[B]URLINGTON — Sen. David Zuckerman won the lieutenant governor’s race over Republican former State Auditor Randy Brock by a roughly 7 point margin, making him the highest-ranking Progressive officeholder in the party’s history.
As of 12:15 a.m., the secretary of state’s website had Zuckerman leading the race 151,787 votes to 131,664, with 93 percent of precincts reporting. Zuckerman said he received a phone call from Brock just after midnight conceding the race.
Zuckerman spent most of election night with the Progressive Party at the Skinny Pancake on Burlington’s waterfront. He lauded the party’s growth, thanking its organizers and leaders for their support.
“I think one of the reasons we’re winning this race is because working people, who have been getting more and more productive, aren’t getting their fair share of the economic pie, and that’s what I’ve been talking about out there” on the campaign trail, Zuckerman said.
The Chittenden County senator, who also captured the Democratic nomination in the August primary, returned to the Hilton, giving a brief address to Democrats where he highlighted his priorities of pushing for a livable wage, paid family leave and measures to address climate change.
Brock, in his concession speech, said he was encouraged that Republican Phil Scott won the governor’s race, because Scott’s victory meant the government would focus on jobs and the economy — “the things that will really mean a difference to Vermonters in the future.”
“I’ve enjoyed running this race,” Brock said. “I’ve enjoyed visiting with so many thousands of Vermonters, and I’m particularly gratified that this race that some predicted would be very, very wide wound up narrowing to the extent that it had.”
He added: “I wish Vermont the greatest of success. … Vermont will remain in my heart, remain in my mind, and I will continue to work for Vermont now and in the future.”
Zuckerman, speaking at the Skinny Pancake, thanked U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and other leftist political leaders for helping to pave his way to Tuesday’s victory.
Sanders sent out a fundraising pitch on behalf of Zuckerman in late October that brought in roughly $20,000 from 2,800 donors in the first six hours. Zuckerman, a Hinesburg organic farmer who has spent nearly two decades in the Vermont Legislature, has raised $326,000 this campaign, nearly twice as much as Brock, who has brought in $177,000.
Zuckerman received more than a dozen endorsements from progressive political groups in the state, including the state’s chapters of the National Education Association and the AFL-CIO.
Brock didn’t receive the backing of any prominent national Republicans or conservative groups, though he did receive endorsements from a handful of newspapers in rural areas of the state, including the Caledonian Record and the St. Albans Messenger in his home Franklin County. He was also supported by top state Republicans, including former Gov. Jim Douglas, who called Brock “a great fiscal manager.”
Zuckerman is likely to try and use his office to push for marijuana legalization. As a senator, he introduced a marijuana legalization bill last legislative session that didn’t make it to the finish line. As lieutenant governor, he would not be in a position to introduce legislation or call witnesses to a committee hearing.
He could, however, push to put pro-pot senators on important committees like Finance and Judiciary, where any legalization legislation would be debated and drafted.
(VTDigger reporter Erin Mansfield contributed to this report.)
