Vermont Lieutenant Gubernatorial election, 2016

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Vermont Lieutenant Gubernatorial Election

Primary Date: August 2, 2016

General Election Date: November 8, 2016

November Election Winner: TBD

Incumbent Prior to Election: Phil Scott (R)

State Executive Elections Top Ballot Governor • Lt. Governor Secretary of State • Attorney General Down Ballot Auditor • Treasurer

Key election dates

Filing deadline (party candidates): May 26, 2016

Filing deadline (independents): August 4, 2016

Primary date: August 9, 2016

General election date: November 8, 2016

Recount request deadline: November 23, 2016

Inauguration: January 5, 2017

Vermont held an election for lieutenant governor on November 8, 2016, with primary elections on August 9.

HIGHLIGHTS

Incumbent Lt. Gov. Phil Scott (R) was eligible to run for re-election to a third term in office, but is instead seeking election to the office of governor.

The office of lieutenant governor has frequently changed party hands since the 1960s.

Three Democratic state legislators competed for their party's nomination on August 9. David Zuckerman won the nomination and also won the Progressive Party nomination with write-in votes. One Republican also filed for the seat.

Zuckerman won the general election on November 8, 2016.

Overview

The lieutenant governor serves as the president of the state Senate and, in that capacity, can have a great deal of influence over the progression of a bill through committee and onto the floor. Incumbent Phil Scott (R) is seeking election to the office of governor, leaving the 2016 election for lieutenant governor an open race.

Vermont is currently under Democratic trifecta control: Democrats hold the governorship and majorities in both chambers of the state legislature. The office of lieutenant governor in Vermont has alternated party control every one or two officeholders since the 1960s, with no party controlling the seat for longer than 13 years. Prior to 1965, Republicans had held the seat since 1854. Recent elections for the seat have not been particularly close—the smallest margin of victory since 2000 was Scott's seven-point win over Steve Howard (D) in 2010.

Three current Democratic state legislators competed for their party's nomination: state Rep. Kesha Ram Hinsdale, state Rep. and Speaker of the House Shap Smith, and state Sen. David Zuckerman. As of the end of the second quarter, Ram led in fundraising, reporting over $200,000 in total contributions by the end of the second quarter; Smith and Zuckerman reported about $122,000 and $156,000 respectively. All three candidates also earned several key endorsements—Smith was endorsed by former Governor Howard Dean (D), Zuckerman earned the endorsement of U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (Ind.), and former Governor Madeline Kunin (D) endorsed Ram. Zuckerman defeated Ram and Smith in the August 9 primary.

Zuckerman also defeated Boots Wardinski in the Progressive Party primary election. Wardinski was the only qualified candidate printed on the ballot; however Zuckerman received 228 write-in votes compared to Wardinski's 150 votes; therefore, Zuckerman competed in the general election as a dual-party candidate.

Former state Sen. Randy Brock (R) was unopposed in the his party's primary election. Zuckerman won the general election on November 8, 2016.

Candidates

David Zuckerman (D, Progressive)
State Sen. since 2013

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Randy Brock (R)
State Sen., 2009-2013

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Boots Wardinski* (Liberty Union Party)
Organic farmer, horse logger

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*Under Vermont law, candidates may run for the same office under multiple party affiliations. Wardinski filed for the governor's race both as a Progressive Party candidate and as a Liberty Union Party candidate. Wardinski was defeated by state Sen. David Zuckerman in the August 9 Progressive primary election, but will still appear on the general election ballot on the Liberty Union ticket.

Click [show] to view candidates who were defeated in the primary elections.
Shap Smith (D) Most recent position: State Speaker of the House since 2009 Past experience: State Rep. since 2003, private practice attorney Kesha Ram (D) Most recent position: State Rep. since 2009 Past experience: Public engagement specialist, City of Burlington Boots Wardinski (Progressive) Most recent position: Organic farmer, horse logger Past experience: U.S. Marine Corps

Click [show] to view candidates who declined to run in this election
Declined Garrett Graff (D) - journalist Brandon Riker (D) - political organizer and entrepreneur Louis Meyers (Ind.) - physician

Results

General election

David Zuckerman defeated Randy Brock and Boots Wardinski in the Vermont lieutenant governor election.

