 Yep check we got one two three or at the Hilton audio from the Hilton stream test test one two three this is a live stream from the Hilton new stream mr. Moody is checking the dials we're good we're good now or you want me to keep talking I can keep talking if you want probably a little closer to my mouth than she was but test one two three one two three Hilton Democratic headquarters November 6 2018 that's what I can help for one two three one two three testing one two three right right right right because we're just not sure we can get her up to get up this far exactly so you're clear on what the organization is okay postcarding great I'm Barry with channel 17 so the name of your organization is flip the boat Champlain Valley so Ruth Walnut? Is that what I heard? Okay. Can you look familiar to me? I feel like I'm probably familiar. There you go. She even knows me. Oh yeah? We're going to wake up, see what Barry is good at, and Barry is going to kind of start facing this way and she'll swivel. So you don't worry about it, just talk to her. Yeah, I'll just talk to her. I have a hard start. Yeah. Not my first roadie. This is only my second roadie. You're doing great. You're doing great, honey. Bring me a lot. That was, it did turn out to be that. Okay. Five, four, three, two, one. Ruth Wallman, Flip the Vote Champlain Valley. So we are back at the Hilton and I'm joined by Ruth Wallman, who is with Flip the Vote Champlain Valley. Ruth, thank you so much for joining us tonight. Thank you. We're very excited to be here. Great. Now tell me a little bit about Flip the Vote Champlain Valley. Sure. Well, cast your mind back a few months to January of 2017 and the women's marches. Yeah. And a bunch of us went to women's marches all over. My name's Peelier. I went to Washington, D.C. and we suddenly realized that we had found friends. We had found an emotional support that we didn't know was out there because we were also bummed. So we met after that in various groups around and said, what can we do? And we paid most attention to Swing Left, which is a national organization, and their focus has been swinging 23, 24 seats from red to blue to take over the house. And so that has really been our focus for the last, what, 18, 19 months. So there are about 70 of us on our mailing list, but we work with groups out of Montpelier. There's another organization called Lean Left. They are the sister district for Vermont. I know there's a lot of other groups, names, and it's very confusing. But basically, we're mostly women and we got together and first we groused and then we said, all right, we have to do something. We can't just sit here. So they came up with the most brilliant idea, which is writing postcards to likely voters, mostly identified as Democrats, but that they were voters from everywhere. So there are online places where you can get addresses from all over the country. Okay, I was going to ask you how you found that. So that's, we, from sister district, working with Lean Left and Montpelier, we got addresses for people in Pennsylvania, specifically a candidate, Melissa Schusterman, who's running for the house. And then we found, I think it's postcards for VA, which was Virginia. There are a lot of terrific women who are running for office in Virginia. And so we started postcarding for them. We've written thousands of postcards, but there's other technology out there for some of you who are not, who are natives, as opposed to like me, had to learn the stuff. There's text banking, which is a phenomenal system. My colleague over there, Gene Keller, has been doing that for about a month where you get hundreds of names at one time and then you text them with your message and sometimes you get a response and sometimes you don't. So we're here to basically represent all the women that we've worked with. If people have been reading the Washington Post in the New York Times, there have been a lot of articles very recently about groups like us all over the country. There are hundreds of thousands of us who have been writing postcards, not only to candidates, some people have been writing to the administration, supporting the people who are in the background, like the Department of Justice, all those people whose names you don't know who are trying to keep the faith. So that's who we are. So we're here tonight and we're really excited. We're hoping that we see some of the results from Virginia really soon. Right. So Virginia and Pennsylvania were the key sign for you. So there was no focus on the state of Vermont, although you were based in Vermont. Not so much. I mean, I did some calling for the Vermont Democrats because I believe in it. But most of us were, yeah, we, when asked, we said, you know, if there was a problem here, of course we would, but where we really need to put our energies is out of state to flip those seats. Okay. And how is your hand from writing all of those postcards? Oh, yeah, a lot of cramping. Lots of cramping. Oh, call several hundred over a period of, you know, several months. I mean, it wasn't all at once. We met every Tuesday night somewhere, sometimes with snacks, and just wrote until