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Election wrap: Barrett, Viens, Hardy win elections

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Important correction to the November 5, 2014, election results:

House - Orleans-Caledonia.xlsx
These are the full results to the Orleans-Caledonia House race, as it should have appeared in the Chronicle. A cropped version of the chart, with only Chris Braithwaite and Devin Small, was printed in the paper, in error.

Complete election results for each race available in the Chronicle.

copyright the Chronicle November 5, 2014

by Joseph Gresser

Jennifer Barrett was the big winner of Tuesday’s election, scoring a convincing victory to secure the office of Orleans County State’s Attorney. The Republican candidate garnered more votes than the combined totals of her two rivals.

When all votes were counted Ms. Barrett had 3,882, to 2,337 for Democrat James Lillicrap, and 1,486 for independent Ben Luna. The three candidates were all but unavoidable over the course of a long campaign that began this summer as Ms. Barrett faced incumbent State’s Attorney Alan Franklin in the Republican primary and defeated him.

Ms. Barrett was hesitant to declare victory even when the returns showed her far ahead of her rivals. Only after more towns’ returns came in was she willing to acknowledge her success.

“I’m just honored to be the next Orleans County State’s Attorney. I’m ready to step into the role,” she said.

She expressed gratitude to those who voted for her and those who helped her in her campaign.

Ms. Barrett said she was surprised and honored to have won the election.

“I gave it my all. Win or lose, I gave it everything I had,” she said.

In the Orleans-2 district of the Vermont House of Representatives, incumbent Mike Marcotte was returned to office. He will journey down to Montpelier with a new seat mate, Gary Viens, who ran for the seat opened by Representative Duncan Kilmartin’s decision not to run for reelection.

Jennifer Barrett, Orleans County’s newly elected State’s Attorney, is pictured at a candidates forum before primary elections this August.  Photo by Joseph Gresser
Jennifer Barrett, Orleans County’s newly elected State’s Attorney, is pictured at a candidates forum before primary elections this August. Photo by Joseph Gresser

Mr. Marcotte received 1,486 votes and Mr. Viens, his fellow Republican, had 1,431 as they far outdistanced the opposition. Progressive Carl Davis had 407 votes, fewer than the 496 won by Julie Raboin, a Democrat who dropped out of the race but allowed her name to remain on the ballot.

Incumbents were returned to the House from the Orleans-Caledonia district where Democrat Sam Young and Republican Vicki Strong outpaced challengers Chris Braithwaite, a Democrat, and Republican Devin Small.

“I’m worn out and thankful for everyone’s vote,” Mr. Young said. The race, he said, was an exciting contest with totals going back and forth all night.

Looking at figures from around the state Mr. Young said he saw at least five seats that changed from Democratic candidates to Republicans. He said he thinks a more balanced Legislature might be good for the state.

Ms. Strong also thanked those who supported her, saying that she feels privileged to serve .

“I take my job seriously, and genuinely want to represent my good friends and constituents,” Ms. Strong said.

Paul Lefebvre had no challenger in his race to succeed retiring Representative Bill Johnson in the Essex-Caledonia-Orleans district. Neither did Incumbent Representative Mark Higley in the Orleans-Lamoille district.

Mr. Lefebvre said he looks forward to “serving the district I call home and have for many, many years.”

“I intend to show the voters they made an excellent choice,” Mr. Lefebvre said.

An open seat on the bench brought out a large number of candidates hoping to follow Robert Goodby as an Orleans County Assistant Judge.

Incumbent Side Judge Ben Batchelder was easily reelected and will be joined by Curtis Hardy. Mr. Batchelder led the field with 4,039 votes, closely followed by Mr. Hardy with 3,929. Among the other candidates Larry Duane took 1,903, John Ewell had 1,828, and Robert “Bob” Benson finished with 1,149.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the evening were the local results in a statewide race. While Republican Scott Milne gave Governor Peter Shumlin a strong challenge overall, he positively wiped the floor with the incumbent in local balloting.

In Orleans County and sections of Essex County Mr. Milne had 4,947 votes to Governor Shumlin’s 2,827.

contact Joseph Gresser at [email protected]

Complete election results for each race available in the Chronicle.

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