VERMONT
      Nov. 6, 2018 Governor

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+Phil Scott (R) i
151,261
 55.18%
Christine Hallquist (D)
 110,335
 40.26%
Trevor Barlow (I)
 3,266
 1.19%
Charles Laramie (I)
 2,287
 0.83%
Cris Ericson (I)
 2,129
 0.78%
Stephen Marx (ER)
 1,855
 0.68%
Emily "Em" Peyton (LU)
 1,839
 0.67%
write-ins
 1,115
 0.41%

274,087
Registration: 490,074.  Total votes cast: 278,230.
Plurality: 40,926 votes (14.92 percentage points).
   VT Secretary of State



Notes:  Gov. Phil Scott (R) won a second term by a comfortable margin, defeating Christine Hallquist (D), the former CEO of Vermont Electric Cooperative, and five other candidates. 

Scott made national news in April when he signed legislation imposing regulations on firearms.  In the Aug. 14 primaries, Scott defeated Keith Stern, co-owner of Stern’s Quality Produce in White River Junction, running as a conservative, by an almost two-to-one in the primary.  Hallquist handily won the primary, garnering more votes than her two nearest competitors, James Ehlers and Brenda Siegel, combined.  Hallquist gained national attention as the first transgender major party nominee for governor.

Most debates and forums featured the two major candidates; an exception was the Oct. 18 forum which had all seven candidates. Debates included:
Sept. 14 - WDEV Radio from World's Fair in Tunbridge (>);
Oct. 10 - VTDigger/PEG-TV at Paramount Theater in Rutland (>);
Oct. 17 - WCAX Channel 3 from Burlington (>);
Oct. 18 - Channel 17 Town Meeting TV forum (>);
Oct. 24 - VPR-Vermont PBS (>); and
Nov. 1 - WPTZ NBC 5 (>). 

In a post-election review of the campaign, Hallquist campaign manager Cameron Russell observed that "were Christine to have been a white male heterosexual candidate, her credibility as a viable candidate would never have faced the scrutiny it did."  Further, he writes, "The number of media outlets requesting stories about Christine’s family and personal life was suffocating at times. We were constantly fighting people’s attempts to relate her candidacy to her identity as a trans woman."  Russell describes "huge difficulty fundraising," and points out that national groups like the DGA and EMILY's List did not contribute, while the RGA put up $650,000 to support Scott.

Nonetheless, Russell points out Democrats expanded their majority in the state House.  Additionally, although Scott won the governor's race, in the campaign for lieutenant governor, David Zuckerman (Progressive/Democrat) won a second term by 56.98% to 38.97%, defeating House Minority Leader and Milton town manager Don Turner (R).
Campaign Managers:
 Phil Scott - Campaign Coordinator:  Brittney Wilson
Served the same role on Sott's 2016 campaign.  Executive assistant at the Vermont Department of Libraries, March 2013-Oct. 2015.  Private secretary in the Vermont Auditor's Office, Jan. 2011-Jan. 2013.  Outreach consultant at Capital Connections, LLC, Jan.-April 2002.  Campaign manager on Gibbs for Secretary of State, May-Nov. 2010.  Executive assistant to the commissioner of the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks & Recreation, Nov. 2008-Feb. 2010.  Field coordinator on Douglas for Governor, June-Nov. 2008.  B.S. in business administration from Western New England College, 2008.

 Christine Hallquist:  Cameron Russell
Coordinated campaign director for the Vermont Democratic Party in 2016; field director with the VDP since Dec. 2014; and a regional field director, Aug.-Dec. 2014.  M.Ed. from University of Massachusetts-Amherst, 2013; B.A. in sociology and community and international development from University of Vermont, 2007.


See: Cameron Russell.  "Notes from a campaign manager."  VTDigger,  Nov. 27, 2018.
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