David Zuckerman is advancing to November’s general election, having defeated Kitty Toll, Charlie Kimbell and Patricia Preston for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor.
As of 9:36 p.m., with 182 precincts reporting, Zuckerman led the pack with 42% of the vote. Kitty Toll followed him with 37%, Preston received 9% and Kimbell got 8%.
Zuckerman declared victory around 9:45 p.m., following concessions by Toll and Kimbell.
Zuckerman, a former lieutenant governor and state senator, will face the winner of a Republican contest between Sen. Joe Benning, R-Caledonia, and Gregory Thayer. Benning was leading Thayer 49% to 40%.
Whoever is elected this fall would preside over the state Senate, breaking the rare tie vote, and would take the helm if the governor became unable to serve. While the role is largely ceremonial, it is often used as a springboard to run for higher office.
If he wins the general election, Zuckerman would be returning to the post, which he held for four years until 2020. That year, he left to challenge Republican Gov. Phil Scott for the state’s top executive role and lost. Zuckerman, an organic farmer from Hinesburg, previously served for 20 years in the state Legislature as a Progressive/Democrat.
Leading up to Tuesday, Zuckerman garnered the support of a number of left-leaning figures, including U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., along with other progressive lawmakers. He won the backing of labor groups such as Vermont’s AFL-CIO and Vermont State Employees’ Association, advocacy organizations including Rights and Democracy and Vermont Public Interest Research Group, and a number of environmental and climate-focused groups such as Sunrise Montpelier and the Sierra Club.
Benning, an attorney from Lyndonville, built a reputation as a moderate and libertarian-leaning Republican during his 12 years in the state Senate. His tenure included two stints as minority leader. In his bid for lieutenant governor, Benning won the endorsements of a number of moderate Republicans, including Scott and former Gov. Jim Douglas, and made his longstanding working relationship with the governor a key selling point in his pitch to voters.
The lieutenant governor seat opened up last fall when Lt. Gov. Molly Gray announced her run for Vermont’s open U.S. House seat, which was being vacated by Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., to run for the U.S. Senate. Within weeks, four Democrats had announced their bids for LG.
A recent poll by the University of New Hampshire showed that 38% of surveyed Democrats planned to vote for Zuckerman. His closest competitor, according to the poll, was Kitty Toll.
Toll formerly served for 12 years as a representative in the Vermont House, including four as chair of the chamber’s budget writing committee, where she developed a reputation for being socially liberal and fiscally moderate. Former Govs. Howard Dean and Madeleine Kunin endorsed Toll.
The former lawmaker also took an early lead in fundraising, taking in more than $250,000 and spending most of it to attempt to close a gap in name recognition against the better-known Zuckerman. Toll was the first in the race to buy television ads and spent heavily on media buys throughout the campaign.
Kimbell, an entrepreneur and banker from Woodstock who has served as a state representative for five years, has called himself a moderate Democrat who can work across party lines.
Preston, executive director of the Vermont Council on World Affairs, a nonprofit, has never served in public office, but won the financial backing of a number of politicians and high-profile business leaders in the state, such as former state Sen. and U.S. Ambassador Peter Galbraith, Vermont real estate mogul Ernie Pomerleau and Sugarbush Resort President Win Smith.
Benning has heavily criticized former president Donald Trump, and saw his race against Gregory Thayer as a symbol of the division within the Republican party.
Thayer, who chaired the Rutland City GOP party, aligned himself with the former president. He attended the Stop the Steal rally in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021, which preceded the storming of the U.S. Capitol. Thayer also organized a press conference decrying calls for increased gun control after a spate of shootings across the country last spring, and last year, he organized a series of events across the state decrying critical race theory.