Bipartisanship lives

My absolutely favorite story from the election is this one about my local state rep, Gale Courcelle and her opponent, Douglas Gage.

I live in their ward (in fact, we own the house Courcelle grew up in) and missed Gage's visit (got his literature on my doorknob). I happened to be home when Courcelle stopped by and asked her how the campaign was going. She's the exception in an age of "fighting" campaigns. She shrugged and said something about how her first two had been recounts, so she pretty much concentrated on the business of knocking on doors and talking to folks and not so much on counting votes.

As she leads Gage by one vote after the election night tally, that's a wise approach. But when I read the details in the story -- she and Gage live across the street from each other and have for a quarter-century, I really enjoyed seeing the spirit of true bipartisanship.

Good luck to whoever wins the recount ... and their honorable opponent.

The day after

A couple of quick notes on the Vermont election:

1) Whence the GOP?

Phil Scott and Tom Salmon are the GOP standard-bearers, as holders of statewide office.

But it's going to be quite a shift, after having the governor's podium to put out the message during the Douglas years. The party is going to have to work a lot harder at getting its positions top of people's minds.

The week Douglas announced he was stepping down, some fairly senior Rutland County Republicans were overheard discussing their urgent need for a candidate, as they didn't think Brian Dubie was electable. That turned out to be -- barely -- true. Now it's unclear whether Dubie has the desire to stay on in some high-profile role. Given that he was almost invisible as lt. governor before he decided to run for governor, it seems more likely that he'll go back to a low-key political profile.

Phil Scott might turn the No. 2 spot into a mandate to speak for the GOP, but it's a big step down from the visibility Douglas enjoyed. Salmon isn't shy about introducing himself into debates, but he's a bit mercurial to be a policy spokesman. Plus, unlike lt. gov., the auditor has year-round duties, and Salmon also let slip that he would like to challenge Bernie Sanders for U.S. Senate, so he might be a little busy to also serve as the foil for the Senate, the House and the administration. Jason Gibbs would have been a natural in that role, except voters sent him back to get a bit more experience.

That opens the way for senior GOP House and Senate members to emerge as opposition leaders, or for "business" groups to push the conservative agenda. But the GOP enters a bit of a leadership void in the state with Dubie's loss.

2) What will Peter Shumlin's approach to the budget be?

Regardless which candidate came out on top, there's a looming fiscal nightmare. The governor-elect has ambitious plans for, among other things, health care. But first, he has to fix a huge budget hole. Will he be able to get short-term concessions from state workers that were unavailable to a Republican viewed as anti-labor? When Shumlin was the de facto legislative leader, he always had a plan to find a few million here, a federal bail-out there, to balance the state's budget. How he approaches the fiscal issues for 2011 will set the tone early for his tenure.

We're showing Shumlin ahead w/ more of our results toward the southern end of the state and the AP-based numbers show Dubie with a modest lead, with more polls reporting in the north ...
Neither our numbers or theirs yet account for Chittenden County. Most of the networks/national media have about 4 percent of the vote counted there. Looks like a clear win in greater Burlington could swing the race. Waiting ...

Any surprises for folks tonight? I know a lot of people thought Carl Haas had too much name recognition for Herb Font-Russell. And on the other side of the ledger, Jim Eckhardt winning might not be a surprise; the margin certainly is.

And while the uncooperative Cabot clerk is getting the attention, thanks to all the town clerks who make sure every interested party gets their results promptly. It's a huge, critically important job.

Glad to hear folks are enjoying this. It's pretty much a snapshot of how we work on election night. As we post them, all the counts/results are also flowing to the reporters for the print version. We have 2 1/2 hours left for them to get all the copy written, stories and photos put on the page, pages proofed and sent via T-1 line to the press. Crunch time on that side of the room soon.

Statewide numbers show Dubie holding about a 300 vote lead at 7 to 8 precincts in. Looks like a long night. Down the ticket, Republican Phil Scott is starting to open up a lead over Democrat Steven Howard for gov. lite. Other races still pretty hazy.

 

**Corrected to precincts, not percent. 3.5 % of votes. **

Kevin Mullin polling well in early going. Many considered his modest showing in the GOP primary as punishment among the Republican base for supporting gay marriage in the Legislature. We'll be keeping an eye on that race all night.

Gale Courcelle is prophetic. I live in her ward and happened to be home when she was dropping off material. I asked how the campaign was going and she shrugged and said it was two recounts in a row for her, so too soon to tell. After tonight (650-649 "win") I think it's three recounts.

An issue with poll watchers last night. Rutland City Clerk Henry Heck decided that the Vermont Secretary of State's office's advisory on poll watchers (the folks from political parties who observe the goings-on at many polls, with special dispensation) should apply to everyone. So no cameras, recording devices, etc., for anyone, not just the folks behind the velvet ropes.
Kathy DeWolfe, elections guru at the SofS, was available at 7 a.m. to put it straight, so no harm, no foul. The clarification was issued because some states reported unofficial (ie, Tea Party) poll watchers had vowed to take a spot alongside the recognized parties. Anybody seeing any "rogue" poll watching going on in VT?