Though unofficial results show that he lost Tuesday’s election for lieutenant governor of Vermont, Progressive/Democratic incumbent David Zuckerman had yet to concede the race as of Wednesday evening — even as his opponent, Republican John Rodgers, was all but declaring victory.
“Vermont, we have a new lieutenant governor,” Rodgers wrote on his campaign Facebook page Wednesday morning, though he added that he was anticipating the race would head to a recount.
As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, with unofficial results available from all Vermont cities and towns, the margin between the candidates was slim but showed Rodgers ahead with 46.2% of the vote to Zuckerman’s 44.6%. About 6,020 votes separated them.
But there’s a catch — since neither candidate won 50% or more of the vote, the Vermont Constitution stipulates that the Legislature has the final say when it convenes in January. That’s assuming the Secretary of State’s Office certifies the current vote percentages next week.
The Constitution does not require that legislators pick the candidate who received a plurality of votes, which in this case, is Rodgers, the unofficial results show.
In an interview on WCAX Wednesday morning, Zuckerman pointed to that constitutional process, saying he planned to “really analyze the data” over the coming days.
“The Constitution has a process for figuring out what happens next. I have other considerations — do you do a recount? It’s really too soon for me to just say he won,” the incumbent said. “But there’s no doubt he’s got more votes at this point in time.”
In an interview with VTDigger later that morning, Zuckerman would not say whether he would seek to contest the outcome before the Legislature in January.
“Right now I’m operating on two hours’ sleep, and I need to evaluate what the results are,” he said.
Zuckerman sounded a somber note in an email to his campaign supporters later that day, writing, “Last night did not bring the results we had hoped for.” But he appeared to stop short of formally conceding the race.
And in a text message to VTDigger around 4:30 p.m., he declined to elaborate.
“I think I made it clear earlier today,” Zuckerman wrote. “I am not going to make a final call on two hours of sleep.”
Rodgers, meanwhile, had all but formally declared victory, though he said in an interview Wednesday afternoon that he was waiting for the Secretary of State’s Office to officially certify this week’s results, a process that typically takes a week.
Paul Heintz contributed reporting.