we were done. Well, that's great. Thank you so much for sharing that with us. Anything else you'd like to add? Well, we're just hoping. Fingers crossed and hoping that things will. Yes. That will flip. Yes. Great. Thank you so much for joining us, Ruth. Thank you. Take care. Yes. And that's it right now from the Hilton Hotel in Burlington. I think we have another interview coming up with Christine Hallquist. So we'll bring that to you in just a few moments. Welcome that you guys. Oh, yes. Yes, very much so. So we'll just do a quick countdown. Okay. And then we've got like two minutes to talk. Sounds good. So I know you've got a big time to get back to. Big night. All right. Here we go. Two, one, Christine Hallquist. I am joined by Christine Hallquist, candidate for governor. And Christine, this is your first time running for office in Vermont. There are a lot of people in this room that were very excited to see you. How does tonight feel? I tell you, I can't feel any more joy and love than I felt in the past several weeks, actually. You know, Vermonters have been approaching me all over the place with tears in their eyes. Thank you for running. It's very moving. You know, I got into this race really because I couldn't sit back any longer. I had no idea I'd be standing here tonight. But we have an incredible campaign team. I've got an incredible family. My daughter came from San Francisco with four of her friends. Everybody's working hard. It's very precious. Well, it looks too like you've got an incredible crew of volunteers that are here. Can you talk about that? Yes, we had over a thousand volunteers in the field over the past couple days. The number of contacts we've made is astounding. It's just been amazing. You know, people are very energized. Right. And I'm honored to be part of that. And I was at the polls in Winooski and Essex earlier today. And I felt that energy definitely looks like there's a great turnout at the polls. I think all across the state. Yes. What are your thoughts on that? Well, look, great. What I've been told is good turnout is good for us. And one of the early indicators was the number of early ballots that were returned, which felt good. And then seeing the tremendous turnout we've had, that really is good for the Democratic Party. Great. Well, thank you so much. Is there anything else you'd like to add to Channel 17 viewers or, I don't know, what your hopes and dreams are for the next couple of hours and then beyond? Well, I'm going to say nothing is impossible when you're on the side of justice. Thank you so much. That's perfect. Good luck. Thank you. Thanks for watching. Back to you. Hope, sort of, your left foot you'll turn. OK? And that way, Scott has a nice head on, but you just talk to Barry. OK. OK. OK. So, I go first. Just wait until I get you. OK. We should sing. OK. Two, one, Sharon Panitch, Gunsense, Vermont. So, we are back at the Hilton, and I'm joined by Sharon Panitch, who is the communication lead for Gunsense, Vermont. Sharon, thank you so much for talking with us. My pleasure, Barry. Thank you. So, I know, I mean, gun violence prevention is a big issue. It was a big issue last legislative session, and you had some significant success with passing legislation. We did. It was actually sort of beyond our wildest dreams. We had a lot of real advocates and champions in both the House and the Senate, and the bills were signed. We have expanded background checks now in the state of Vermont. We have some laws in place to help protect people who might be a threat to themselves or to others. So, we're making progress. We're getting there. And that was a bipartisan effort. We're at the Vermont Democratic Party headquarters. Yes. It was a bipartisan effort. Largely, the most outspoken champions were Democrats. However, we did have some support across the aisle for sure. A lot of people went out of their comfort zones and supported the bills, and we're grateful to all of them. And so, what are you hoping will happen next? Because that bill did a lot, but I'm sure there's more that could be done certainly to prevent gun violence. We are looking to the next session and beyond. We are still making some decisions about policy direction, but we have every intention of continuing to move forward and help make Vermont safer for all Vermonters. And we look forward to working with the winners of tonight's elections. And we are, again, very grateful to everyone who supported the bill's last session. And if someone wants to learn more about Gunsense, Vermont, where should they go? What can they do? You can take a look at our website. It's gunsensebt.org. We're also on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. So, yeah, but the good place to start is the webpage. Great. Thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you. Thanks for being here today. Keeping us posted on what you're working on. All right, thanks. Take care. So, that's it with Gunsense, Vermont. Back to you. So, yeah, that helps. So, it's early though. We want to emphasize it early. But interesting developments in a number of races. And some people are being called in East Coast, like