HARDWICK AREA TOWNS – Primary election contests for Vermont’s State House and Senate races in the Hardwick area saw few close contests and many candidates were unopposed on August 13.
Republican Scott Beck and Democrat Amanda Cochrane, both of St. Johnsbury, bested their opponents by significant margins in the Caledonia County Senate race.
Beck says he’s very comfortable representing a district that has a broad spectrum of political ideals that he says has at times left him at odds with those who lean farther to either side of the political spectrum. “I’m a believer that if you’re getting yelled at by both sides then you’re right about where you should be,” he said.
Beck has served 10 years as representative for the Caledonia-Essex district. He is a U.S. Navy veteran and an educator who has spent 25 years teaching mathematics and social studies. He and his wife have owned a bookstore in St. Johnsbury for 20 years. During his time as representative, he served on the House Ways and Means and Education Committees.
Cochrane says being a middle child sometimes meant she needed to play diplomat when it came to important things like the remote control. It also meant when things got tougher for my family, dealing with real challenges around financial issues or my sister’s intense mental health, she was able to step up and be that voice to help my family and be a leader around those topics.
She says that experience drew her into a career that has a lot to do with supporting and helping other people, where she remembers the resilience of women who had to leave a violent situation and being really moved by how strong they have to be. She earned her MBA in nonprofit management, saying, “I could work on behalf of others but really do so in a way that would use finances in the most efficient way possible. . . So I feel like my experience and my passion for supporting others has brought me here.”
Unopposed candidates in the Caledonia-2 House race to represent Hardwick, Stannard and Walden, Sabrina Morrison of Hardwick and Mike Southworth of Walden, now have the chance to make their case to voters.
Morrison says she’s passionate about having equitable health care access for children and adults and thinks it shouldn’t be tied to one’s job. “A mother shouldn’t have to choose between working and having her children have quality health care.” she said.
Southworth says, he’ll be voting on issues, not on party lines and will look at what’s best for the state, what’s best for the three communities he’d represent that haven’t been represented enough in the past years.
In the Caledonia-4 Democratic House race to represent Albany, Craftsbury, Glover and Greensboro, Leanne Harple of Glover, a Hazen Union teacher, defeated Greensboro’s David Kelley, a retired attorney to fill the seat vacated by Katherine Sims.
Harple has emphasized her interest in working for a sustainable Northeast Kingdom where children can have careers and stay here. She said she is “looking to make it work for all people; those on fixed incomes, those growing up now, expanding broadband internet, solving issues of the digital divide, helping people work with computers and have access to telehealth.” She hopes her work in the legislature can help “change our systems to make it easier for everybody to live here long-term and create generations of change.”
On the Republican side, Albany’s unopposed Tony Daniels, a builder with his own business for 40 years, will now vie with Harple in November’s general election. Daniels grew up in East Albany where his family has lived for five generations. He’s expressed concern that most towns already tax vacation homes at a higher rate. “I don’t think that’s the right way to go. Just because it’s your second home, doesn’t mean that you are financially able to pick up an additional expense. I do not agree with a luxury tax. At what point does that become subjective, and what do we consider as luxuries? It’s really hard to take something someone worked hard for and give it to someone else.”
Democrat Sims was unopposed and will now face Troy’s Samuel Douglass, a Republican who defeated Aime Conrad Bellavance of Newport Town in the Orleans County Senate race.
Douglass, born and raised in the NEK, says he is running because Vermonters are struggling and having to choose between buying heating oil and groceries; they can’t buy a home in the town they grew up in. “A younger perspective may help come up with innovative solutions to solve the underlying problems and overcome the hopelessness I see.”
Sims says she’s excited to continue listening and working within the purple district of Orleans. The largest issue she’s been hearing from her constituents is that of affordability of living, she says, and will continue to try and lower the cost of childcare, housing and healthcare. She is interested in reducing the tax burden for the average Vermonter and will continue to advocate for exempting social security income from taxation.
Unopposed candidates in the Caledonia-2 House race to represent Hardwick, Stannard and Walden, Sabrina Morrison of Hardwick and Mike Southworth of Walden, now have the chance to make their case to voters.
Morrison says she’s passionate about having equitable health care access for children and adults and thinks it shouldn’t be tied to one’s job. “A mother shouldn’t have to choose between working and having her children have quality health care.” she said.
Southworth says he’ll be voting on issues, not on party lines and will look at what’s best for the state, what’s best for the three communities he’d represent that haven’t been represented enough in the past years.
The Lamoille-2 House District elects two members to represent Wolcott, Belvidere, Hyde Park and Johnson. There, unopposed Democrats incumbent Dan Noyes and Jim Ryan, both of Wolcott will face Republicans Mac Teale and Richard Bailey, both of Hyde Park.
In the 2-seat Lamoille-Washington House District representing Woodbury, Elmore, Morristown, Stowe and Worcester, unopposed Morristown Democrats David Yacovone and incumbent Saudia Lamont move through to the November election where they will will face Progressive Jaiel Pulskamp, who was unopposed in the primary.
Unopposed candidates, Republican Greg Burtt of Cabot and Democrat Thomas Ziobrowski of Danville will vie for the Caledonia-Washington House seat to represent Cabot, Danville and Peacham in November.
In the Washington County Senate Race, the three incumbent Democrats, Montpelier’s Sen. Ann Cummings, Marshfield’s Sen. Andrew Perchlik and Barre City’s Sen. Anne Watson, who all ran unopposed, will face Republican Donald Koch of Barre Town, who was also unopposed.
Incumbent Sen. Mark Mihaly of Cabot faced no Democratic primary opposition and is unopposed in the November general election for the Washington-6 House District to represent Calais, Marshfield and Plainfield.
Republican Sen. Richard Westman of Cambridge was unopposed in his bid for the Lamoille County Senate seat and will have no opposition in November.
An earlier version of this report indicated Yacovone had defeated Lamont in the Lamoille-Washington Democratic House race, but both candidates prevailed in the 2-seat district.
Paul Fixx is editor of The Hardwick Gazette and lives in Hardwick.
