Sanders takes the stage in Essex
10:10 p.m. (Mike Dougherty)
Sen. Bernie Sanders kicked off his Super Tuesday speech by drawing a direct line to the candidacy that launched his career in public office: his 1981 win for mayor of Burlington, 31 years ago tonight.
“We won that race against all of the odds,” Sanders said. “Everybody said it couldn’t be done. And when we began this race for the presidency, everybody said it couldn’t be done. But tonight I tell you with absolute confidence: we’re going to win the Democratic nomination. And we are going to defeat the most dangerous president in the history of this country.”
As state-by-state results continue to roll in, Sanders has won victories in Vermont and Colorado so far. California and Texas, two states with high delegate counts, have yet to be called.
Brattleboro rejects replacing appointed manager with elected mayor
9:55 p.m. (Kevin O’Connor)
BRATTLEBORO — Townspeople here rejected an advisory article Tuesday to replace their appointed manager system of local leadership with an elected mayor.
The vote was 529 for and 1,722 against — “an overwhelming majority,” Brattleboro Town Clerk Hilary Francis said.
Supporters had called for the non-binding resolution — “Shall the voters of the Town of Brattleboro advise the Selectboard to amend the Brattleboro Town Charter to replace the Selectboard form of governance with that of a mayoral form of governance?” — as the first of at least a year-long series of steps to ask the state Legislature to change the municipal charter.
“Because it is a long, cumbersome process, there’s no sense in putting time and effort into a discussion if there isn’t any interest,” said Dick DeGray, a former Selectboard chairman and article sponsor.
But many voters expressed frustration that supporters wanted to gauge public opinion generally before proposing any particulars.
“This would be a profound change to our town affecting everyone in ways we cannot really know and needs be discussed and analyzed way BEFORE the ballot vote,” one resident posted on Facebook.
Eight of the state’s cities and towns now elect leaders who are part of the Vermont Mayors Coalition. Burlington and Rutland have full-time positions, while Barre, Montpelier, Newport, St. Albans, Vergennes and Winooski have posts that are supplemented by professional managers.
Brattleboro’s nearly 9,500 voters currently elect a five-member Selectboard that, in turn, chooses a town manager to preside over a 150-employee municipal government. Article sponsors have said they don’t oppose any of the current people in the posts, but instead think the entire community should elect its top leader.
Biden poised to cross Vermont’s delegate threshold
9:20 p.m. (Kit Norton)
With 55% of Vermont reporting, the state’s 16 pledged delegates will be split between Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden.
Sanders is in the lead with 51.26% and Biden is far behind with 22.95%, but Super Tuesday has become all about how many delegates candidates can claim.
Candidates must receive at least 15% of the vote to be awarded any delegates, in what is known as the “the 15% rule.” If candidates cross that threshold, delegates are distributed proportionally.
Last week, VTDigger reported how rival campaigns were looking at Vermont as a way to limit Sanders’ gains on Super Tuesday.
Biden was not among the candidates to make a play in Vermont, however, and experts considered him a long shot to get any of the Green Mountain State’s delegates.
If the results hold, Sanders would only manage 11 delegates in Vermont while Biden would come away with five.
In 2016, Sanders took more than 80% of the vote in Vermont, claiming all 16 delegates.
Wilson back on Newport council
8:45 p.m. (Justin Trombly)
Former councilman John Wilson won a spot back on the Newport City Council, and incumbent Kevin Charbonneau retained his seat, after more than 930 people turned out to vote today.
Wilson — a former council president who sat on the dais for 17 years before losing a five-way race in 2018 — won 441 votes, the most of any of the five candidates for the two open seats, said City Clerk Jim Johnson.
Charbonneau, who was first elected two years ago, earned the second-highest tally with 426, Johnson said.
Derby Elementary School teacher Chris Vachon came next with 346 votes, followed by local activist Amy Gillespie with 325 and veterans’ worker Carl King with 44.
Results were unofficial as of about 8:15 p.m., the city clerk said, but the number of invalid ballots to be tossed out was too few to change the outcome. He said 938 people voted. About 3,600 people were registered in the city in 2018, according to the state.
The City Council race was a referendum of sorts on the current city leadership, with several of the candidates having criticized the local government beforehand as out of touch and lacking transparency.
“The last two years, all I see is disdain toward the public,” said Wilson in February.
“I believe transparency is all but gone in the last couple years,” he said then.
Elsewhere in the Northeast Kingdom: Voters in Jay approved all school and municipal spending items with little debate, but left the annual town meeting with one big unanswered question: Who will purchase the Jay Peak ski resort, the town’s largest taxpayer? Read Alan Keays’ full report.