there and in others. Okay. So, remind me, I do the name and title. Wait, name and title and then countdown or count down and go straight into it. Three seconds after one. Yep. Go straight into it. Ready? Yes, I am. Christopher. Christopher. I'm sorry. It's his fault. Okay. Five, four, three. Ah. Chris D'Amezzo. Communications director. Vermont Democratic Party. Five, four, three, two, one. So, we are back at the Hilton and I'm joined again by Christopher D'Amezzo, the communications director for the Vermont Democratic Party. And Christopher, last time we spoke, the room was a little bit different. The feeling in the room has changed a bit. It's still early on, but it seems like there is a bit of a blue wave potentially happening. Can you enlighten us and let us know kind of what's going on both in Vermont and then in other parts of the country? Sure. Well, I think the energy in this room is emblematic of the energy around the country for Democrats up and down ballots all across the country. You're seeing early races called already in the East Coast for Democrats and you're seeing Democrats being competitive in races that maybe they shouldn't have been. Specifically, I'm talking about Beto O'Rourke's race. You see 18 or so percent reporting and he's up by 13 or so points. It's early, but it's a good sign. So you're feeling hopeful obviously and it seems like you're not alone. There are a lot of people in this room. I can feel that energy here. Yeah, there's a lot of energy. I think Christine is bopping around right now. She came down a while ago and I think she is still in the room. So we're excited to have her here. We're excited to have all the supporters here and we're excited to get this show on the road. Are there any other candidates that you've seen here at the Hilton so far? Yep. State Treasurer Beth Pierce is here. I'm told that Senator Leahy is in the building and I believe Senator Sanders is also in the building. Okay. I believe that I saw that Senator Sanders' race was called pretty early on. Yes, CNN had called Bernie Sanders' race at seven o'clock on the dot. The moment the polls closed here in Vermont, that should come as no surprise to anybody. We surely expect Peter Welch's race to be called anytime. Any other, what about Beth Pierce? When will the Vermont results start coming in? Sure, the statewide results are coming in now. That's really at the discretion of how quickly the town clerks are getting the numbers together at the Secretary of State's office. You'll see at the bottom tickers of the televisions that some of them are coming in as we speak. And will there be an issue with absentee ballots and counting those or there was a lot of early voting that happened in the state? Is that right? Sure. Yep. There was a lot of early voting. I think the Secretary of State reported today nearly 70,000 early votes were cast in the state of Vermont and those are being counted right along. And what about a sense of turnout numbers in general? Turnouts generally been good. I think it's been emblematic of the state. High turnout is going to be a good barometer by which to measure Democratic victories. All right, great. Well, as we said, it is early on, but it looks like maybe another race has been called. I don't know whether that's in Vermont or elsewhere in the country. And we'll look forward to hearing more, more good news, I guess. Yeah, we look forward to a long night of celebration. Great. Thank you so much. No problem. So again, that was Christopher D'Amezzo from the Vermont Democratic Party. So obviously there is a lot so far for the Democratic Party to look forward to and to celebrate happening later on tonight. And we'll be bringing you reports as the evening continues. Back to you in the studio. I'm the Chair of the Vermont Democratic Party and it's great to see such a large enthusiastic crowd here tonight. We're going to have a great evening. It's probably going to be a long evening with a lot of results that are going to take a while to come in. So settle in, we'll have the TVs going, the bar will be serving, and we'll have a great night. As we start tonight, I do want to take just a moment to thank everybody who has worked so hard on this campaign, whether it's the candidate staff, our incredible Democratic Party staff, the candidates who've gone out and campaigned so hard, everybody who's made this happen. It's been an incredible year. We're going to see some incredible results. We've already heard some really good numbers. We picked up a seed in Berry. It looks like we picked up a seed in Cambridge. Things are looking good. Nationally, the early numbers are incredibly, incredibly encouraging. So we know that Vermont is part of a movement from coast to coast tonight to stand up to the evil agenda coming out of Washington, D.C. right now. They've already declared that Senator Sanders has won, along with about seven or eight other incumbent senators. And you will hear from Bernie at some point fairly soon, I think. I don't know if they've declared that Senator Peter Welch has won yet, but he's so far ahead they should just put the check mark there anyway. We're looking right now