Dems back Gray for Lt. Gov, but valley voters less sure on races for governor and state Senate

DEERFIELD VALLEY—Democrats in five Deerfield Valley towns voted decisively for Molly Gray and Becca Balint as their candidates for lieutenant governor and representative to Congress, respectively, but they were less clear on their choice for Governor and state senator, according to Tuesday’s primary results.
Gray’s number of votes heavily outweighed those of her Democratic challengers among voters in Wilmington, Dover, Readsboro, Wardsboro, and Searsburg, but they prevailed less decisively over Gray’s Republican rival, incumbent John Rodgers.
Wilmington Democrats backed Gray by 113 votes against her Democratic challengers Ryan McLaren and Esther Charlestin, with only 38 and 19 votes, respectively. Gray’s support in the town was much greater than the 34 Republicans who voted for Rodgers.
Gray, who held the lieutenant governor’s office from 2021-23, also prevailed in Dover where 58 Democrats voted for her as their party’s candidate to face Rodgers in the November general election. In the Dover race, Gray was well ahead of McLaren, her nearest challenger, who won 32 votes for the party’s nomination.
“From day one, this campaign has been fueled by Vermonters who believe in this state and are ready to come together to address our biggest challenges, from health care and housing to our democracy and fundamental rights,” Gray said in a statement Tuesday evening. “Vermonters deserve a lieutenant governor who fights for them.”
As predicted, turnout was modest. In Dover, only 132 of 1,304 registered voters showed up, while Wardsboro’s total of voters was 103 out of a possible 661, the town clerk said.
In gubernatorial primary races, Aly Richards won 49 Democratic votes in Dover, edging out her rival Amanda Janoo with 47. Both were ahead of the 32 Dover Republican voters who backed incumbent Gov. Phil Scott for the GOP nomination for a sixth term as governor.
In Readsboro, Janoo easily beat Richards by 30 votes to 16, but both trailed the 35 Republicans who voted for Scott. In Searsburg, Scott’s Republican votes exceeded those for either of the Democratic candidates.
With 239 of 247 towns reporting statewide, Janoo appeared to be the winner for the Democratic nomination for governor, leading with 44.22% of the vote versus 42.89% for Richards, according to the Secretary of State’s website late Tuesday.
Among Wardsboro’s 103 voters, Gray’s 46 votes doubled the number gained by her nearest Democratic rival and was well ahead of the 22 Republicans who voted for Rodgers. But in the governor’s race, the 32 votes won by Richards for the Democratic nomination was not far ahead of the 25 for Scott among Republican voters.
In the race for Bennington state senator, Wilmington’s Democratic voters chose challenger Amy Moore, with 101 votes, and incumbent Rob Plunkett, with 84 votes over the incumbent Seth Bongartz, with 75 votes. But both of the incumbent Senators were well ahead of the Republican votes garnered by hopefuls Lawrence ‘Spike’ Whitmire and Josh Williams. Countywide, however, Bongartz, with 2,830 votes, and Plunkett, with 2,712 votes, won the Democratic nomination, with Moore receiving 1,808 voters. On the Republican ticket, Whitmire, with 1,207 votes, and Williams, with 806 votes, secured their party’s nomination.
In Dover, state Senate incumbents Wendy Harrison and Nader Hashim, both Democrats, got far more votes than the Republican candidates, Rusty Sage and Dale Gassett. Countywide, Hashim recieved 4,643 votes and Harrison recieved 4,491 votes for the Democratic nomination for Windham County Senator. On the Republican ballot, candidate Rusty Sage received 505 votes, and Dale Gassett received 494 votes.
And in the race for state representative, incumbent Democraat Emily Carris Duncan recieved 143 votes in Wilmington, with only six unspecified write-in votes for the Republican nomination.
In the race for representative for Congress, the incumbent, Becca Balint, seemed to have no effective rival among Democrats. She won 95 of the 99 Democratic votes in Dover, well ahead of the 18 votes won by the leading Republican hopeful for the office, Gerald Malloy.
In Readsboro, 47 Democrats voted for Balint compared with 19 Republicans who voted for Malloy, the returns showed. In Wilmington, Balint was the top vote-getter among Democratic voters, with 169 votes; on the Republican ballot, Malloy received 23 votes to Mark Coester’s 13 votes.