More from BTV: Mason holds Ward 5, Hightower wins Ward 1
8:35 p.m. (Mike Dougherty)
Jane Stromberg’s win in Ward 8 wasn’t the only Progressive victory in tonight’s Burlington City Council races: Zoraya Hightower has unseated Sharon Bushor in Ward 1.
In Ward 5, incumbent Chip Mason has held onto his seat. Mason faced Progressive challenger Nate Lantieri.
We’ll be updating our full story on the Burlington City Council races as the final results come through.
Burlington City Council: Progressive Jane Stromberg unseats Democrat Adam Roof
7:55 p.m. (Sarah Asch)
BURLINGTON — Progressive candidate Jane Stromberg has unseated incumbent Adam Roof for city council in Burlington’s 8th Ward. Stromberg earned 635 votes to Roof’s 427.
Stromberg said she was not expecting such a decisive victory.
“I thought it was going to be so close,” she said. “I just knew that, no matter what, even if we lost it was a win because we really just put in everything.”
During the campaign, Stromberg said she was running because she thought the city’s current leadership was not taking time-sensitive issues like climate change and social justice issues seriously enough.
Standing outside the double doors at the Fletcher Free Library polling station, Stromberg’s team was emotional.
“We ran a really clean, ethical campaign the entire time, and our team was so well put together and so passionate, and I’m just so proud of them,” Stromberg said. “This is because of them.”
Stromberg thinks the student vote impacted the election because so many college students live in her ward.
“Students were very passionate about this,” she said. “We engaged purposefully with as many people as possible, including as many students as possible.”
She said her victory represents a shifting tide toward more progressive ideals.
“We are clearly building a movement here in Burlington, Vermont, and I want to thank everyone who was a part of that,” she said.
First states called for Biden and Sanders
7:15 p.m. (Kit Norton)
Sen. Bernie Sanders has been declared the winner in Vermont (16 delegates) while former Vice President Joe Biden has taken Virginia (99 delegates).
The states were called just as the polls closed at 7:00 p.m. with still 0% of precincts reporting in Vermont and only 1% in Virginia. At this time it remains unclear what the delegate allocation will be from both states.
There are 12 more to go plus American Samoa. Watch this space — our state-by-state tracker will be updated throughout the night.
National news outlets called the race for Sanders with 0% of precincts reporting. As of 7:30 p.m., the only Vermont town with results posted to the Secretary of State’s election results page was Westford. Sanders got 57% of the vote there, with Joe Biden getting just shy of 20%.
Optimism on both sides of SoBu race
Tuesday, 3/3, 6:32 p.m. (Grace Elletson)
SOUTH BURLINGTON — City Council candidates Meaghan Emery and Matt Cota say they’re both optimistic about winning the council’s only contested seat.
“It’s a great day for democracy,” said Emery, the incumbent, outside of the Frederick H. Tuttle Middle School polling station. “You always have to maintain that optimism.”
She said she expects voters to support her commitment to responsible, environmentally-conscious growth for the city. Emery has supported removing parking lot standards in the city to discourage the growth of the asphalt lots that can increase contaminated water runoff.
Martha Jackson said she’s voting for Emery because of her support for residents who live near the South Burlington and have raised concerns about the F-35 fighter jets that arrived last year.
Cota, while standing with supporters outside of the Orchard School, said the council needs a new member who supports business development in South Burlington. Cota has disapproved of the council’s decision to remove the city’s parking standards.
“Everywhere I go, people are giving me the thumb’s up,” Cota said. “They’re saying it’s time for change.”
While canvassing for Cota outside the Orchard School, Johnny Illick said he wants the city council to do more to encourage business growth in the city. He also thinks zoning laws should be more transparent to encourage more affordable housing to be built.
“The council is not as diverse as it needs to be,” Illick said, “in opinion and actual policy.”
‘Second Amendment sanctuary’ push falters
Tuesday, 3/3, 5:23 p.m. (Justin Trombly)
For Second Amendment activists, it hasn’t been a great day.
As of yesterday, 11 towns were supposed to consider forming gun rights sanctuaries in their communities, according to a map from Gun Owners of Vermont, a group that has been organizing the movement.
Four of those towns didn’t even discuss the idea, though, according to local officials: Plymouth, Reading, Weathersfield and Chester.
In two that did, the effort failed.
Cavendish voters shot down the resolution 33–31, according to the town clerk.
In Northfield, when a man tried asking voters to adopt a resolution about the issue, the moderator ruled it irrelevant, Town Manager Jeff Schulz said. Then the man asked for a vote to rescind the moderator’s decision. “It failed by a sizable amount,” Schulz said, giving an estimated ratio of 3–1.
