October 2000

The opponents of civil unions in Vermont say they are "cautiously optimistic" after the primary elections last month.

"Our grassroots efforts seem to have been effective in a number of key races," says Craig Bensen of "Take It to the People."

He says that they removed 50% of the ten legislators they had targeted.

Five incumbent Republicans who voted for civil unions were defeated. Four other Republicans survived the challenge, as did one Democrat. 

Those activists who are in favor of civil unions also targeted three legislators who had voted against the measure. Only one of the three was defeated, a Democrat from the city of Burlington.

In the Governor's race, the Republican candidate, Ruth Dwyer, has Gov. Howard Dean "sweating bullets," according to Bensen. He says that Gov. Dean won the last election when Dwyer ran against him in 1998, by a vote of 55.6% to 41.1% "when Dwyer was an unknown and a Party outsider" running on a backlash from a statewide school funding issue.

"This time the Republican Party is backing Dwyer with full resources," says Bensen. She turned back a primary challenger this year by a vote of 58% to 42%.

The total number of voters went up markedly from two years ago. There were 34 thousand Democrats voting this year compared to 21 thousand in 1998. There were 75,000 Republicans compared to 56,000 in 1998.

According to Bensen, there were indications of strong "cross-over" voting by Democrats and Progressives.

How They Did
The incumbents who voted for civil unions and were removed by the primary vote were: Sen. Peter C. Brownell, R-Chittenden County; Rep. Marion Milne, R-Washington; Rep. Robert Kinsey, R-Barton/Craftsbury; Rep. William Fyfe, R-Newport; Rep. John Edwards, R-Swanton.

The incumbents who voted for civil unions and survived the primary were: Rep. Thomas Little, R-Shelburne; Rep. Malcolm Severance, R-Colchester; Rep. Cathy Voyer, R-Stowe/Morrisville; Rep. Richard Marron, R-Stowe/Morrisville.

The one incumbent who voted against civil unions and was removed was Rep. James McNamara, D-Burlington.

The website for Take It To The People is www.takeittothepeople.org.

Some Were Stunned
The Associated Press wrote that, "Some prominent Republicans were stunned." It reported that U.S. Senator James Jefford telephoned Rep. Milne, a Republican who was defeated, and urged her to run as an independent in November. Since that would split the Republicans and possibly cause the election of a Democrat, some wondered whether Jefford was merely trying to punish the Republican who had challenged Milne.

Sen. Brownell, who was defeated, was the only Republican senator seeking re-election who voted in favor of civil unions.