Vermont Lieutenant Governor, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic/Progressive	David Zuckerman	52.18%	159,738
	Republican	Randy Brock	45.52%	139,344
	Liberty Union Party	Boots Wardinski	2.30%	7,038
Total Votes				306,120
Source: Vermont Secretary of State

Primary elections

Democratic primary election

David Zuckerman defeated Shap Smith and Kesha Ram in the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor.

Democratic primary for lieutenant governor, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
David Zuckerman	42.70%	31,027
Shap Smith	36.56%	26,569
Kesha Ram	16.70%	12,133
Write-in votes	4.04%	2,936
Total Votes (275 of 275 Precincts Reporting)		72,665
Source: Vermont Secretary of State

Republican primary election

Randy Brock ran unopposed in the Republican primary for lieutenant governor.

Republican primary for lieutenant governor, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Randy Brock  (unopposed)	80.53%	37,361
Write-in votes	19.47%	9,033
Total Votes (275 of 275 Precincts Reporting)		46,394
Source: Vermont Secretary of State

Progressive primary election

David Zuckerman (write-in) defeated Boots Wardinski in the Progressive primary for lieutenant governor.

Progressive primary for lieutenant governor, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
David Zuckerman (write-in)	39.58%	228
Boots Wardinski	26.04%	150
Write-in votes	34.38%	198
Total Votes (275 of 275 Precincts Reporting)		576
Source: Vermont Secretary of State

Context of the 2016 election

Primary elections

A primary election is an election in which voters select the candidate they believe should represent a political party in a general election. Primaries usually take place several months before a general election. Vermont utilizes an open primary system, in which registered voters do not have to be members of a party to vote in that party's primary. Vermont state law is unique in that it allows candidates to run in multiple primary elections at the same time, whether for multiple offices or for the same office under multiple parties. However, a candidate may only appear once on the general election ballot.

Vermont's primary elections took place on August 9, 2016.

Incumbent Phil Scott (R)

Scott first won election in 2010's open race, defeating Democrat Steve Howard by just two percentage points. He won election in 2012 and 2014 by margins of about 17 and 26 respectively. Scott declined to seek re-election in 2016; instead seeking election to the office of governor.

Prior to his tenure as lieutenant governor, Scott served in the Vermont State Senate for nine years. He is also a small business owner and stock car driver.

Party control in Vermont

Vermont is currently under Democratic trifecta control: Democrats have held the governorship and majorities in both chambers of the state legislature since Republican Governor Jim Douglas left office in 2011. The state's electoral votes have gone to the Democratic presidential candidate since 1992, though Vermont went to Republicans for the six presidential elections prior. The state has been represented in the U.S. Senate by Democrat Patrick Leahy since 1975, and by Bernie Sanders since 2007, who won election as an independent candidate but changed party affiliation in 2015 to seek the Democratic nomination for president.

The office of lieutenant governor in Vermont has alternated party control every one or two officeholders for the past five decades, with no party controlling the seat for longer than 13 years. Prior to 1965, Republicans had held the seat since 1854.

Republicans have held the office of lieutenant governor for the past thirteen years; incumbent Phil Scott (R) was elected in 2011, and his predecessor, Brian Dubie (R), served from 2003 to 2011. Recent elections have not been particularly close—the smallest margin of victory since 2000 was Scott's seven-point win over Steve Howard (D) in 2010.

Campaigns

Race background

On June 8, 2015, incumbent Governor Peter Shumlin announced he would not seek a fourth term as governor, leaving the 2016 gubernatorial election wide open. A few months later, incumbent Lieutenant Governor Phil Scott (R) announced his intention to run for governor in 2016. This, in turn, left the 2016 lieutenant governor election open.

Primary elections

Many state senators from both the Republican and Democratic parties considered running for the office but by September 2015, no current lawmakers had entered the race. Explaining his indecision, Senate Majority Leader Joe Benning said, “I'm thinking it's way too early to be thinking about this.” Outside of the two-party system was Vermont Progressive Party member Dean Corren, who ran unsuccessfully as both a Progressive and a Democrat in 2014. Although Corren lost to Scott by a large margin, he explained to reporters, “That’s a first run, and in Vermont persistence definitely pays off, and people appreciate you coming back and trying again." There were also a handful of other individuals in the fall of 2015 considering running for lieutenant governor on behalf of the Vermont Progressive Party.