Results were not available from Westminster, Calais, Warren or Lowell, which the gun activist group had said would be tackling the issue.
Activists also said the item would come up during Newport Town’s meeting tonight, which VTDigger will be attending.
Spotlight on Wards 1 and 8 in Burlington
Tuesday, 3/3, 5:10 p.m. (Aidan Quigley)
BURLINGTON — Voters took to the polls at Wards 1 and 8 in full force Tuesday afternoon, with higher than normal turnout in what are expected to be the city’s closest council races.
Ward 1 clerk Sue Alenick said that turnout was about 20 percent higher than normal in Ward 1, with over 1,000 votes cast as of 2:20 p.m. Longtime incumbent Sharon Bushor is running as an independent against Progressive Zoraya Hightower and Democrat Jillian Scannell.
All three candidates were outside the Mater Christi School building on Mansfield Avenue Tuesday afternoon holding signs.
Bushor said that there had been a lot of activity around the polling place, due to both the presidential primary and the contested council race.
Scannell said she was “cautiously optimistic” about Tuesday’s vote, but said that she feels great about her campaign either way. Hightower said she had “a lot of hope” but no predictions for Tuesday night’s results.
Many voters leaving the Ward 1 polling place said they voted for Sen. Bernie Sanders for president.
One of these voters was Kaleigh Caovao, who also voted for Hightower for council. “She’s also the Progressive candidate and is very closely aligned with Bernie and his policies,” she said.
Ward 8 clerk Beth Wilkins said that there was high turnout there as well, with many UVM students voting using the state’s same-day voter registration.
Supporters of both Progressive Jane Stromberg and Democrat Adam Roof stood outside of the Ward 8 polling place, Fletcher Free Library. Stromberg said that she thought the election would be extremely close. Roof said he was hopeful but declined to make a prediction.
Cilia Hutchins voted for Roof and said she really liked his idea to charge an extra $1 on tickets at Waterfront Park to pay for alternative transportation options.
Rachel Echt voted for Sanders and said she supported Stromberg because she believes Stromberg is more progressive than Roof.
“She knows what it’s like to be a student here, and how expensive housing is,” Echt said.
TMD in photos
Tuesday, 3/3, 4:40 p.m. (Colin Meyn)
Here’s a selection of photos from VTDigger’s Glenn Russell, who spent the day in Londonderry, and Mike Dougherty, who was in Burlington and South Burlington.
UVM gets a day off for Democracy
Tuesday, 3/3, 3:40 p.m. (Sarah Asch)
Students at the University of Vermont do not have class today in honor of Town Meeting Day. The tradition of canceling class goes back until the early 1970s, according to Prudence Doherty, the public services librarian at the university.
In the academic calendar dated September 1973, the university first lists town meeting day as a holiday for the following spring, she said.
UVM students are poised to have an impact on local races, especially in Wards 1 and 8, the closest to the university. Those who live in Ward 1 have the chance to vote for their classmate Jillian Scannnell, a senior and the student body president, who is running for city council as a Democrat.
The university is still open and staff are still expected to report to work, but Doherty said staff have long been allowed to take time off to attend town meetings in towns that still hold formal in-person gatherings.
Richard Watts, the director for the Center of Research on Vermont, said the hope is for students to take advantage of the time off and attend town meetings or vote.
“Town meeting day in Vermont is a 200 year old tradition, UVM is also about 200 years old,” he said. “As part of our fabric of being integrated with the state of Vermont, there’s a longtime commitment to give people the day off to participate in town meetings.”
He also pointed out that a number of classes, such as some in the poli sci department, integrate town meetings into their curriculum.
NEK towns approve broadband district
Tuesday, 3/3, 3:30 p.m. (Justin Trombly)
A broadband-service district is officially coming to the Northeast Kingdom.
Twenty towns so far have voted yes to join a communications union district to provide the region with high-speed internet, according to organizers. The proposal is on the ballot in 27 towns in the Kingdom.
Most of the votes have been unanimous, organizers say.
Communities that have agreed to join the district, according to an organizer spreadsheet, are: Albany, Barnet, Brighton, Coventry, Craftsbury, Danville, East Haven, Glover, Greensboro, Groton, Hardwick, Kirby, Lyndon, Newark, Ryegate, Sheffield, Stannard, Sutton, Waterford and Wheelock.
Activists have been working to form a communications union district in the Kingdom since the summer of 2019. A district is a type of governance body formed by statute in 2015 that allows municipalities to team up to provide broadband service.
