As results for the Chittenden Senate race rolled in late Tuesday night, incumbent Sen. Chris Pearson began leapfrogging with June Heston, a nonprofit leader and political newcomer, for the Democratic nomination for the six seat state Senate district.
At about 11 p.m., with 26 out of 29 precincts reporting, June Heston pulled ahead of Pearson by a mere 14 votes. A half hour later, with 27 precincts reporting, Heston was down by a single vote.
Pearson eventually ended the night ahead — he received 11,759 votes while Heston claimed 11,717 — seemingly securing his spot on the general election ballot. But Heston indicated Wednesday the 42-vote margin may be close enough to merit a review by the Secretary of State’s Office.
Heston — who has led multiple nonprofits, including the Make-a-Wish Foundation of Vermont, the Vermont Family Network, and Burton’s Chill Foundation — said she’s getting advice from many supporters encouraging her to file for a recount.
“I feel like we’ll have to watch the process unfold,” she said. “I’ve been advised to wait for the official count on Friday. So I’m going to wait and see what happens with the official count.”
She said if the official numbers fluctuate a great deal when they’re published on Friday, she’ll likely call for a recount. For now, after running her first campaign, Heston said she wants to take a day to catch her breath.
“I need to take today to just breathe,” she said. “And figure it out later.”
As much as last night’s results were nail biting, Pearson said that as the Chittenden Senate’s most recent addition — he was elected in 2016 — it wasn’t surprising that he was competing for the sixth slot. He added he understands why Heston is looking into a recount.
“I think anybody in a close race is going to consider a recount,” Pearson said. “We’ll let that race play out.”
Pearson said he’s still building his name recognition and political reputation in the county, but doesn’t think that voter support for him is wavering as one of the Statehouse’s most progressive members.
“I’m on the same upward trajectory,” Pearson said. “There were just a bunch of new faces.”
Together, the 13 Democratic candidates in the Chittenden Senate race brought in $270,000 to fund their campaigns.
Kesha Ram, a former state rep, led the way in fundraising, and came in second among all candidates in the primary, paving the way for her to become Vermont’s first woman of color in the state Senate.