By the end of 2015, the lieutenant governor race had begun to take shape. State Senator David Zuckerman filed to run as a Democrat, also seeking the Progressive Party endorsement. State Reps. Kesha Ram Hinsdale and Shap Smith also filed to run in the Democratic primary election.

Commodities trader Brandon Riker (D), who is also a grassroots activist and former campaign staffer for Barack Obama and senators Jon Tester and Mark Begich, also considered running, as did journalist Garrett Graff (D).. Graff's eligibility came into question in December 2015. He had left Vermont to work as the editor of Politico Magazine in Washington, D.C., but planned to move back to run for the office. Graff said that despite registering, he was still undecided. Neither Graff nor Riker ultimately filed for the office.

On the Republican side, former state senator, auditor and 2012 gubernatorial candidate Randy Brock was the sole Republican to file for the office, leaving him unopposed in the primary election.

Physician Louis Meyers had initially announced he would run as an independent, but ultimately did not file. Boots Wardinski ran on the Progressive Party ticket.

Campaign finance

Note: Cash-on-hand figures were not available. If a candidate is not listed below, he or she did not meet or exceed minimum reporting requirements.

General election

David Zuckerman Campaign Finance Reports
Report	Date Filed	Beginning Balance	Total Contributions for Reporting Period	Expenditures	Cash on Hand
First quarter	March 15, 2016	$0	$64,535.76	$(26,026.98)	$
Second quarter	July 15, 2016	$	$92,183.63	$(56,879.14)	$
August 15, 2016	August 15, 2016	$	$18,158.30	$(12,443.20)	$
September and October (amended)	October 1, 2016	$	$29,979.56	$(56,774.34)	$
October 15, 2016	October 15, 2016	$	$29,865.12	$(12,591.14)	$
			Running totals
			$234,722.37	$(164,714.8)

Randy Brock Campaign Finance Reports
Report	Date Filed	Beginning Balance	Total Contributions for Reporting Period	Expenditures	Cash on Hand
First quarter	March 15, 2016	$0	$30,892.00	$(22,062.01)	$
Second quarter	July 15, 2016	$	$32,917.70	$(31,898.91)	$
August 15, 2016	August 15, 2016	$	$18,158.30	$(12,443.20)	$
September and October 2016 (amended)	October 1, 2016	$	$31,421.00	$(19,095.93)	$
October 15, 2016 (amended)	October 15, 2016	$	$26,555.00	$(9,565.37)	$
			Running totals
			$139,944	$(95,065.42)

Primary candidates

Kesha Ram Campaign Finance Reports
Report	Date Filed	Beginning Balance	Total Contributions for Reporting Period	Expenditures	Cash on Hand
First quarter	March 15, 2016	$0	$102,901.62	$(37,363.86)	$
Second quarter	July 15, 2016	$	$97,902.39	$(53,616.82)	$
			Running totals
			$200,804.01	$(90,980.68)

Shap Smith Campaign Finance Reports
Report	Date Filed	Beginning Balance	Total Contributions for Reporting Period	Expenditures	Cash on Hand
Second quarter	July 15, 2016	$30,012.54	$122,423.36	$(36,163.24)	$
			Running totals
			$122,423.36	$(36,163.24)

Debates

Democratic primary debate: August 1, 2016

Kesha Ram Hinsdale, Shap Smith, and David Zuckerman debated on Vermont Edition on August 1, 2016.

Click here to listen to full audio of this debate.

Primary debate: July 21, 2016

State Sen. David Zuckerman (D), state Rep. Kesha Ram Hinsdale (D), former Speaker of the House Shap Smith (D), and former state Sen. Randy Brock (R) debated at the Kellogg-Hubbard Library in Montpelier on July 25, 2016. The four candidates discussed topics such as universal healthcare, gun rights, and carbon taxes. All three Democrats expressed support for a universal healthcare system, while Brock questioned how the state would fund such a system. All three Democrats also agreed on universal background checks for all gun sales, while Brock indicated he would not support any new legislation restricting gun rights.

The candidates also discussed their views on a proposed carbon tax in the state. Brock asserted that the tax would hurt the economy by making the state unfriendly to businesses, while the three Democratic candidates stated that they supported efforts to reduce the impact of global warming.