Forming the district doesn’t necessarily mean broadband is coming to the towns. The Town Meeting Day item is to decide whether a town will join a district, which can then work to garner funds to build the infrastructure required for rolling out internet service. And organizers have emphasized that this is a long-term project, not one with immediate results.
According to state data, the Kingdom has among the worst access to high-speed internet in Vermont. Other rural regions in the state are also looking to join districts today.
The Norton scenario: Super Tuesday picks
Tuesday, 3/3, 2:30 p.m. (Kit Norton)
VTDigger’s Bernie 2020 reporter, Kit Norton, has made his Super Tuesday picks over at FiveThirtyEight.
He’s predicting Sanders will take California and eight other contests while Vice President Joe Biden will win six — including Tennessee and Arkansas.
The key primary is Texas and its 228 pledged delegates.
Going into Tuesday, Sanders and Biden are neck and neck in the state. But based on the Lone Star State’s demographics and strong support among Latino voters for the Vermont senator, our reporter is picking Sanders to carry Texas.
The Norton scenario (which is also one of the most probable, according to FiveThirtyEight) would put Sanders and Biden in a virtual dead heat through the rest of the primary.
Readers can make their own projections at FiveThirtyEight ahead of this evening as results come in.
Here’s a rundown of when polls close, which we stole (um, borrowed?) from the good folks at Vox.
- Alabama: 8 pm Eastern, 7 pm local
- American Samoa: 3 pm Eastern, 9 am local
- Arkansas: 8:30 pm Eastern, 7:30 pm local
- California: 11 pm Eastern, 8 pm local
- Colorado: 9 pm Eastern, 7 pm local
- Maine: 8 pm Eastern
- Massachusetts: 8 pm Eastern
- Minnesota: 9 pm Eastern, 8 pm local
- North Carolina: 7:30 pm Eastern
- Oklahoma: 8 pm Eastern, 7 pm local
- Tennessee: 8 pm Eastern, 7 pm local
- Texas: 8 pm Eastern, 7 pm local
- Utah: 10 pm Eastern, 8 pm local
- Vermont: 7 pm Eastern
- Virginia: 7 pm Eastern
Big turnout for SoBu school bond vote
Tuesday, 3/3, 1:25 p.m. (Mike Dougherty)
The threat of coronavirus inspired South Burlington election workers to set up a jug of hand sanitizer at a polling place exit, but it didn’t keep voters at home. The line to vote stretched out the door of the Tuttle Middle School gym for much of this morning, and poll workers said it was the highest turnout they’d seen.
“We’re very, very busy,” said City Clerk Donna Kinville.
Kinville said just short of 2200 voters had already cast early or absentee ballots this year — a record for the city. About 600 people vote early in a typical year, she said, and the previous record in a presidential election year was about 1,100, in 2012.
“It means something is getting the people’s interest,” Kinville said.
One possible factor: the city’s proposed $210 school bond.
The bond would finance the construction of a new middle and high school to replace the aging Tuttle Middle School and South Burlington High School, a project school board members say is badly needed. The proposal has sparked a “Vote No” campaign from opponents who say it’s too expensive.
“While we understand it’s a big ask, we believe it’s the best return on investment,” said school board member Bridget Burkhardt, who was outside the polling place advocating for the project.
The board voted unanimously in favor of the proposal. While voters she’d spoken to were friendly, she said, “I think people pretty much come with their minds made up.”
Paul Jerard, who brought his two kindergarten-aged children to the polling place, voted No. “It just seems excessive,” he said.
“These guys would be getting direct benefit from that,” he said, referring to his kids. But, “it’s just too much for us and a lot of families in South Burlington.”
Proctor says ‘no’ to watershed sale
Tuesday, 3/3, 12:35 p.m. (Kevin O’Connor)
PROCTOR — A number of towns around the state held their town meetings Monday night, when work won’t prevent folks from turning out.
Voters in Proctor overwhelmingly opposed a $1.5 million private offer for 1,650 acres of watershed this Rutland County community owns in nearby Chittenden.
“You don’t sell your assets,” resident Justin Carter said during a nearly half-hour string of speeches by taxpayers against the proposal. “Once it’s gone it’s gone.”
Florida businessman John Gerlach grew up on a Rutland Town farm and owns nearly 600 acres of Chittenden property abutting the watershed. A frequent Vermont visitor, he made an offer this fall to buy Proctor’s 1,650 acres to add to his view.
“We really like the property,” Gerlach said in a recent interview. “Right from the beginning, it was my intent to expand my holdings. That’s why I’m pursuing this piece.”
