Updated at 11:39 p.m.
Vermont Gov. Phil Scott won a historic sixth term as the state’s chief executive on Tuesday, fending off a hard-fought challenge from Democratic/Progressive Amanda Janoo.
Scott, a Republican, was leading by a 7-point margin, 52 to 45 percent, when Janoo conceded shortly before 11 p.m. Scott, though, was the only Republican to win a statewide race on Tuesday, and Democrats made huge gains in the Statehouse that could restore their supermajority to one or both chambers.
Addressing a crowd of cheering supporters in Montpelier, Scott said it had been a “hard-fought election” and that Janoo ran a “strong, energetic campaign.”
“Our debates were civil, respectful and model for the rest of the nation,” he said.
He thanked elections officials, his campaign staff and family, turning to hug his daughters as his did so.
Scott said he and lawmakers will enter the next two years “with some significant differences in our political views and approaches to our government.”
“I want Vermonters to know this — my commitment to you has not changed,” Scott said.
He said he would continue to fight to grow the economy, increase the number of taxpayers — not taxes — and “continue to insist the math adds up and we spend taxpayer dollars responsibly.”
Scott said hoped he and lawmakers could find ways to work together.
“For nearly 10 years I’ve had the privilege of serving the people of Vermont. As long as I have that privilege, I will continue doing what I believe is right for this state,” he said.
Janoo, in Burlington, took the stage at a election night watch party to address supporters after being introduced by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
“What we accomplished was genuinely more than I possibly could have dreamed,” Janoo told the crowd. “Honestly, when I decided to run for governor everyone told me it was a terrible idea. I wanted to run a campaign that could remind people of their own power to change things. Looking around the room right now, I know we have succeeded.”
“Tonight,” she added, “we may not have won the governor’s office, but we proved that another way of doing politics is possible.”
The governor’s race was far closer than Scott’s three most recent reelection campaigns. He garnered more than 73 percent of the vote in 2024 in defeating Esther Charlestin. In 2022 he received 71 percent of the vote against Brenda Siegel, and in 2020 he racked up 68.5 percent against David Zuckerman, who was then lieutenant governor.
Scott, a moderate Republican who has distanced himself from the MAGA-centric GOP, has promised to continue to provide a check on the Democratic-controlled legislature and address affordability concerns through incremental changes in housing and health care policy. He doubled down on his plan to lower education costs by consolidating school districts and implementing a new school funding formula.
During the campaign, he benefited from more than $1,000,000 of spending by the Republican Governors Association committee — money the group used for television and online ads that portrayed Janoo as radical and inexperienced.
Should Scott complete his sixth term in office, he will be the longest-serving governor since Vermont became a state in 1791. Former governor Howard Dean, a Democrat, held the office for 11.5 years.
Janoo ran a strong grassroots campaign, holding town halls across the state, meeting Vermonters at breweries and farms, and enlisting more than 1,900 volunteers to canvass and phone bank on her behalf. Janoo, who refused to accept money from corporations or corporate PACs, raised more than $1,000,000 from around 8,600 individual donors.
Also running this year were independent Brian Judd; Peace and Justice candidate June Goodband, and Freedom and Unity candidate Dean Roy, a student at Stowe High School.
Paul Dame, chair of the Vermont Republican Party, was gratified that voters reelected Scott, but he worried that Republican lawmakers were getting clobbered. As votes were tallied, Dame said the party was on track to lose about half a dozen seats in the House and up to five in the Senate.
Scott’s popularity insulated him from disapproval with President Donald Trump, but some Republican lawmakers couldn’t survive the blue wave, he said.
“They got painted with the Trump brush, and it stuck,” he said.
In Addison County, for instance, Sen. Steve Heffernan (R-Addison) was trailing badly while Sen. Ruth Hardy (D-Addison) and newcomer Hannah Sessions, a Democrat, appeared headed to victory.
Sen. Pat Brennan (R-Grand Isle) lost to Democrat Kim Gleason. And Sen. Terry Williams (R-Rutland), who was arrested last week on suspicion of domestic assault, was trailing in Rutland County, where independent candidate David Wolk appeared poised to secure one of the three seats.
Kevin McCallum contributed reporting.
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