Tag Archives: Vermont

VT Digger reports: Democratic U.S. House nominee Becca Balint made history Tuesday night, becoming Vermont’s first woman and first openly gay person elected to Congress. Balint’s win brings Vermont in line with the rest of the nation. Until Tuesday, Vermont was the only state that had never elected a woman to its congressional delegation. The Brattleboro Democrat beat Republican nominee …

Axios reports: The first major election of the post-Roe era yielded new protections for abortion rights, as voters in three states approved measures to add constitutional protections guaranteeing access to the procedure. California, Michigan and Vermont backed ballot measures that effectively make it impossible for state lawmakers to enact bans. Kentucky voters are considering a proposed amendment that would say …

Roll Call reports: Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, the Senate president pro tempore and Appropriations chairman, was hospitalized after not feeling well Thursday night, according to his office. The 82-year-old Vermont Democrat was at his home in McLean, Va., when he started not feeling well and was taken to a Washington-area hospital for tests and is expected to remain overnight for …

Via email from hate group leader Brian Brown: In a massive upset of a RINO Republican and a huge victory for NOM, Republican US Senate candidate Christina Nolan was defeated last night in Vermont. NOM launched a statewide television ad campaign last week targeting Nolan for defeat because of her promise to introduce legislation to mandate nationwide abortion, impose same-sex …

NBC News reports: Becca Balint, Vermont’s state Senate president, has won the Democratic nomination for the state’s at-large congressional seat, NBC News projects. The victory makes her likely to become the first woman to represent the heavily Democratic state in Congress. Vermont is the only state that has never had a female member of its congressional delegation. Balint, a state …

The Vermont Digger reports: The Vermont Roman Catholic Diocese has removed a Windsor County pastor who fought calls by the state’s largest religious denomination for Covid-19 vaccinations, masks and other pandemic precautions. Rev. Peter Williams is no longer head of Holy Family Parish of Springfield and neighboring Chester, Bishop Christopher Coyne informed church members in a public letter this week. …

VT Digger reports: Becca Balint, the president pro tempore of the Vermont Senate, is running for the state’s lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, she announced Monday morning. Balint joins Lt. Gov. Molly Gray in the Democratic primary to succeed U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., who is vacating his House seat to run for the U.S. Senate. No …

Politico reports: Vermont Rep. Peter Welch announced Monday he will run for Senate next year to fill the seat held by retiring Sen. Patrick Leahy. “I’m running for the United States Senate to work for you, for Vermont, for our country, and for our imperiled democracy,” Welch, a Democrat, tweeted. In a roughly two-minute campaign announcement video, he lamented that …

Axios reports: Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) announced Monday he will retire instead of seeking re-election in 2022 — 46 years after first assuming the office in 1975. Leahy, 81, is the longest-serving sitting senator, and his retirement opens up a new, likely Democratic seat. Leahy said from the Vermont statehouse that he and his wife, Marcelle, concluded that “it is …

The Associated Press reports: A Vermont high school homecoming football game turned into a “drag ball” runway at halftime, with a mix of students and faculty members parading in gowns, wigs and makeup — and a big crowd in rainbow colors to cheer them on. “Things went amazing,” Ezra Totten, student leader of the Gender Sexuality Alliance at Burlington High …

The Vermont Digger reports: Three Vermont State Police troopers out of the Shaftsbury barracks have resigned and a criminal probe is underway to determine whether they may have violated federal law by making fake Covid-19 vaccination cards. The matter has been referred to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont, as well as the FBI, which is investigating, …

VT Digger reports: Universal mail-in voting is now a permanent feature of Vermont’s general elections, under legislation that Gov. Phil Scott signed Monday. Now, local officials will be required to mail ballots to all registered voters in the weeks leading up to the November general elections, as they did in fall 2020. The state decided to automatically send ballots to …

Burlington’s CBS News affiliate reports: A self-described white nationalist charged with violating Vermont’s gun magazine capacity law now faces charges of witness tampering. Vermont State Police say Max Misch, 38, of Bennington was arrested after detectives learned that he went to the Walmart in Bennington Friday and spoke with a witness in his pending court case. Misch was charged in …

The Vermont Digger reports: Republican Gov. Phil Scott signed into law Wednesday a ban on using the LGBTQ “panic” defense in court cases. Vermont is the 14th state to enact the ban. The new law, H.128, prevents a defendant at trial or sentencing from justifying violent actions by citing a victim’s actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. Such …

ABC News reports: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) announced Wednesday that he raised $1.8 million for charitable organizations in his state in a matter of days thanks to sales of his currently sold-out merchandise featuring the viral image of him bundled in a jacket with mittens on Inauguration Day. Sanders began selling the merchandise, dubbed “Chairman Sanders,” through his campaign store …

CNN reports: Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh late on Wednesday night tweaked a line in his controversial opinion on Wisconsin mail-in voting this week, after he received criticism for incorrectly saying Vermont had not changed its election rules due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It’s a rare public correction by a justice that comes as the court is facing multiple appeals …

The Hill reports: Vermont’s Secretary of State on Wednesday called for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh to correct a claim made in a Monday opinion that Vermont had not made any election rule changes this year, which the justice used as a justification to deny Democrats’ request to extend the deadline for mail-in voting in Wisconsin. In a letter sent …

NBC News reports: As the first polls close on Super Tuesday, former Vice President Joe Biden has won the Virginia Democratic primary and Sen. Bernie Sanders has come out on top in his home state of Vermont, NBC News projects. More than 1,300 delegates — about a third of the total — are at play, more than on any other …

NBC News reports: Vermont Governor Phil Scott has endorsed a Presidential candidate, just 3 weeks before the Vermont primary. He said he is backing Bill Weld, President Trump’s Challenger on the March 3rd Ballot. “I’ve met with him before, I think a lot of him and his platform so I would be supporting him,” said Scott. Scott and Weld are …

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump abused his power and shouldn’t be in office, Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, a fellow Republican, said Thursday in a rare dissent from within party ranks. The U.S. Senate should have been allowed to hear from more witnesses who could have provided evidence about the charges against the president, Scott, a frequent Trump critic, …