[B]URLINGTON — Burlington will be without any Republican representation in Montpelier after Rep. Kurt Wright lost his re-election campaign in his New North End district.
And despite Gov. Phil Scott’s overwhelming victory statewide, he received less than half of the votes of Democrat Christine Hallquist in the state’s largest city.
Queen City Republicans are scratching their heads about how to win in liberal Burlington, especially with President Donald Trump representing the party on the national stage.
The party will have to defend Wright’s seat on the City Council in 2020 without its premier elected official in the city on the ballot.
Wright, who is the City Council president, decided Tuesday night that he won’t be running for re-election after his term representing Ward 4 wraps up in 2020.
He will also not be seeking another year as the council’s president this spring, which leaves the most powerful position on the council up for grabs. He had been planning on running for another term as president before yesterday, he said.
“With the results last night, it’s just time,” he said. “I’m not up for another tough election, I just campaigned relentlessly and still came up short.”
Democratic challenger Robert Hooper received 1,999 votes to 1,833 for Wright. Incumbent Democratic Carol Ode was the top finisher in the two-seat district with 2,680 votes.
Wright said that his 1,833 votes would have been more than enough to win in any other midterm election. He was endorsed by Democratic Mayor Miro Weinberger and some other left-of-center Burlingtonians, including Progressive Councilor Jane Knodell.
But the combination of a changing population in the New North End and liberal unhappiness with President Donald Trump were too much for Wright to overcome, he said.
“There are a lot of new people in the district, and that’s a good thing, but those new people don’t know me,” Wright said. “There are lot of new people voting in a time where it could be toxic to be a Republican with what’s going on in Washington.”
More young families have been moving into the district, which also has a large new American population.
High voter turnout that was caused by national polarization likely contributed to the result, Ode said. She stressed that more unites voters of all parties than divides them, but legislators and parties take different approaches to solving problems.
Wright said that organizational support for his opponents from the state Democratic Party, liberal advocacy group Rights & Democracy and environmental groups contributed to his loss.
On top of Wright’s loss, all six incumbent Democrats who represent Chittenden County in the state Senate cruised to an easy victory over three Republicans and a handful of independents.
Incumbent Progressive/Democrat Sen. Chris Pearson, who finished in sixth in the six-seat district, easily held off young Republican Alex Farrell. Pearson received 31,460 votes to 19,595 for Farrell.
At Tuesday night’s Republican election night party, a fired-up Farrell told the crowd the party has a bright future and that he was part of the developing bench of young Republican candidates. He vowed to run again.
Farrell said Wednesday that he believed Republicans could regain a footing in Burlington, eventually. He said that Weinberger’s electoral success indicates that “a moderate message can resonate in Burlington.”
While he said that he was going to try to convince Wright to run for re-election to the City Council, Farrell lives in Ward 4 and wouldn’t rule out running for Wright’s seat in 2020. He said he wasn’t sure what office his next campaign would be for.
Burlington GOP chair Paco DeFrancis said that he was encouraged that Scott performed better in Burlington in 2018 than he had in 2016.
“If last night’s indication was anything, in Vermont, the Republican Party is the party of Phil Scott and we need to keep on that message if we want to be a sustainable and relevant moving forward,” he said.
But tying down ballot Republicans to Scott has been a challenge, DeFrancis said. In particular, he said the party was “scratching its head” at the lieutenant governor’s race, where Progressive Democrat David Zuckerman beat Republican Don Turner by 18 percentage points.
And in the city, Scott was soundly defeated by Democratic challenger Christine Hallquist. Hallquist received 11,948 votes to 5,793 for Scott
DeFrancis said he thinks local Republican positions need to take stronger positions and clearly differentiate themselves from Democratic candidates to be more successful.
The party is planning on running candidates in the March 2019 City Council elections and has already identified a candidate for the South District, which is currently represented by Democrat Joan Shannon.
Wright said that he still had a number of issues he wanted to address as a councilor before his term is up. He said he wants to work with the council to eliminate the personal business property tax in the city and reform the permit system to make it easier for property owners to make changes to their properties.
He also said he wanted the city to take a wider view of redeveloping the downtown block that surrounds Memorial Auditorium, not just the auditorium itself.
Losing Chittenden County Senate candidate Paul Dame said at the Republican election night celebration that Republican ideas could still be spread in an unsuccessful campaign.
“Whether we win or lose, the more candidates we have out there” the better to show “we’re real people” and “not as terrible and scary as they (Democrats) made us out to be,” Dame said.
“Don’t be discouraged,” he said.
Mark Johnson contributed reporting.
