Tranny Anarchist that wanted to tear the place down.. BUT this person was smart actually and did make some interesting and good points.. so there ya go..give a person a chance and listen at least -is what I learned.
These things happen..and lessons are hopefully learned.
While you are all backing Liam, he has stated that he will vote with the democrats when he feels he should. If the congress needs a republican to stop the madness you three could be supporting democrat votes in congress while you are advocating a vote for Madden. With the coming red wave in the midterms, a congressman from Vermont won’t even matter but your slap in the face candidate could turn on you and you 3 could be wrong. I’m voting for Erica. If she loses to Balint she will be as useless as Welch in a republican held congress. Madden is the poster boy for dishonesty and Mr. Dame should resign after another gaslighting blunder for true republicans
Laura, after reading your comments here, I can’t believe what you just wrote. The man shouldn’t have been on the ballot as an independent. He denied answering my question twice on his commentaries. I asked him which party you will caucus with; he didn’t answer. Then it came out that he would not caucus with the republican party. That leaves the democrat party because independent is not a party and a rep. has to pick a party or get no support for bills or committee assignments. You really should re-evaluate your decision. By supporting this candidate, you are supporting a democratic vote. His nice family has nothing to do with his party loyalty. He stole votes from two conservative women and should not be rewarded for his dishinesty.
Laura, LOL I don’t dance with anyone I don’t want to dance with. As a reminder, those supporting him in the party all voted for Joe Biden. Not a very good recommendation. My understanding is that you live in NH so you will not be voting for Liam, correct. I live in Vermont, and I won’t be voting for him either.
As Republicans who think transparency and honesty mean something, and that our VT GOP Party Platform means something, we cannot just vote for someone because he has chosen to stick an R after his name. That is naive. Should we vote for George Soros if he sticks an R after his name and runs for federal office? That is what the VT GOP not fighting for closed primaries has cost us. The Party should have the right to vet someone who chooses to use their label after his/her name. Otherwise, let’s just dissolve the Parties because they need stand for nothing. Let’s have everyone be an Independent.
They have Phil Scott as their leader, Mr. Build Back Better, I”m voting for Biden….
Yet he is allowed to carry an R next to his name. I don’t care if he’s elected, but he most certainly shouldn’t be elected as a Republican.
Well, that’s great as long as this guy doesn’t work with the demo/progs in congress. He stated that he is not a republican and he would bounce around the caucus game with both parties. If he wasn’t running as a republican, what was he doing on a republican ballot? If it is truly an open primary, why was I also given a progressive ballot? This is all more BS from party leaders. You can vote for whom ever you wish but remember, you are not voting for a republican, by his own words. You should stay with the conservative woman who won the republican vote, Erica.
Dano I’m not backing the man at all.
I’m backing the people that backed the man because I believe that is where we always fall short and lose. I don’t want to see this all get split and then lost- because that right there is likely their plan.
He won.. that is all there is to it right at the moment.
How many people did their homework on him?
Did they show up and ask him the right questions?
If it was revealed that he was no good, did they get that out there for the public to know?
We’re not supposed to be just checking names off on a list of boxes here.. we are supposed to be doing the work to make intelligent choices.
I think myself that the voters saw that Mr.Madden was a Marine, a nice looking fella with a wife and a child and he showed everyone his big fish he caught and then a whole lot of assumptions about him were made. He’s been living in Vermont for largely his entire life, he looks like an everyday average regular man with a family and people responded to that look. *Look* being the key word here.
So here you are.
But now ya’ll gotta dance with the one you brought.