A wash in the House, where some solid new talent, as well as some repeat candidates found success…
Pick-ups:
Sarah Buxton (WSR-ORA-1)
Sam Young (ORL-CAL-1)
John Bartholomew (WSR-4)
Kevin Christie (WSR-6-1)
Brian Campion (BEN-2-1)
But some seats were lost as well, either by incumbents, or in the case of Addison-5, a new candidate aiming to keep an open seat in Dem hands…
Losses:
Jeff Young (FRA-3)
Megan Smith (RUT-WSR-1)
Erin Bessy (CHI-7-1)
Spence Putnam (ADD-5)
John Rodgers (ORL-CAL-1)
All told, the makeup of the House will be 94 Democrats, 48 Republicans, 5 Progressives and 3 Independents.
that our present 2-vote margin in Windsor-Orange 1 is the accurate, final count. I have great confidence in the hand-counters in rural towns like ours (having been one myself). But that is just too damn close for comfort until it’s certified… and possibly recounted.
Still, consider how we all felt when we left Sarah Buxton’s party at midnight last night: down by 8 votes in the unofficial count, with the gov race too close to call. The revelation of a net gain of 10 today, following Dubie’s concession this morning, feels just incredible.
…there’s a net loss of one seat in the Senate? It looks like the current margin is 22 D / 7 R / 1 P and now it will be 21 D / 8 R / 1 P?
If you count the folks who got the Prog and Dem endorsement, the Progs have three in the Senate. Almost half of the Republican total. Who is the I-in the Senate?
I’m really excited about Sam Young’s victory in Orl-Cal-1, not just because he’s a friend and a good guy, but primarily because I think there needs to be more thoughtful, creative 30-something’s in Montpelier.
In the next few days based on some of the projections we looked at in the preview of many of these races (including why some weren’t on our radar), and then by the end of the month I hope to have the new district ratings out – should take around a week once the Secretary of State has the results online.