BRATTLEBORO — In the upset of election night on Tuesday, independent Laura Sibilia of Dover defeated incumbent Democrat John Moran of Wardsboro and independent Philip Gilpin Jr. of Dover, in the Windham-Bennington District.
Sibilia got 577 votes in the six-town district, while Moran had 538 and Gilpin 159.
“John Moran called me 20 minutes ago, conceded, and wished me well,” Siblia posted on her Facebook page shortly after 10:30 p.m.
And incumbent Democrats Carolyn Partridge of Windham and Matthew Trieber of Rockingham easily defeated independent Deborah Wright of Rockingham for the two seats in Windham 3.
Partridge got 1,404 votes in the six-town district, Trieber got 1,230 votes, and Wright received 438. Most of the winners' votes were picked up in Rockingham, as Partridge (907) and Trieber (822) garnered far more support than Wright (257).
Voter turnout respectable
There may have been few competitive races on the ballot around Windham County, but voter turnout for this year's general election on Tuesday was quite respectable.
According to Brattleboro Town Clerk Annette Cappy, turnout had been “steady all day long.” Total turnout was 3,094 out of 8,451 registered voters, or 37 percent.
“That's pretty good for a midterm election,” Cappy said after the totals were announced Tuesday night.
And having the voting at the Municipal Center, with earlier voting hours, got generally good reviews from voters, Cappy said. “We had 200 voters between 7 and 9 a.m., alone,” she said.
Statewide turnout was estimated at about 193,000 voters, or nearly 44 percent of eligible voters. It is an all-time low for a statewide election.
Marlboro reported a 51 percent turnout, while Putney reported 47 percent and Halifax had 35 percent.
All but two of the House races in Windham County were uncontested.
Little, or no, opposition for most incumbents
Facing no opposition are incumbents Mike Hebert in Windham-1; Valerie Stuart, Mollie Burke, and Tristan Toleno in Windham-2; David Deen of Westminster and Mike Mrowicki of Putney in Windham-4; and Ann Manwaring of Wilmington in Windham-6.
Also unopposed were Democratic nominee Emily Long of Newfane, who won the Windham-5 seat being vacated by Democrat Richard Marek of Newfane, and independent candidate Oliver Olsen of Jamaica, who won the Windham-Bennington-Windsor district he formerly held from 2010 t0 2012.
In the five-way contest for the two state senate seats, incumbent Democrat Jeanette White of Putney and Democratic nominee Becca Balint of Brattleboro were the top vote-getters.
White (7,783) and Balint (6,378) finished far ahead of independent Mary Hasson of Brattleboro (1,973), and Liberty Union candidates Jerry Levy of Brattleboro (899) and Aaron Diamondstone of Marlboro (833).
White was the leading vote-getter in Brattleboro (2,202) and Rockingham (813), with Balint picking up 2,050 votes in Brattleboro and 612 in Rockingham.
Incumbent Democrat Patricia Duff and Democratic nominee Paul Kane of Westminster were the winners in the assistant judge race, also finishing far ahead of Liberty Union candidates Lynn Russell and Alice Landsman, both of Brattleboro.
Incumbent Democratic Sheriff Keith Clark of Westminster easily defeated Liberty Union's Tom Finnell of Brattleboro.
State's Attorney Tracy Shriver of Brattleboro, Probate Judge Robert Pu of Brattleboro, and High Baliff Stefan Golec of Rockingham were all unopposed.
Statewide races
The seven-way race for governor ended with two-term incumbent Democrat Peter Shumlin of East Montpelier narrowly defeating Republican Scott Milne of Pomfret.
The race was surprisingly close and wasn't certain until Wednesday morning. The final two towns, Washington and Victory in the Northeast Kingdom, reported their results at noontime on Wednesday.
Unofficial results had Shumlin with 89,874 votes, or 46.42 percent, and Milne with 87,786 votes, or 45.35 percent. Only 2,088 votes separated the two candidates, the closest gubernatorial race in a generation.
Of the other candidates, Libertarian Dan Feliciano of Essex got about 4 percent of the vote, independent Emily Peyton of Putney got nearly 2 percent. Liberty Union Party candidate Peter Diamondstone of Dummerston, and independents Cris Ericson of Chester and Bernard Peters of Irasburg all got slightly under 1 percent.
Shumlin had strong support in Brattleboro, getting 2,220 votes to Milne's 624. In Rockingham, Shumlin had a 730-339 advantage.
The governor also bested Milne in Newfane (411-156), Putney (608-128), Halifax (120-85), Wilmington (309-210), Westminster (675-229), Marlboro (271-67), Dummerston (481-187), Jamaica (141-83), Windham (73-51), Grafton (119-101), Athens (44-40), Brookline (103-56), Guilford (412-175), and Townshend (202-120).
Milne won Dover (230-207), Londonderry (220-212), Whitingham (155-147), Vernon (368-153), and Stratton (44-32).
With Shumlin not receiving 50 percent of the vote, as required by the Vermont Constitution, it will be up to the Democratic-controlled House to decide the election. The House has not overturned a gubernatorial election result since 1853, and Shumlin needed the House to vote in favor in his 2010 race with Republican Brian Dubie.
Incumbent Republican Lt. Gov. Phil Scott of Berlin defeated Progressive/Democratic candidate Dean Corren of Burlington and Liberty Union candidate Marina Brown of Charleston. Scott got about 62 percent of the vote, compared to 36 percent for Corren and 2 percent for Brown.
Corren won big in Brattleboro, with 2,031 votes to Scott's 881. It was much closer in Rockingham, with Corren winning, 620-503.
Corren topped Scott in Newfane (365-221), Putney (558-200), Halifax (110-105), Westminster (598-345), Marlboro (262-83), Dummerston (433-240), Guilford (394-217), Jamaica (122-116), Townshend (175-158), and Brookline (109-66).
Scott bested Corren in Dover (278-187), Wilmington (272-255), Londonderry (280-182), Whitingham (188-131), Vernon (392-153), Stratton (52-27), Athens (55-38), and Grafton (125-97).
In Windham, Corren and Scott finished in a 67-67 tie.
In a rematch of the 2012 race, incumbent Democrat Peter Welch of Norwich easily won his fifth term to Congress, garnering 65 percent of the vote.
Welch defeated Republican Mark Donka of Hartford (31 percent). Ericson, who was also on the ballot for Congress got 1 percent of the vote, as did Liberty Union candidate Matthew Andrews of Plainfield, Energy Independence candidate Jerry Trudell of Charleston, and independent Randall Meyer of Marshfield.
Incumbent Democratic Treasurer Beth Pearce of Barre City defeated Liberty Union's Murray Ngoima of Pomfret and Progressive Don Schramm of Burlington. Pearce got 75 percent of the vote, while Schramm picked up 18 percent and Ngoima got 7 percent.
Incumbent Democratic Secretary of State Jim Condos of Montpelier also picked up 75 percent of the vote as he defeated Progressive Ben Eastwood of Montpelier (14 percent) and Liberty Union's Mary Alice Herbert of Putney (10 percent).
And incumbent Democratic Attorney General William Sorrell defeated Liberty Union's Rosemary Jackowski of Bennington and Republican Shane McCormack of Underhill. This race was a bit closer than Condos' or Pearce's race, with Sorrell getting 59 percent of the vote, McCormack picking up 37 percent, and Jackowski a distant third with 4 percent.
Incumbent Democrat/Progressive Auditor Doug Hoffer of Burlington ran unopposed.