MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - Vermont voters will be electing Tuesday a governor, U.S. senator, U.S House member and all 180 members of the Vermont Legislature.
As of mid-week there were almost 483,000 people registered to vote in the off-year election, which is higher than the 2016 figure for the same day.
Secretary of State Jim Condos declined to predict voter turnout but emphasized that since taking office he has made it easier for eligible Vermonters to vote and strengthened the cybersecurity of the election system.
Probably the most closely watched election this year is the contest between incumbent Republican Gov. Phil Scott and his Democratic challenger Christine Hallquist, a former utility executive and the first transgender major party gubernatorial nominee in history.
Scott campaigned on the theme of not raising taxes or fees as part of a broader effort to promote economic development. Hallquist pitched ideas including a $15 per hour minimum wage, universal health care and paid family leave.
Vermont voters have not ousted an incumbent governor since 1962. A pre-race poll done by Vermont Public Radio and Vermont Public Television, showed Scott with a 14-point lead.
Independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders is also seeking re-election this year. Sanders, with a campaign war chest of more than $8 million and a decades-long position as one of Vermont’s most popular politicians and vote-getters, is being challenged by Manchester businessman Lawrence Zupan.
Sanders has spent much of the October election season crisscrossing the country on behalf of progressive candidates.
In one of a series of debates in the closing days of the campaign, Sanders stood behind his well-known disdain for Republican President Donald Trump and reiterated his promise to stand up for what he calls economic, environmental and racial justice for everyone, not just the “people on top.”
Zupan counters that Sanders is trying to impose “top-down government control.”
Vermont’s lone U.S. House member, Democrat Peter Welch, frequently vies with Sanders as the state’s top vote recipient. In 2016 Welch, who was first elected in 2006, won almost 78 percent of the vote.
Welch has worked to pass a comprehensive climate bill, cut prescription drug prices, raise the national hourly minimum wage and expand quality affordable health care by passing Medicare for All.
He’s being challenged this year by Republican Anya Tynio. She describes herself as a conservative Republican who is “a strong supporter of the constitution, the Second Amendment, law enforcement, our military and veterans.”
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For AP’s complete coverage of the U.S. midterm elections: http://apne.ws/APPolitics
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