A crowded Rutland Senate race ultimately wrapped up purple. Republican newcomer Joshua Terenzini claimed the Rutland Senate seat left open when James McNeil decided not to run again. He joins Republican Brian Collamore and Democrat Cheryl Hooker in the Rutland County delegation.
In Chittenden County, Democrat Kesha Ram has become the first woman of color elected to the Vermont Senate. Democrat Thomas Chittenden, a newcomer, was the leading vote-getter in the Chittenden County race for six Senate seats.
The Vermont Senate will have four new members in January, and Republicans were able to pick up one new seat. Sen. John Rodgers, D-Essex-Orleans, lost to Republican Russ Ingalls. The 30-member chamber now has 23 Democrats/Progressives and seven Republicans.
Terenzini, Collamore and Cheryl Hooker topped a field of 10 candidates for three seats. With Terenzini’s win, Republicans maintained their majority in Rutland County’s Senate contingent; the county has been a stronghold for the party for decades.
“I think it’s critical for Rutland County that we were able to hold on to two of the three Senate seats for the Republicans,” Terenzini said Tuesday night. “One thing Montpelier is in desperate need of is balance.”
Terenzini said he looks forward to working with Hooker and, despite party differences, believes they can find common ground. Hooker, reached Tuesday night, agreed with Terenzini.
“In talking with Josh Terenzini, I think that we have more in common when it comes to what we want to see in the county,” Hooker said. “We may not agree on everything, but I think we can work together when it comes to what we need in Rutland County.”
With so many candidates, Hooker wasn’t sure how the race would end. She was relieved to win reelection, but disappointed another Democrat didn’t win a seat. She wasn’t surprised by Terenzini’s showing, though, particularly since he’s been the chair of the Rutland Town Selectboard.
“He worked very hard,” Hooker said. “As a team, the three Republicans worked very hard together.”
Brian Collamore led the field with 14,733; Terenzini was second with 13,993; Hooker received 13,175. Terry Williams, a Republican making his second bid for the Senate, finished fourth and out of the running with 11,817 votes.
Democrats had hoped to build on their 2019 success, when Hooker became the first Democrat in 12 years to claim a Rutland County Senate seat.
The Chittenden County lineup
Ram, a former state representative from Burlington and the first woman of color to serve the city in the House, is one of two newcomers in the six-senator Chittenden County lineup.
Gone will be Senate President Pro Tem Tim Ashe, a Democrat/Progressive, and Debbie Ingram, a Democrat. Both ran for lieutenant governor rather than seek reelection to the Senate, and both lost to Molly Gray in the primary. On Tuesday, Gray beat Republican Scott Milne and will be the next lieutenant governor.
Democrat Thomas Chittenden, the seventh-removed nephew of Vermont’s first and third governor, also named Thomas Chittenden, is the other new Chittenden County senator. He is a member of the South Burlington City Council and a University of Vermont information technology lecturer and faculty Senate president.
Chittenden led the field with 48,432 votes, with 28 of 29 precincts reporting. Three Democratic incumbents claimed three Senate seats — Michael Sirotkin with 43,784 votes, Philip Baruth with 40,044 votes and Ginny Lyons with 46,247 votes. Progressive/Democratic incumbent Chris Pearson took the sixth spot with 32,681 votes.
