According to Nancy Remsen of the Burlington Free Press,

Tim Ashe of Burlington, who ran as both a Democrat and Progressive, will take a seat in the Senate, he learned Wednesday after a night of uncertainty.

An incorrect number in Ashe’s vote count for one ward had put Ashe in seventh place in the Chittenden senate district race. There are just six seats.

After the vote tally was corrected Wednesday, Ashe moved up ahead of Democrat Denise Barnard of Richmond.

The six Chittenden senate winners and their vote counts are as follows:

   * Doug Racine, 44,675

   * Ed Flanagan, 38,927

   * Ginny Lyons, 35,801

   * Diane Snelling, 32,322

   * Hinda Miller, 31,395

   * Tim Ashe, 28,048

Congratulations Tim!

No, the problem is not with Burlington’s voting system, but state law according to Burlington CFO Jonathan Leopold and Secretary of State Deb Markowitz.

According to WCAX, State Law forbids a city, town or district to release any numbers if votes do not tally correctly with number ballots.

Burlington had to hand count more than 20,000 ballots to look for write-ins, and legally was not allowed to release any numbers until all ballots were counted according to state law.  

Secretary of State Deb Markowitz noted that Burlington did it right this time.  She added that maybe it is time to change the law which pre-dated scanners and was written when all ballots were hand counted.  Markowitz said that preliminary numbers could be released if the statute is changed, with notation that the numbers are preliminary.

Consider: Anthony Pollina’s fortunes improved after the much-maligned decision to drop the “Progressive” label and run as an Independent. A move I suggested at the time was a good notion in principle, but was ill-timed. Now it’s no doubt the major reason for Pollina’s inching into the 20’s was Symington’s collapse, but I suspect the Independent label did indeed give him a boost after all.

Consider also: Progressive Burlington City Councilor Tim Ashe opted to run in the Democratic primary, got nominated, and as a result has apparently been elected over Denise Barnard.

Question: Are the Progressives ultimately destined to be more successful if they go back to being a movement (a la the old “Progressive Coalitions” that – gasp – even included people like me), rather than a Party?

After all, the solid showing of Pollina and the success of Ashe comes in contrast to the first decrease in the Progressive Party caucus in the Statehouse.

More evidence: Montpelier election results are always useful as a gauge of much of the left in the state, given the city’s dynamics. In Montpelier, Symington came in third place to Pollina and Douglas respectively. Progressive surge?

Then how to explain the Justice of the Peace races? Montpelier’s 15 slots were filled up first and foremost with the 13 Democrats who appeared on the ballot. The bottom two vote getters to pass the threshold to victory were two Progressives voted in from their slate of 11. This means that – despite the showing of Pollina – Progressives at this most grassroots level only picked up those two seats that there weren’t enough Dems to fill. This despite the fact that the Progressive JP ballot in the town was filled with high-profile A listers such as Ellen David and Stuart Friedman, Marj Power and former State Representative Steve Hingtgen – none of whom made the final cut.

Mixed signals? Contradictions?

Only if you’d rather not confront the message being delivered head on, as it contains harsh realities for both Democrats and Progressives.

So, what do you think – is it time to bring back the Progressive Coalitions?