(Host) Turning now to the race for Lt. Governor: Political analysts predicted it would be a very close race between the incumbent, Republican Brian Dubie and his chief rival, Democrat Matt Dunne.
As VPR’s Lynne McCrea reports, Dubie was victorious, with 51% of the vote compared to just over 45% for Matt Dunne.
(McCrea) For hours the race was too close to call. But around 11:30 Brian Dubie stepped up to give his victory speech at Republican headquarters in Montpelier.
(Dubie) “I’ve never worked harder in my life than being your Lt. Governor. (cheers) And I’ll make you another promise. I’m not gonna sit behind a desk all day when I can go out and meet with Vermonters.”
(McCrea) Through the course of the campaign, Dubie and democratic rival Matt Dunne differed on many issues, from abortion to property tax reform.
But the race became contentious when Dunne suggested that, if elected, he would treat the part-time Lt. Governor’s position as a full-time job. He accused Dubie of not being in his office enough.
Dubie countered by accusing Dunne, a state senator, of not being around for important votes at the Statehouse.
Dunne did not appear to benefit from the democratic wave’ that seemed to be a factor in the congressional races. In his concession speech, Dunne highlighted his campaign’s focus on volunteerism and service politics’
(Dunne) “And we introduced the concept of service politics (cheering) in a way that had not been done before, because there should be no separation between getting out there and getting out there and rolling up your sleeves and making a change community, by community, by community!”
(McCrea) Progressive Marvin Malek, who ran on a health care reform platform, drew less than 5% of the vote.
(Malek) “They didn’t vote for me because the structure of the system is set up to support two political parties.”
(McCrea) The progressive party failed to make inroads in a number of contests across the state.
For VPR news, I’m Lynne McCrea