Kate McCann and Conor Casey on the campaign trail. Facebook photo
Montpelier voters in November will have a four-way choice in the race to fill the city’s two vacant seats in the general assembly. Kate McCann and Conor Casey were the leading vote-getters in Tuesday’s five-person Democratic primary.
McCann captured 1,275 votes, followed by Casey with 1,114, according to the Secretary of State’s unofficial tally. Ethan Parke finished third with 873 votes, while Ken Jones tallied 822, and rising high school senior Merrick Modun earned 581.
The results set up a November showdown that features four candidates despite having no Republicans in the race. Progressive Glennie Sewell will be on the ballot, as will District 1 City Councilor Dona Bate, who skipped the primary but will run as an independent.
McCann is a math teacher at U-32 High School and, with her husband, owns North Branch Vineyard. Casey, a political organizer and executive director of the advocacy group GunSense Vermont, is also a District 2 city councilor.
The retirements of incumbent Rep. Mary Hooper and the late Rep. Warren Kitzmiller created a rare double vacancy in the Montpelier delegation.
Watson, Cummings, Perchilik Advance
Montpelier Mayor Anne Watson. Photo by John Lazenby
Montpelier Mayor Anne Watson, with 8,191 votes in her first county-wide race, was the top Democratic candidate for three seats representing Washington County, along with Braintree, Orange, and Stowe, in a redrawn state senate district.
Incumbent Sen. Ann Cummings (8,174) and Sen. Andrew Perchilik (6,973) were close behind Watson in the five-way primary, defeating challengers Jared Duval (5,889) and Jeremy Hanson (3,089).
Copeland Hanzas Ekes Out Win in Secretary of State Primary
Two of the three Democratic candidates for Secretary of State have had to admit their loss in the August 9 Democratic primary election to Rep. Sarah Copeland Hanzas of Bradford. Deputy Secretary of State Chris Winters, of Berlin, lost by 1,820 votes with 95% of the ballots counted, according to the Associated Press. The tally was Copeland Hanzas 35,927; Winters, 34107; and Odum 13,682.
Winters issued a concession statement on August 10. “After reviewing unofficial election night reporting data and final calls from media outlets, Deputy Secretary of State Chris Winters conceded to Representative Sarah Copeland Hanzas in the Democratic primary for the Secretary of State nomination. On Wednesday morning, he called Copeland Hanzas to offer his congratulations and support. They had a brief, but warm conversation,” according to a release sent out by the Winters campaign.
Odum, too, admitted defeat. “As soon as it became a three-way race, I knew it was gonna be an uphill battle, so I’m so grateful to everyone who liked what they heard enough to vote for me, and especially to all my friends and neighbors in Montpelier,” he wrote The Bridge by email.”I do recognize that more people in town voted against me than for me, so I want everyone to know that I hear that and promise to step up my game in the Clerk’s office. It’s still the best job ever and my neighbors are still the best bosses ever!”
Hanzas Copeland had said in a public forum earlier this summer that she would work to strengthen elections and she would also reinstate education outreach programs. She will face Republican H. Brooke Paige in the general election.
More details to come.
