Balint gets decisive win in Democratic primary

Sen. Becca Balint cruised to victory in the Democratic primary over Lt. Gov. Molly Gray, in her bid for Vermont’s lone U.S. House seat. 

If victorious in the general election in November, Balint will become the first woman to represent the Green Mountain State in Congress.

News outlets called the race for Balint at about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday night. By 9:20 p.m., with over 60% of districts reporting, Balint was leading the race with just over 50% of the vote, with Gray notching about 31%. The Republican primary for U.S. House had yet to be called; Liam Madden (36%) had a strong lead over Erika Bundy Redic and Anya Tynio. 

In other election news, former Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman won the Democratic primary in his bid to return to that post. By 9:35 p.m., with 67% of districts reporting, Zuckerman led the race with just over 42% of the vote, staying ahead of former State Rep. Kitty Toll, who had garnered nearly 37%, with Patricia Preston and State Rep. Charlie Kimbell, of Woodstock, trailing in the single digits. In the Republican primary for lieutenant governor, State Sen. Joe Benning (49%) was leading Gregory Thayer by about 10 percentage points.

As for county-wide races, Ryan Palmer, of Windsor, handily took the Democratic contest for Windsor County Sheriff with just over 44% of the vote, defeating Thomas Battista, of Springfield (30%). In the general election, Palmer will face Sheriff Mike Chamberlain, who was unopposed in the Republican primary.

In the race for Windsor County Assistant Judge, Alison Johannensen, of Woodstock, and incumbent David Singer, of Hartland, got the victory with about 26% and 18% of the vote respectively. Michael Ricci, of Woodstock, took third with nearly 15%.

In the Windsor County Senate election, State Rep. Becca White and incumbent Sens. Alison Clarkson and Dick McCormack got the primary nod for the county's three Senate seats.

Woodstock resident Tesha Buss was unopposed in her Democratic primary bid for the local House seat representing Woodstock, Reading and Plymouth.

In the gubernatorial primary, Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, and Democrat Brenda Siegel easily won their respective primary bids and will face off in the general election. 

Also on Tuesday night, U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, a Democrat, sailed to an easy primary victory in his U.S. Senate bid, to succeed retiring U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy. In the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, Gerald Malloy was leading the race (40%) over former U.S. Attorney for Vermont Christina Nolan (34%), with Myers Mermel a distant third.

— Gareth Henderson