Democrats regained a supermajority in the Vermont legislature on Tuesday as voters overwhelmingly chose candidates from the party in both local and statewide elections.
The “blue wave” helped Democrats to reclaim two-thirds majorities in both the House and Senate. That should allow them to force legislation into law by overriding vetoes from Gov. Phil Scott, the only Republican who won a statewide race on Tuesday.
Two years ago, when President Donald Trump again won the country’s top office, Democrats lost their supermajority as voters chose right-leaning candidates. But Tuesday’s election reversed those losses.
“I think jubilant is a good word,” Liam O’Sullivan, House caucus director for the Vermont Democratic Party, said of the reaction to the results. “The energy in the room last night was great after a tough election in 2024.”
Democrats currently hold 16 seats in the 30-member Senate. That will rise to 20 when a new session begins in January, according to preliminary elections results. Republican members dropped from 13 to eight.
Democrats find themselves firmly in control of the upper chamber. A Democratic lieutenant governor will preside over the Senate, and members will also include a Progressive and an independent.
In the 150-member House, Democrats expanded their number of seats from 87 to 102, also above the two-thirds threshold needed to override vetoes.
There are also seven Progressives and three independents in the House, making a potential coalition of 112 lawmakers that would easily overwhelm the 38 Republicans remaining in the lower chamber.
The lead could even increase, as some contests remained too close to call.
A race in Hardwick, for example, is likely headed to a recount, as incumbent Republican Michael Southworth was leading Democrat Audrey Grant by just eight votes. In southern Franklin County, Democrat Caroline Bright was leading Republican Bob Stebbins by just two votes, according to results from the Secretary of State’s Office.
Republicans celebrated the reelection of Gov. Phil Scott to a sixth term but lamented their bruising legislative losses.
“We are disappointed that Vermonters did not choose more balance in the legislature and instead decided to return to a supermajority,” said Senate Minority Leader Scott Beck (R-Caledonia), who only won reelection himself by less than 200 votes.
The election was clearly a repudiation of Trump. But O’Sullivan said that in Vermont, Democrats also fielded strong candidates, including the political newcomer who took on Gov. Scott. Amanda Janoo had the incumbent on defense and energized the party in a way that past candidates had not, he said.
“Amanda Janoo at the top of the ticket was one of the biggest factors,” O’Sullivan said.
Several missteps by Scott amounted to “gifts” that Democrats didn’t enjoy in 2024, he said. Those included vetoes of two bills, one of which was designed to restrict the development of data centers in the state and another that was intended to control health care premiums, issues that voters strongly support, O’Sullivan said.
Paul Dame, chair of the Vermont Republican Party, said Scott’s popularity insulated him from disapproval of Trump, though some Republican lawmakers with less of a track record couldn’t survive the blue wave.
One key pickup for Senate Democrats was in the Chittenden North District, which includes Milton and Fairfax. Former senator Irene Wrenner of Essex beat out Republican Ashley Bartley, a representative from Fairfax, for the Senate seat.
“We wish this race turned out differently and we won’t pretend otherwise,” Bartley said in a statement. “There were national headwinds beyond our control.”
In a two-seat district in Addison County, Sen. Ruth Hardy (D-Addison) won reelection while newcomer Hannah Sessions, a Democrat, won the second seat, ousting incumbent Sen. Steve Heffernan, a Republican.
In Grand Isle, Democrat Kim Gleason, a strong opponent of Scott’s education transformation plan, took down incumbent Sen. Pat Brennan (R-Grand Isle). And in Orange County, Rep. Monique Priestly (D-Bradford) made the leap to the Senate by bouncing incumbent Republican John Benson.
Independent candidate David Wolk, a longtime former president of what was known as Castleton State College, won one of three Senate seats in Rutland County, ousting Sen. Terry Williams (R-Rutland), who was arrested last week on suspicion of domestic assault.
The makeup of Burlington’s 11 seats in the House is also changing.
Former city councilor Ali Dieng, a Democrat, bested independent Dave Hartnett to join incumbent Democrat Rep. Carol Ode in representing the city’s New North End.
In the Chittenden-16 district, which is represented by outgoing Democratic House Speaker Jill Krowinski and Progressive/Democrat Kate Logan, two Progs prevailed: Trang Do and Jeffrey Peterson.
And in the Chittenden-15 district, Democrat Ben Bosley and incumbent Progressive/Democrat Brian Cina won the two seats, ousting incumbent Troy Headrick, who had been a Progressive but left the party to run as an independent.
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