Updated at 5:23 p.m.
Christina Nolan, a former U.S. attorney for Vermont, is running for the U.S. Senate as a Republican.
VTDigger first reported Nolan’s interest in the race last month. She formally announced her candidacy Tuesday in an exclusive with Fox News and released a 3-minute campaign video. Nolan has not responded to requests for an interview made by phone and email from VTDigger.
“I think it’s a blessing and a privilege to have been born in Vermont, to have been raised in Vermont and to call myself a Vermonter. That privilege and that blessing — which I did nothing to earn, I just got lucky — has called me to public service and to give back to the state that gave me so much,” she said in the clip.
Nolan, 42, is the first major Republican figure to enter the race to replace outgoing U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. If she were to prevail in the primary, she likely would face off in the general election against U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., who is overwhelmingly favored to win the Democratic nomination.
Nolan was named Vermont’s top federal prosecutor in 2017 by President Donald Trump with bipartisan recommendations from Republican Gov. Phil Scott and Leahy. She was the first woman to hold the post in Vermont.
Her tenure at the U.S. Attorney’s Office won her praise from both Democratic and Republican officials, and her office played a key role in an $8 billion settlement with opioid manufacturer Purdue Pharma. But she was considered a hardliner on certain matters, particularly drug and gun offenses. Before even assuming office as U.S. attorney, Nolan implied she would bring federal charges against the Howard Center in Burlington when it was contemplating opening a safe-injection site for drug users.
“The first job of government is public safety — preventing people from using drugs and getting those with substance use disorder into treatment,” Nolan said in her campaign video.
The state has never sent a woman to Congress, but that is likely to change this November. Nolan is the first prominent woman this cycle to throw her hat in the ring for Senate — from either party — and three high-profile Democratic women are vying to replace Welch in the U.S. House.
Scott has ruled out a run for Congress this year, and during his weekly press conference Tuesday endorsed Nolan.
“I was very pleased to see her step up. She’s a viable candidate. She has a wealth of experience and the right demeanor, and it should be an interesting race,” he said. “I have no doubt that I’ll be supporting her.”
Vermont has a habit of electing moderate Republicans for governor, but federal races are a different matter. The last time the state sent a member of the GOP to Congress was U.S. Sen. Jim Jeffords’ reelection in 2000. Jeffords left the Republican Party in 2001, declared himself an independent, and began caucusing with the Democrats.
In her video, Nolan sought to cast herself as a public servant, not a partisan politician, lauding Vermont’s “independent spirit” and pledging to work across the aisle.
“Leaders in Washington in both parties have lost their way. They are more interested in fighting with each other and beating the other party. It’s cynicism and gridlock. It’s ‘I win or you lose,’” she said in her launch video.
But with the U.S. Senate currently split 50-50 between the two major parties, Vermont’s Democrats were quick to remind voters that at stake is the balance of power in Washington.
“Christina Nolan — or any other Republican candidate — would put Mitch McConnell in charge of the Senate, empowering an agenda of lower wages, tax cuts for the rich, inaction on climate change, radical anti-choice attacks, higher prescription drug prices, and further assaults on voting rights,” state Democratic Party Chair Anne Lezak said in a statement released just hours after Nolan’s announcement.
In his own statement, Welch, 74, called the election “crucial” and named many of the same priorities cited by Lezak.
“With that as our mission, we can’t ignore the reality of what it would mean to hand Mitch McConnell control of the Senate,” he said. “His fight for failure would mean an end to any progress we’ve made addressing these challenges.”
Nolan resigned as U.S. attorney in 2021 when Biden took office, as is customary for federal prosecutors when presidential administrations turn over. She has since gone to work for the Burlington law firm Sheehey Furlong & Behm, specializing in white-collar defense, health care and internal investigations.
Originally from Westford, Nolan graduated from the University of Vermont and Boston College Law School. She lives in Burlington with her partner of 16 years.