Vt. Representatives Hold Windsor Seats

White River Junction — Incumbents appeared to take the day in Vermont House seats from Windsor County on Tuesday.

With two of three towns reporting, state Rep. John Bartholomew, D-Hartland, and fellow Democrat Zachariah Ralph were leading for the two House seats representing Windsor, West Windsor and Hartland, turning back a challenge from gun rights advocate Wesley Raney, a Republican.

In the three candidates’ hometown of Hartland, Bartholomew, a retired veterinarian, earned 992 votes, Ralph, who champions nonprofits and community organizing, earned 904, and Raney, a small business owner with libertarian views, received 511.

Elsewhere in Windsor County, incumbents also beat back challenges.

Thetford Democratic state Reps. Jim Masland and Tim Briglin held onto their seats representing Strafford, Norwich, Thetford and Sharon. The two defeated Progressives Jill Wilcox, of Sharon, and Nick Clark, of Norwich, who had framed their candidacies around state-level campaign-finance reform, increasing the minimum wage, pushing for universal health care coverage and combating climate change. They also fended off independent John Freitag, of Strafford, a former Democrat and a vocal critic of the education reform law Act 46.

With all four towns reporting, Briglin earned a total of 3,331 votes, Masland, 3,018; Frietag, 837; Clark, 726, and Wilcox, 552.

State Rep. Sandy Haas, a Rochester progressive, ran to keep the Windsor-Rutland seat representing Bethel, Rochester, Stockbridge and Pittsfield that she’s held since 2004. She was opposed by Stockbridge Republican Robert McFadden. Haas held the seat with 1,271 votes to McFadden’s 797.

The three Democrats aiming to represent Hartford in the Vermont House did not face any Republican opposition. State Rep. Kevin Christie and Hartford Selectwoman Rebecca White were elected to represent much of the town in the two-seat Windsor 4-2 district.

Barnard Democrat Randall Szott, who also was on the Progressive ballot, was unopposed for the Windsor 4-1 seat representing West Hartford, most of Quechee, as well as Barnard and Pomfret. Szott ran in place of state Rep. Sue Buckholz, a West Hartford Democrat who won the seat two years ago but did not seek re-election.

And in Woodstock, state Rep. Charlie Kimbell, a Democrat, was unopposed on the ballot.

Valley News Staff Writer Nora Doyle-Burr can be reached at ndoyleburr@vnews.com or 603-727-3213.