Montpelier City Clerk John Odum. Photo by Tom Brown
State Rep. Sarah Copeland Hanzas (D-Bradford) held off two challengers, including Montpelier City Clerk John Odum, to win the Democratic primary for Secretary of State.
Copeland Hanzas tallied 35,968 votes, while Chris Winters received 34,137 and Odum got 13,705, according to unofficial results.
Odum said the experience served as a wakeup call.
“As soon as it became a three-way race, I knew it was going to 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.”
Odum received 1,047 votes in his hometown, compared to 975 for Winters, who lives in Berlin, and 527 for Copeland Hanzas. Winters was a top deputy under retiring Secretary of State Jim Condos.
“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 on primary night.
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.