Endorsements

Key endorsements, Democratic primary candidates
Kesha Ram (D)	David Zuckerman (D)	Shap Smith (D)
Former Governor Madeleine Kunin (D)	Vermont State Employees Association	State House Majority Leader Sarah Copeland-Hanzas (D)
EMILY's List	Vermont Democratic Party	State Senate Assistant Majority Leader Claire Ayer (D)
Former Secretary of State Don Hooper (D)	Sierra Club, Vermont Chapter	Professional Fire Fighters of Vermont
Chittenden County Sheriff Kevin McLaughlin	Former Governor Phil Hoff (D)	Vermont Building & Construction Trades Council
Rutland County State's Attorney Rose Kennedy	Former Lt. Governor Doug Racine (D)	Teamsters Local 597
Democracy for America	State Senate Majority Leader Philip Baruth (D)	Manchester Journal
People For the America Way Action Fund's Young Elected Progressives	U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (Ind.)	State House Assistant Majority Leader Kate Webb (D)
	Executive Committee of the Vermont State Labor Council AFL-CIO	Former Governor Howard Dean (D)
What is a key endorsement?

Key endorsements, Republican primary candidates
Randy Brock (R)
Former Governor Jim Douglas (R)
Former Lt. Governor Brian Dubie (R)
What is a key endorsement?

Campaign media

Note: If a candidate is not listed below, Ballotpedia staff were unable to locate any campaign media for that candidate. Do you know of any? Tell us!

Democrats

Kesha Ram (D)
David Zuckerman (D)
Shap Smith (D)

Republicans

Randy Brock (R)

Boots Wardinski (Progressive)

About the office

The lieutenant governor of the Commonwealth of Vermont is an elected constitutional officer, the second ranking officer of the executive branch and the first officer in line to succeed the Governor of Vermont. The lieutenant governor is popularly elected every two years by a plurality and has no term limit.

The lieutenant governor serves as the president of the state Senate, and as such presides over the chamber when it is in session. In that capacity, the officeholder can have a great deal of influence over the progression of a bill through committee and onto the floor, and casts the tie-breaking vote when necessary.

Current officeholder

See also: Current Lieutenant Governors

The 79th and current lieutenant governor is Phillip Scott, a Republican first elected in 2010. Scott was re-elected to the office in 2012 and 2014.

Qualifications

In order to be eligible for the office of lieutenant governor, a candidate must be:

• a resident of Vermont for at least four years on the day of the election

Lieutenant governors may not hold any legislative office or any other constitutional office. Excepting positions in military reserves, they also may not hold any office under the federal government. Nor is the lieutenant governor eligible for any appointed position made by any branch of the Vermont government.

Authority

The Vermont Constitution addresses the office of the lieutenant governor in both Chapter II, Sections 1-5, the Delegations and Distribution of Powers and Chapter II, Sections 20-27, Executive Department.

Under Section I:

The Commonwealth or State of Vermont shall be governed by a Governor (or Lieutenant-Governor)...

Constitutional provisions

According to Article V, Sections 24 of the Vermont Constitution, if the office of the governor becomes vacant by reason of death, resignation, impeachment or inability to serve, the lieutenant governor will fill the office until a governor is qualified to act or until the office is filled at the next election.

In such instances, the lieutenant governor has all the powers, privileges and duties of the elected governor.

The lieutenant governor is, at all times and by virtue of his office, the second commander of the state's militia and naval forces.

Past elections

2014

See also: Vermont gubernatorial election, 2014

Lieutenant Governor of Vermont, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Phil Scott Incumbent	62.1%	118,949
	Progressive	Dean Corren	36%	69,005
	Liberty Union	Marina Brown	1.7%	3,347
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	0.1%	115
Total Votes				191,416
Election results via Vermont Secretary of State

2012

See also: Vermont lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2012

Lieutenant Governor of Vermont General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Phillip Scott Incumbent	57.1%	162,787
	Democratic	Cassandra Gekas	40.4%	115,015
	Liberty Union	Ben Mitchell	2.4%	6,975
	Independent	Write-in	0.1%	257
Total Votes				285,034
Election results via Vermont Secretary of State

2010

On November 2, 2010, Phil Scott won election to the office of Lieutenant Governor of Vermont. He defeated Steve Howard (D) and three others in the general election.

Lieutenant Governor of Vermont, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Phil Scott	49.4%	116,198
	Democratic	Steve Howard	42.4%	99,843
	Independent	Peter Garritano	3.7%	8,627
	Progressive	Marjorie Power	3.5%	8,287
	Liberty Union	Boots Wardinski	0.9%	2,228
	Write-In	Various	0.1%	147
Total Votes				235,330
Election results via Vermont Secretary of State.

