The question of whether Rutland County is turning Democratic blue or regaining its Republican red may be revealed in the upcoming general election race featuring a field of seven candidates vying for three seats from the county in the Vermont Senate.
The county has long been viewed as a Republican stronghold, but two years ago a Democrat, Cheryl Mazzariello Hooker, broke through and for the first time in six years picked up one of the three Senate seats for the party.
This November’s contest, which is expected to garner larger voter turnout than two years ago because it is a presidential election year, will show whether Democrats can build on that gain or if Republicans will regain their grip on the county and sweep all three seats.
A look at the total votes cast in Tuesday’s primary in the Senate race shows how the close the party spilt may be in November. According to the Secretary of State’s Office, there were 22,059 votes cast in the Republican Senate primary and 21,046 in the Democratic Senate primary.
There is also a chance an independent might pick up one of the seats, setting up the possibility of the county sending candidates from three affiliations to the state Senate.
In addition, the Covid-19 pandemic is changing the traditional campaign methods of door-to-door retail politics to the virtual world of Facebook and Twitter.
Asked if her election two years ago was a sign that Rutland County may be turning politically from red to blue, Hooker replied, “I’d say purple.”
Hooker, 70, a retired teacher who lives in Rutland City, has won seats in the Senate, House and as a Rutland City alderman. She is hopeful her political experience will help sway people to vote for her this year.
“I’m hoping that has some kind of bearing on my chances in November,” she said.
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She said the field of seven candidates for the county’s three state Senate seats includes some names familiar to Rutland County voters.
“Brittany Cavacas is running, Cavacas is a pretty well-known name, Josh Terenzini is running from the town, that’s another well-known name,” she said. “It’s going to be a horse race.”
Her fellow incumbent in the race, Republican Brian Collamore of Rutland Town, is seeking his fourth two-year term.
He talked about the difference between this campaign and his past runs for office, wondering what type of public events will take place knowing that knocking on doors in a countywide race is not always the best use of time, particularly with the coronavirus still in the forefront of people’s minds.
“You’re not making many friends when you do that now in the middle of a pandemic,” he said.
“I think at this point people have a pretty good idea about how I feel about issues,” added Collamore, 69, who is retired radio personality and sales manager at Catamount Radio.
The third incumbent state senator from Rutland County, Republican James McNeil of Rutland Town, opted not to seek reelection. He cited family as well as business commitments in helping to guide his family’s longtime downtown Rutland clothing store, McNeil & Reedy, through the economic challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Collamore will be joined on the Republican ticket by Joshua Terenzini, a Rutland Town resident and chair of the selectboard, and Terry Williams, who hails from Poultney and served as a town official in that western Rutland County town.
Williams ran two years ago but failed to make it out of the GOP primary, missing out on the party’s third spot for the general election by five votes, following a recount, to Ed Larson, a past Rutland City alderman.
In addition to Hooker, the Democratic Party’s two other candidates on the November ballot are Larry Courcelle, who has served in a variety of posts in the town of Mendon, and Greg Cox, the owner of Boardman Hill Farm in West Rutland.
Cox, 69, is making his second straight run for a Senate seat from Rutland County, finishing in fifth place two years ago in a six-person general election race for the three spots.
He said he is running again this time around because he sees the same problem he saw two years ago that helped prompt him to enter the race.
“I just think southwestern Vermont and Rutland in particular never seems to get the help it needs on the state level,” he said. “Nothing ever changes. I’m passionate about Rutland and I really want to effect change. I think I can help effect that change and bring some of those resources here.”
Cox described himself as a “moderate Democrat” at a time of polarization between the two “extreme” wings of the parties. “They both think the other has no value at all,” he said. “I think I get along with a lot of people and I think I can bring a whole new sense of community to that conversation.”
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The three Republican hopefuls ran unopposed in Tuesday’s primary. Collamore led the GOP primary field with 5,038 votes, followed by Terenzini with 4,649 votes and Williams with 4,568 votes.
On the Democratic side, Hooker led the field with 5,507 votes, with Cox garnering 4,207 votes and Courcelle collecting 3,305 votes. Christopher Hoyt, a West Haven selectboard member, finished out of the running for a party spot on the general election ballot with 1,592 votes.
Rich Clark, a political science professor at Castleton University and the former director of the Castleton Polling Institute, said this week that the more local a race gets the more important a person’s connections to a community are rather than party affiliation.
He said he didn’t think Hooker’s pickup of a seat for the Democrats two years ago represented a resurgence of that party in the county.
“She was already a known quantity,” Clark said.
Clark also described Collamore on the Republican side as another well-known Rutland County commodity, having served the past six years in the state Senate.
The third candidate to win a county Senate seat two years ago, McNeil, a Republican, was making his first run for the state Senate after previously serving in the House.
“That says to me that the Republicans still have a pretty strong grasp on these positions,” Clark said of McNeil’s win.
Terenzini leads all the candidates on fundraising as of the last reporting period, Aug. 1, according to campaign finance report filings with the Secretary of State’s Office.
He reported raising $6,705 and spending $1,535, followed by fellow Republican Williams who reported raising $3,950 and spending $1,535. The third GOP candidate in the field, Collamore, reported raising $700 and had no expenditures.
On the Democratic side, Courcelle reported $568 in expenses and no contributions. Hooker reported raising and spending no money up to Aug. 1 while Cox did not submit a report. Only candidates raising or spending more than $500 have to file reports.
If elected, Terenzini could join his father, Rep. Thomas Terenzini, R-Rutland Town, in the Statehouse. The elder Terenzini is in his own contested general election race to retain his seat in Montpelier.
Terenzini, 33, a district manager for Mattress Firm, said he is running to bring his municipal experience on the town’s selectboard, including five years as chair, to Montpelier at a time when financial matters will be front and center as the state deals with challenges of Covid-19.
Terenzini said the state needs to retain and attract residents, and technological infrastructure is a key hurdle.
“I think we need serious improvements as a county and state to our broadband internet and cell service,” he said. “It’s 2020 and there’s far too many places in this county and state where you still can’t make a cellphone call and that to me is unacceptable.”
Joining the six candidates from the two major political parties in this year’s general election race is Brittany Cavacas, a Rutland City school board member, making a bid as an independent.
“I feel that one way to bring people together is to not define each other by an ‘R’ or a ‘D,’” Cavacas said of her decision to not run on a party ticket. “I really wanted to bring unity instead of this constant division.”
Cavacas, 35, works in health care administration and also runs the nonprofit We are Girls with Dreams, which she said addresses bullying and promotes empowerment.
She said she sees herself as “a moderate Democrat” and often sees “the gray” in issues that separate people.
“I thought I had a chance to open the door to a generation and a new era of people, to give a different voice than the continuous voices that have been there,” said Cavacas.
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The Link Lonk
August 13, 2020 at 04:02AM
https://vtdigger.org/2020/08/12/red-blue-or-purple-rutland-senate-race-may-unveil-party-holding-sway-in-region/
Red, blue or purple? Rutland Senate race may unveil party holding sway in region - vtdigger.org
https://news.google.com/search?q=Red&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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