In response, local leaders asked town meeting attendees whether they should pursue a sale. Monday night’s consensus was loud and clear: “We have to fight to keep our land open,” resident Matthew Trombley said to applause.
In the end, only a few residents softly voiced an affirmative vote while the rest of a crowd of about 150 shouted a strong “no.”
Meeting moderator Ray Ault, a real estate broker who recused himself from leading the land discussion, saw a silver lining in the debate.
“This is the largest turnout I’ve seen,” Ault told the crowd.
Read Kevin O’Connor’s full story here.
Warren votes in Cambridge
Tuesday, 3/3, 12:35 p.m. (Xander Landen)
CAMBRIDGE, MASS—A crowd of hundreds gathered outside a local elementary school Tuesday morning and awaited Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s arrival just after 9 a.m. to cast her vote.
Warren, who has struggled in early voting states, is hoping for a strong Super Tuesday performance across the country. But even in her home state, victory is no sure thing. Recent polling shows Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders neck-and-neck in the Bay State.
The latest poll, released Tuesday by the progressive think tank Data for Progress, shows Warren up by two points — at 28%, over Sanders’ 26%. But two other polls from late February, conducted by the Boston Globe/Suffolk University and WBUR/Mass INC, put Sanders ahead by two and eight points, respectively.
“It’s going to catapult Bernie and I think it’s likely to happen,” Paul Feinberg, a 75-year-old retired lawyer and Warren supporter, said of the possibility of a Massachusetts victory for Sanders.
Feinberg was standing in line outside the Graham and Parks School to take a selfie with Warren Tuesday morning. He didn’t know whether he was going to vote for Warren or Sanders until he heard her speak outside the polling place.
“She’s the brightest and she’s also a politician,” he said. “She’s not an ideologue like Sanders.”
Standing in the bed of a white pickup truck and surrounded by supporters waving blue and white signs, Warren gave a two minute stump speech after she voted.
“I believe in an America where we choose hope over fear, where we choose courage over cynicism,” she said. “An America where we dream big and fight hard.”
Bernie casts his ballot
Tuesday, 3/3, 12:20 a.m. (Sarah Asch)
BURLINGTON—Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., drove himself to his local polling place in Ward 7 this morning to vote in the presidential primary and local elections.
“Today is obviously a very, very important day. We look forward to doing well,” Sanders told reporters after casting his ballot. “We are determined to defeat the most dangerous president of the modern history of our country.”
Sanders spoke briefly about his plans to address wealth inequality, and he emphasized the power of his movement and the importance of voter turnout.
“If we’re going to defeat Donald Trump, our campaign is the campaign to do that,” he said. “We are putting together a multi-generational, multi-racial movement of people who are standing up for justice.”
Councilor Ali Dieng, D/P, who is running for re-election unopposed in Ward 7, took a break from greeting constituents to hold a sign for Sanders when the senator arrived.
“His message has always been the same message of bringing people together, working together and making sure that the American dream is accessible for every single citizen,” Dieng said.
The polling station, located at Robert Miller Community & Recreation Center, was swarmed with press and volunteers, who often had to clear paths for local voters to enter the building.
Sean Ploof, a lieutenant with the Burlington Fire Department, said he had only seen this kind of media presence when Sanders and Former Governor Howard Dean announced their candidacies for president.
“It’s just condensed here, only one way in and one way out, it’s just a huge circus,” he said, adding that he did not mind.
“This is Vermont, bring it,” he said. “We love it. I love the whole democractic process.”
A quick TMD catch-up
Tuesday, 3/3, 11:05 a.m. (Colin Meyn)
We’ll be posting updates throughout the day on Town Meeting Day debates across Vermont, along with updates on Super Tuesday primaries across the country, as Sen. Bernie Sanders looks to clear a path to Democratic nomination.
Check back throughout the day, or follow us on Twitter and Facebook, where we’ll be sharing updates. We’ve got more than a dozen reporters covering votes from Jay, Vermont, to Cambridge, Mass.
Here’s what you need to know on the big (and not-so-big) issues facing voters today.
Communities across the state are considering big school bonds and forming rural broadband districts. There’s also a push from gun rights groups for towns to declare themselves Second Amendment sanctuary cities.
In Burlington, Progressives are looking to expand their influence on city council, and voters will consider school, ambulance and housing requests.
There’s also a heated race for a South Burlington council seat. But the featured item on the ballot is a mammoth $210 million school bond.
A ballot question in Essex has reignited a decades-long tension between the village of Essex Junction and the rest of the town.
And here’s an overview of the many other items going before voters on Vermont’s annual day of local Democracy.