2008

On November 4, 2008, Brian Dubie won re-election to the office of Lieutenant Governor of Vermont. He defeated Thomas W. Costello (D) and two others in the general election.

Lieutenant Governor of Vermont, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Brian Dubie Incumbent	55.1%	171,744
	Democratic	Thomas W. Costello	39.1%	121,953
	Progressive	Richard Kemp	4.6%	14,249
	Liberty Union	Ben Mitchell	1.2%	3,639
	Write-In	Various	0.1%	207
Total Votes				311,792
Election results via Vermont Secretary of State.

2006

On November 7, 2006, Brian E. Dubie won re-election to the office of Lieutenant Governor of Vermont. He defeated Matt Dunne (D) and two others in the general election.

Lieutenant Governor of Vermont, 2006
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Brian E. Dubie Incumbent	51.2%	133,250
	Democratic	Matt Dunne	45.5%	118,411
	Progressive	Marvin Malek	2.2%	5,658
	Liberty Union	Mary Alice "Mal" Herbert	1.2%	2,995
	Write-In	Various	0%	116
Total Votes				260,430
Election results via Vermont Secretary of State.

2004

On November 2, 2004, Brian E. Dubie won re-election to the office of Lieutenant Governor of Vermont. He defeated Cheryl Pratt Rivers (D) and two others in the general election.

Lieutenant Governor of Vermont, 2004
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Brian E. Dubie Incumbent	56%	170,270
	Democratic	Cheryl Pratt Rivers	35.7%	108,600
	Progressive	Steve Hingtgen	7.1%	21,553
	Liberty Union	Peter Stevenson	1.1%	3,291
	Write-In	Various	0.1%	210
Total Votes				303,924
Election results via Vermont Secretary of State.

2002

On November 5, 2002, Brian Dubie won election to the office of Lieutenant Governor of Vermont. He defeated Peter Shumlin (D) and two others in the general election.

Lieutenant Governor of Vermont, 2002
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Brian Dubie	0%	0
	Democratic	Peter Shumlin	54.7%	73,501
	Progressive	Anthony Polina	42.1%	56,564
	Vermont Grassroots	Sally Ann Jones	3.2%	4,310
	Write-In	Various	0.1%	116
Total Votes				134,491
Election results via Vermont Secretary of State.

2000

On November 7, 2000, Douglas A. Racine won re-election to the office of Lieutenant Governor of Vermont. He defeated Brian Dubie (R) and three others in the general election.

Lieutenant Governor of Vermont, 2000
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Douglas A. Racine Incumbent	53.3%	152,561
	Republican	Brian Dubie	41.3%	118,202
	Vermont Grassroots	Tom Beer	3.1%	8,776
	Liberty Union	Jane Newton	1.1%	3,195
	Libertarian	Don O'Donnell	1.1%	3,067
	Write-In	Various	0.1%	274
Total Votes				286,075
Election results via Vermont Secretary of State.

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Vermont state lieutenant governor election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Vermont Lieutenant Gubernatorial election, 2016 - Google News

State profile

Demographic data for Vermont
	Vermont	U.S.
Total population:	626,088	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	9,217	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	94.9%	73.6%
Black/African American:	1.1%	12.6%
Asian:	1.4%	5.1%
Native American:	0.3%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0%	0.2%
Two or more:	1.9%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	1.7%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	91.8%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	36%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$55,176	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	13.2%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Vermont. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Vermont

Vermont voted for the Democratic candidate in all six presidential elections between 2000 and 2020.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, one is located in Vermont, accounting for 0.5 percent of the total pivot counties.

Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Vermont had one Retained Pivot County, 0.55 percent of all Retained Pivot Counties.

More Vermont coverage on Ballotpedia

• Elections in Vermont
• United States congressional delegations from Vermont
• Public policy in Vermont
• Influencers in Vermont
• Vermont fact checks
• More...

See also

Vermont government:

• Vermont state executive offices
• Vermont State Legislature
• Vermont courts

Previous elections:

• State executive official elections, 2015
• State executive official elections, 2014

Ballotpedia exclusives:

• State executives compensation
• State of the state addresses
• Who runs the states?

External links

Suggest a link

• Office of the Vermont Lieutenant Governor