at Beto O'Rourke in the lead in Texas. So it's an exciting night, but it's going to take a long time before we know what happens everywhere for all the legislative races here in Vermont, for all of our statewide races, and certainly for all the national races. I do want to start us out tonight with an incredibly special guest. Senator Patrick Leahy is the first Democrat ever elected to the U.S. Senate from Vermont. He was elected in 1974, the Watergate year. May have a lot in common with this year when things are done. Since then, he's been an incredible voice for Vermont, for the Democratic Party, and for the values that we hold as a country and as Democrats. We counted on him to stand up for us again and again, and the last Supreme Court nominee hearings made clear that he does that spectacularly. I'm thrilled to introduce Senator Patrick Leahy and Marcel. Yes, Marcel and I, thank you, Jerry, thank you very much. Thank you, because this makes me think of 1974 when I still saved two headlines from that time. One says, Whole Dooms Leahy. The next one is five days later. It says Leahy unexpectedly wins. That's what I hope will happen. Part of it was because Marcel was there, and now we have the Leahy leadership interns. Would you all raise your hands? Please, we tried this in my last election having these interns. Some have come back again. Trust me. If you're running, you want one of them working with you, because they are fantastic. And I think I'm hoping we're going to send a message across the country. Send a message to Donald Trump. Stop trying to destroy our country. Let us be. Let us be the great country we know we are. Let's have people who have actually read the Constitution. He says a lot. He tells you he's going to, by stroke of the pen, amend the Constitution, which you can do. He doesn't really do an awful lot unless you count the times on his golf courses or talking to Fox News. But we are stronger and better, and we will not let him destroy our country, and we'll send that message from Vermont. We, Vermonters, believe in the Constitution. We believe in equal rights for all, all Americans. We believe in quality, health care, and education for all Americans. We believe in the economy that works for all Americans. We believe in honesty and decency in public life. We believe you don't lead by demeaning your fellow Americans. I think a lot of this started the day after inauguration. Marcel and I rented out a house on Capitol Hill for anybody who came down to the Vermont Women's March. 600 showed up Vermonters. We had a steady stream of people going down to Union Station with my credit card, getting more coffee and donuts. Suddenly somebody asked him, how much coffee does Senator Leahy drink? He said, no, we got half of Vermont there. That was the start of the women's movement. That women's movement is going to be heard tonight in Vermont throughout the country. We heard it from Vermont during the Kavanaugh hearings. I hear it from Vermont on gun control. I hear it from Vermont on healthcare. And I tell the other senators from the 49 states. So that's why I'm glad these young people are here. I'm glad that we have honest elections here. Jim Condos deserves credit. He's recognized throughout the country for that. But I can brag, and Marcel can brag about Christine Halquist and David Zuckerman and TJ Donovan. Beth Pierce. Jim Condos. Doug Hopper. And of course, I have helped that I am one-third, one-third of the best congressional delegation in Washington. It includes Peter Welch and Bernie Sanders. I joke, I joke that we can caucus in the elevator on the way to a vote. But by God, we caucus, we caucus with your voice, and we know Vermont's voice is what counts. And thank you all very much, both Marcel and I. One of the other-third of that astounding congressional delegation is going to be joining us. Congressman Peter Welch. Peter. Peter's just a great voice for us in Washington, a hard-working and effective member of Congress who stands up for Vermont values all the time. Thrilled to have Peter with us tonight. I think they put the check mark by you yet. Well, first of all, I want to thank our senior senator who's been serving us so well for so long. Patrick Leahy. Patrick, where are you? In Marcel. You know, when you think about it, the first Senate vote to end the Vietnam War, Patrick Leahy, cast that vote. And every time a tough decision was required, Patrick made the right one. Patrick Leahy, thank you for being the conscience of the Senate and the conscience of Vermont. Thank you very much. And it's an exciting day, but before I get to that, I really want to thank all of the folks here, all of the campaign staff workers, all of the interns, all of the citizens who believe that every two years as tough as it is to get involved in a political campaign, political campaigns and elections really matter. There's a, there's a, the worst thing that we can believe in politics is that it doesn't matter. That's the worst thing. And I'll tell you, if I ever had any question about doesn't matter, it happened a couple of months ago when I went down to the Texas border. I went to the Texas border