U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., has been in the national spotlight this week, chairing the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, but another milestone also took place.

With the death of U.S. Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., Leahy, who was elected in 1974, is now second in seniority in the entire U.S. Senate, trailing only Hawaii Democrat Daniel Inouye, first elected in 1962.

Inouye, who was wounded in combat during World War II, turns 86 in September. Leahy, by contrast, is only 70, practically middle-aged by Senate standards.

You'd barely know it in this season of discontent with Washington, but Leahy does have two opponents back home in Vermont.

On the Democratic side, Wilmington resident Dr. Daniel Freilich, a physician and captain in the Naval Reserves, is running on the theory that Vermont could do with some fresh thinking in Washington.

That would be “FRESH” as in “fairness, reasonableness, equity, sustainability and honorable service.” Doesn't exactly fit on a bumper sticker -- the type of simple campaign theme Freilich probably would need to knock off a powerful incumbent seeking his seventh term -- and it doesn't help that he freely admits to having voted for Leahy in the past.

But Freilich is trying to make hay out of the fact that Leahy, who reported more than $3 million cash on hand in March, raised more than $676,000 from political action committees.

Such special interest funding, Freilich asserts, creates an inherent conflict of interest when it comes to decision making

“To be frank, he's not one of the worst, he's probably one of the best, but he does partake in what I consider to be a dishonorable part of politics,” Freilich said in a phone interview yesterday.

On policy matters, Freilich, who will appear on the November ballot as an independent even if he loses the Aug. 24 Democratic primary, says Leahy and other Democrats did not push hard enough for single-payer health care and have an “incrementalism” about addressing climate change, rather than enacting a green revolution now.

Leahy has agreed to at least one debate with Freilich, on Vermont Public Radio, with the date to be determined “based on the completion of his Senate business including the Kagan nomination,” Leahy campaign manager Carolyn Dwyer said in an e-mail. “It will likely be the last week of July or early August. Live, statewide, audience participation and to be replayed after live debate. Everything you could want in a debate.”

Meanwhile, Len Britton, the low-profile Pomfret Republican challenging Leahy, cut a tongue-in-cheek Web-based video in which government officials masquerading as sweepstakes agents present a mother and her two children a $168,000 invoice, representing their share of the national debt. “Better get a paper route, Billy,” one of the agents says to the boy.

Hartland Democrat Matt Dunne yesterday announced a new round of endorsements for his gubernatorial campaign, including support from state Sen. Matt Choate, D-St. Johnsbury, and state Rep. Chip Conquest, D-Wells River.

Most significantly, Dunne landed the backing of Windsor County State's Attorney Robert Sand, who last month credited Senate President Pro Tempore Peter Shumlin for supporting marijuana decriminalization in a candidates forum.

“Matt Dunne was my representative and neighbor. He is my friend and I hope he will be our next governor,” Sand says in a statement released by the Dunne campaign. “Matt has the judgment, vision, and passion to be a great chief executive for Vermont.”

Meanwhile, state Sen. Doug Racine this week picked up the endorsement of yet another group with some influence in Democratic politics -- the Vermont League of Conservation Voters, an environmental group.

Orford Republican Tom Thomson, carrying on a family legacy, is mailing an anti-tax pledge to the more than 1,000 candidates on New Hampshire primary ballots. The updated four-part pledge includes cutting taxes , fees, spending, and vowing to uphold both the state and federal constitutions.

“We're in a deep recession … people are hurting,” Thomson said. “I want to know the candidate I'm voting for is going to … work their heart out to reel in spending and cut taxes.”

Meanwhile, Peter Glenshaw of Lyme, who helped co-found the grassroots Democracy for New Hampshire group during the 2004 elections, is the new chairman of Grafton County Democrats.

Register of Deeds Bill Sharp is nothing if not wily. The Lebanon Democrat has been handing out glossy eight-by-3¹⁄₂-inch cards advertising a new “property fraud alert” Web service to protect homeowners. The handout, which was paid for by the private company that runs the Deeds computer system, includes a photo of Sharp asserting “your property is safely recorded with Bill Sharp, Register of Deeds.”

But his primary opponent, Orford Democrat Kelley Monahan, said other Registers of Deeds have had the system in place already.

“I think he's just slow on the uptake,” said Monahan, who said of the handout: “He's got his little picture down there, it's a campaign situation.”

John P. Gregg can be reached at jgregg@vnews.com