Ruth Hardy, a Democrat, claimed the vacant seat in the Addison County state Senate race while incumbent Democrat Christopher Bray was re-elected on Tuesday night.
With two-thirds of the districts in Addison reporting, Hardy was leading the six candidates vying for the two seats with about 26 percent of the vote. Bray was getting 25 percent while Republican Peter Briggs was third with 13 percent.
Hardy and Bray faced four opponents in the hotly contested race for the seat left open by Claire Ayer, a longtime Democratic leader in the Senate, when she announced her retirement earlier this year.
After Ayer convinced Hardy to run for her seat, two independents joined the race and managed to outpace the Democratic fundraising efforts. Paul Ralston, owner of Vermont Coffee Co., and Marie Audet, owner of Blue Spruce Farm, ran as a ticket in order to seriously contend with Hardy and Bray.
While Ralston and Audet outspent Hardy during the campaign, they could not muster enough support to swing the historically Democratic count. Audet was gaining 13 percent of the vote and Ralston only 8 percent.
It also was a big night for Democrats in Addison County’s House races.
Amy Sheldon, Democrat/Progressive, and Democrat Robin Scheu, both of Middlebury, were re-elected to their seats, while Democrat Peter Conlon of Cornwall ran uncontested to retain his seat.
Incumbent Democrat Diane Lanpher of Vergennes was re-elected and Democrat Matt Birong, also of Vergennes, beat incumbent Republican Warren Van Wyck of Ferrisburgh to turn both seats blue.
Democrat Caleb Elder of Starksboro and Mari Cordes of Lincoln, a Democrat/Progressive, beat Republicans Fred Baser of Bristol and Valerie Mullin of Monkton to turn both House seats Democratic in their district. Elder took 27 percent of the vote while Cordes received 24 percent, enough to nudge Baser and his 23.6 percent of the vote. Mullin received 17 percent.
The lone Republican to remain in his seat in Addison County was Harvey Smith of New Haven, who ran unopposed.
