NEWBURY, Vt. — Members of the Vermont House will see several new faces, and a couple of more Republicans, from the Upper Valley in January given the results of Tuesday’s elections.
In the Orange-Caledonia district representing Newbury, Topsham and Groton, Republican Joe Parsons won an open seat over Democrat Kelsey Root-Winchester, 1,321-1,013.
Parsons, a 36-year-old floor installer from Newbury who had previously run against outgoing state Rep. Chip Conquest, D-Wells River, said he is “looking forward to getting Vermont’s economy back on track as we come out of the pandemic. Not just back to what it was but an improved economy, a more business-friendly state as a whole.”
In the neighboring Orange 2 district representing Bradford, Fairlee and West Fairlee, veteran state Rep. Sarah Copeland Hanzas, D-Bradford, easily held onto her seat, winning 58.7% against Republican Zachary Michael Lang.
Copeland Hanzas chairs the House Government Operations Committee and said she is hopeful that House Speaker Mitzi Johnson, a South Hero Democrat, will retain her seat after requesting a recount against two Republicans. Johnson finished third, 18 votes behind the second-place finisher.
Copeland Hanzas, a former House majority leader confirmed that she would be interested in the speakership if Johnson’s recount falls short in her two-seat district.
“The Government Operations committee has a number of important tasks ahead, which will include reviewing how mail-in ballots for 2020 worked for voters and town clerks, continuing the work of racial justice reform as we support our police departments in eliminating racial and mental health biases in policing, and preparing for redistricting which is required every 10 years as populations in Vermont shift and grow,” she said via email.
“If, after the recount, we need to elect a new Speaker of the House, I will consider stepping forward to run for Speaker,” Copeland Hanzas said.
But Republicans also picked up a seat in the Chelsea-area Orange 1 House district, as Orange resident Samantha Lefebvre finished second with 1,774 votes in the two-seat district behind state Rep. Rodney Graham, R-Williamstown, who had 2,169 votes. She outpaced Chelsea Democrat Kate MacLean (1,734) and state Rep. Carl Demrow, D-Corinth, 1,562, as well as two other candidates.
House incumbents in Hartford, Woodstock and the Norwich-Thetford area were re-elected, with one new addition.
Heather Surprenant, a Progressive/Democrat from Barnard, won 56.3% of the vote to win the open Windsor 4-1 seat against Hartford Republican Mark Donka.
And in another open seat in the Bethel area, Democrat/Progressive Kirk White won 57.8% to defeat Republican Wayne Townsend.
In the Windsor 1 district representing Hartland, West Windsor and Windsor, Democrat/Progressive Elizabeth Burrows will fill an empty seat, joining state Rep. John Bartholomew, D-Hartland in the two-seat district.
And in the Windsor 2 district, Weathersfield Democrat John Arrison narrowly outpaced Cavendish Republican Michael Kell Sr. 1,101-1,059, while independent Sean Whalen finished third with 309 votes.
In the Orange Senate district, state Sen. Mark MacDonald, D-Williamstown, again turned back a challenge from Thetford Republican Bill Huff, 6,420-5,321.
And all the incumbents in the Windsor and Caledonia Senate districts – state Sens. Alison Clarkson, D-Woodstock, Dick McCormack, D-Bethel, Alice Nitka, D-Ludlow, Jane Kitchel, D-Danville, and Joe Benning, R-Lyndon, – handily held onto their seats against a field of challengers.
Town-by-town results of all the races can be found at www.vnews.com/charts.
John P. Gregg can be reached at 603-727-3217 or jgregg@vnews.com.