because what we saw at that border was a government policy that was in your name and it was in my name, your name in my name, the authority of the presidency of the United States saying we are going to take children from their parents in order to have a border wall. No matter what. And what this election is about across this vast country of ours with all of the different people and all of the different groups and all of the different aspirations that we have and all of the different challenges we face, the question is, are we in it together or is it winter take all and you're on your own? That is the simple question that America is deciding across this land tonight and what this election is about very simply. I met a former Marine in one of the campaign rallies that we were doing with Bernie Sanders and he came up to me and he said, Peter, I'm with you all on the issues. I want healthcare for all. I want affordable college education. We've got to address climate change. But he said, Peter, what this election is about, this is a Marine who served in Iraq and he's talking about service. He said, this is about our democracy. The guardrails of democracy are under attack. We're for a free press. We are for the rule of law. We are for respecting people no matter their race, their national origin, their sexual identity. It doesn't matter. We are in it together and that's what this election is about. And I'll tell you something. We're starting to see the election returns coming in. We don't know enough, but I'm getting optimistic that we are going to have a Democratic House of Representatives on the end of this night. But let me say something. Yes, we will be a break on President Trump and some of his worst policies, especially what our challenge is. It is to do things that need to be done for working families, whether they are from Vermont or Oklahoma, whether they voted for Clinton or they voted for Trump. They deserve and need lower prescription drug prices. They deserve and they need affordable college education. They deserve and they need an opportunity for their kids to learn a trade so they can be independent and self-sufficient and emotionally intact. That's what we need. We need a policy. If we win and I believe we will where we show that we are all in it together that is what we're about and that's what this election is about. And across this land if we get that mandate our promise to the American people is we'll be there for you we'll work for you we'll listen and we'll act and we will be judged by what we do not by what we say. So thank you each and every one of you who at this time of enormous anxiety in our country have decided that you've got the will you've got the heart to hang in and fight and contribute for a better day. Thank you Vermonters. Hello folks I'm Josh Massiam the executive director of the Vermont Democratic Party welcome to the party everyone having a great night thank everyone for the work you're doing we're going to have some more races coming in soon the other part of the trifecta of the federal delegation will be down before too long so please enjoy yourselves have some drinks enjoy the results coming in and we'll call you folks up again soon as soon as we get some more results in thank you everyone. And they'll get a Patrick Leahy Hello again I am joined by Senator Patrick Leahy and we are at the Burlington Hilton Vermont Democratic Party headquarters and Senator Leahy in your speech earlier tonight you talked about leadership and the women's movement in particular could you talk a little bit more about that? Good job a lot of people thought the whole country turned after President Trump's inauguration the next day there were hundreds of thousands of women all nationalities ageing and marching for human rights women's rights rights of Americans my wife and I marched with them with a granddaughter and a daughter I hosted the 600 Vermonters that came down and I thought there is hope and I think the women's leadership across the country is going to be shown in a lot of the races tonight well it certainly feels like there's a lot of hope in this room but what about Washington and other parts of the country can you talk a little bit about what's happening nationally or what your sense is we just gained the early returns and I know a number of my colleagues I've served with for years have been re-elected and that's good news thank you so much I know you've got lots of people to talk to thanks for spending time with us take care thanks again for watching back to you Diane what we're doing is we're live on tweet so they'll be running it into the live yep but you're not going to screw up if anybody screws up look good okay Senator Ginny Lyons in 5 4 3, 2, 1 I am here with Senator Ginny Lyons who is running for what term is this oh well this is my will be my 10th term should I be lucky enough to be elected so right it is still it's a long night it's still early in the night results for the chitlin county senate race haven't yet no the results aren't in but you know it's just been so refreshing today to see the voter turnout it's been exciting and it energizes all of us I've worked