Vermont’s lone US House member eyes move up to Senate
Vermont’s lone US House member wants to run for the Senate, and he may be ready to change parties: The district that includes the state’s capital and most of its biggest cities is heavily Democratic.
In fact, the majority of the state’s vote for the 2018 midterm election came from Democrats.
Republican state congressmen have long represented the district, which is known in Vermont as a safe seat. But in the last two election cycles, Democrats won by large margins.
In last year’s election, they won by more than 2-to-1, which was their largest margin in the district in the state’s history. And in 2017, they won by more than 20 points, to just over 18.
They do not control the seat, which is held by the party of Vermont’s President, and Attorney General, Peter Shumlin. But the incumbent will not be seeking reelection, and he has not ruled out running again.
In fact, during his last run, he became the first serving Vermont politician endorsed by the statewide Democratic party, in its push to oust him.
As he sits on Vermont’s House Committee on Local and Minority Affairs, with oversight over local governments, the district has seen growth in the number of its voters under 31 years of age.
A Democrat has held the seat for three terms since 1986, when the Republican Thomas Norcross first represented it.
Vermont Democrats first put forward a candidate for the open seat in October, and that is now pending the outcome of the U.S. Senate race in Kansas.
But first, Republican state Rep. John McKinney is running for the state Senate in a district that includes his hometown of Barre — where he served in the Vermont State Senate from 1997 to 2001, and is a state lawmaker now.
Vermont’s lone US House member is not ruling out running for the US Senate.
State Rep. John McKinney, who represents Vermont’s only US House seat in the U