[B]ENNINGTON — In a hotly contested House race, incumbent Rep. Cynthia Browning, D-Arlington, and Republican Brian Keefe, of Manchester, were victorious in the Bennington-4 District race for two seats.
Rep. Steve Berry, D-Manchester, finished in third place and was defeated for a second term.
Keefe had 2,296 votes, Browning 2,094 and Berry 1,996.
Rep. Bill Botzow, D-Pownal/Woodford, easily defeated James O’Connor, an independent, in the Bennington-1 House race. Botzow cruised with 1,503 votes to 276 for O’Connor, who also lost decisively to the incumbent in the 2014 election.
In the Bennington-Rutland House race, Democrat Linda Joy Sullivan defeated Republican Jack Stannard in the race to fill the seat now occupied by Rep. Patti Komline, who did not seek re-election. Sullivan took 1,205 votes in the five-town district to 965 for Stannard, a Dorset Selectboard member.
In the Windham-Bennington House race, former Rep. John Moran, of Wardsboro, a Democrat, lost his bid to regain his old seat from Rep. Laura Sibilia, I-Dover, 1,152 to 897.
Most of the county’s Statehouse lawmakers were unopposed for new terms. Reps. Timothy Corcoran II and Rachael Fields, both Democrats, were unchallenged for the two House seats in Bennington House District 2.1, and Republican Mary Morrissey and Democrat Kiah Morris, were unopposed in the Bennington 2-2 district, which also has two seats.
Rep. Alice Miller, D-Shaftsbury, won without opposition in the Bennington-3 District.
The county’s two state senators, Sen. Dick Sears and Brian Campion, both Democrats, of Bennington, likewise won without opposition on the ballot.
Also on the ballot was Democrat Frederick Gilbar, who ran unopposed for high bailiff.