Did you see the exciting primary results?
Thank you to everyone who made calls, sent texts, knocked on doors and whatever else it took to support our Rights & Democracy (RAD) endorsed candidates in their inspired victories Tuesday night!
Of the 12 contested primaries in which RAD endorsed a candidate—10* of them won!
WOW.
So, what’s next? We NEED YOU TO VOLUNTEER to ensure that these candidates win again in November. We have a list of ways in which you can help – from a little to a lot – so sign up today!
Here is our full list of winning primary candidates last night:
Federal
- Bernie Sanders (U.S. Senate)
State Senate
- Debbie Ingram, Chittenden County
- Chris Pearson, Chittenden County
- Michael Sirotkin, Chittenden County
- Andrew Perchlik, Washington County
- Anthony Pollina, Washington County
We also endorsed Ashley Hill for Washington County Senate, who ended up fourth out of six candidates (only three can move forward to the November ballot). Thank you for running Ashley!
In Chittenden County, Debbie Ingram, Michael Sirotkin, and Chris Pearson easily won their primaries and will be join the other three incumbents from the district and will be on the ballot in November.
State House
- Mari Cordes (Addison-4)*
- Jeremy Hansen, (Washington-1)*
- Emilie Kornheiser (Windham 2-1)*
- Zachariah Ralph, (Windsor-1)*
Will you look at that … ALL of our RAD-endorsed House candidates won their primaries! How about them apples?!
County
- In the Bennington County State’s Attorney race, our endorsed candidate for in the Democratic primary—Arnie Gottlieb—unofficially finished within 136 votes of incumbent Democrat; and it’s possible there will be a recount. Arnie ran a strong first-time campaign and forced a critical analysis and debate about who we prosecute and who we steer to receive treatment. Well done Arnie! He simultaneously filed to run as an Independent for November, so his campaign will march on!
If you want to know who to work for as we head toward November, you can check out our full list of endorsed candidates here.
A Rights & Democracy (RAD) endorsement is a signal that a candidate is already a community leader on the issues that reflect RAD’s values and will champion those causes in the Legislature.
In the statewide elections of 2016, RAD endorsed 37 candidates and 20 won their elections, including Attorney General T.J. Donovan, Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman, State Senators Debbie Ingram and Chris Pearson, and State Representatives Selene Colburn, Brian Cina, Kiah Morris, and Cindy Weed. RAD recommended an additional 12 candidates for election, and of those 7 won.
These leaders, in turn, were the strongest champions of bills to raise the minimum wage, tackle climate change and our polluted water, enact paid family leave, and combat racial injustice.
To help support our work electing the kinds of candidates who will champion our issues, consider becoming a monthly sustaining member.
* The Bennington County State’s Attorney race is still too close to call, and our endorsed candidate Arnie Gottlieb will run as an independent on the November ballot.