SOUTH BURLINGTON — Paul Dame, a former one-term Republican member of the Vermont House of Representatives, was voted in as chair of the Vermont Republican Party after Deb Billado decided not to run for reelection at the party’s reorganization meeting Saturday.
Dame, who owns the retirement-planning firm Shepherd Financial and lives in St. George, won 57 of the available 85 votes Saturday, beating opponent Jim Sexton, a hard-right activist from Chittenden County.
In the four minutes the candidates were given to speak prior to the vote, Dame touted his record of helping Republican candidates and party members get involved in elections, as well as his role in bringing the party into the 21st century by getting them onto digital platforms.
He additionally homed in on his perceived faults of the Democratic Party.
“The Covid response has made it clear to people that progressive Democrats do not care about their freedoms, they care about control,” Dame said. “The reason Democrats care about control is because they don’t trust people and this is a fundamental distinction between Republicans and Democrats, and something I tend to argue vehemently in the public arena.”
Dame added that if elected as chair, he planned to bring more young Republicans to the party and create a “well-defined list of opportunities to volunteer” for party members both young and old. He also said he plans to announce an outline on “how we can engage in a little less talk and a little more action” at the party’s December budget meeting.
“I have put in the hours, I have made the hard choices, I have faced the ridicule that the press and the constituents have thrown at me to do what is right. When many backed down, when many ran away, I stood up,” Dame said.
Sexton, who frequently organizes and attends rallies at the Statehouse for right-wing causes, ran on a platform of being pro-life from the moment of conception, as well as being vehemently pro-police and pro-Second Amendment.
“I’m a Vermonter and a Christian, and I’m a Republican and a conservative,” Sexton said. “I want to fight for you and stand up for the people that don’t have a voice, including the unborn.”
Billado, the ardent-Trump supporter who has been the subject of controversy in her four-year tenure as party chair, thanked attendees for allowing her to be their chair.
“I can’t tell you that every day was a ray of sunshine,” she said, “but it’s been thrilling and exciting. I hope I served you well.”
Vermont State Rep. Samantha Lefebrve, R-Orange, was voted in as the party’s vice chair, winning over party newcomer Michael Valdez of Lamoille. Sexton also had been nominated for the position but turned it down, saying that he would be focusing his efforts on Chittenden County instead.
“For a state that claims to love and support local farms, they certainly do not make it easy on those that make a living that way, and continue to push small businesses and Vermont families out while encouraging others to come in,” Lefebrve said. “Not to mention they sadly stand behind and support not only a president but an entire administration that makes our entire country look weak.
“This is our time to show that we aren’t the mean, cold and empty-hearted people that most Vermont media misquotes us as, but rather the party of the people that care and work for the people,” she said.
Despite Billado’s decision not to run for reelection for chair, she accepted her nomination — and win — for treasurer, while Deb Ricker was chosen as party secretary and Thomas Koch as assistant treasurer.
Republican Gov. Phil Scott was not in attendance.