extremely hard in the senate for my district for chitlin county and then for the election so it's great to see all the voters and I appreciate the enthusiasm that they bring to the work that we do and to the election it's great there certainly is a lot of enthusiasm in this room and I was in Winooski and Essex town and Essex Junction this morning there was great turnout in both of those towns both of those areas and I felt that energy yeah it's the same way I was at several different polls today some in Burlington outlying towns, Williston my own hometown and it was really an amazing a line it's good for a midterm it's good for a midterm it's definitely I think what they're saying the midterm is confirmation in some ways or lack thereof of what's happening at the federal level and I think we're seeing that I think people have been very upset with what the president's been doing and I think affirmation of Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch will be important to us all at the federal level and they already called Bernie's race, have the numbers come in for Peter? I'm not sure but it looks like he's doing very well I think the incumbent lieutenant governor is doing well and it's a bit of a race but I think unfortunately the governor is now right ahead we'll see, the night is young I'll let you get to you've got to I'm looking forward to the results and I really appreciate Channel 17 being here it's important to all of us thank you so much, it's good to talk with you and good luck tonight thanks again for watching back to you and the studio we'll talk about you want me to hold that for you? okay so what are we going to talk about? and really what happened I heard him so that we get a nice head on okay? it's over the shoulder with you but he's the one we want to see are you kidding me? I'll just hold the microphone sorry, we're not live yet are we? no and actually yeah you never know I just did a really goofy face that's good, how you doing? that'll be in the bloopers thank you it's all rural areas Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman in 5 4 3 2 1 I'm here with Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman we're here a little bit early the race for Lieutenant Governor hasn't yet been called but we are going to get a sense of how you're feeling and how things are going tonight well in general I'm feeling good I'm frankly looking at the country as well turnout is up everywhere which is a great thing for democracy regardless of whoever wins we just need more people to vote and clearly people came out this time and in Vermont the numbers were up everywhere the polls I was at today were swamped with people some record numbers even better than presidential in some districts and right now a lot of early numbers so it's hard to know yet but in some rural areas I'm doing pretty well and so it feels pretty good right now alright well obviously they called a race somewhere another state or two they're looking good but here in Vermont it's mostly rural areas and I'm still up by a little bit so I think I'm in pretty solid shape alright well that's exciting we'll wait and see what happens I'll come back through and we'll chat again that would be great it would be good to talk with you thank you so much for talking with us early on and we'll be looking for you and looking ahead to see what happens next we'll see what happens thank you thank you so much have a good night good to see you thank you for speaking at the vigil that was amazing I didn't realize you were from Brookline yeah where are you from I went to high school in Chestnut Hill alright everyone we've got another one of our trifecta of the federal delegation coming to the stage right now I'd like to introduce our very own senator Bernie Sanders well thank you thank you all very much let me thank my family and all of the thousands of our monitors who played a key role in helping us win this election thank you all very much we don't know what the overall election results for the United States will be tonight but what we do know is that this is a pivotal moment in American history and we know that we have Republican leadership in the House and the Senate who have turned their backs on working families in this country have tried to throw 32 million people off the healthcare that they have have given a trillion dollars in tax breaks the top 1% and then Trump came forward with a budget that would have made massive cuts to Medicaid, Medicare and the Social Security Disability Fund but more important than even these terrible policies is that we have a president of the United States who is a pathological liar and is doing something that no president in my lifetime has ever done and that is instead of bringing the American people together he is trying to divide us up based on the color of our skin based on where we come from based on our religion based on our gender based on our sexual identity our job is to tell this president that we will not tolerate policies which are racist and sexist and homophobic that all over this country the American people led by the state of Vermont are going to stand up and fight back so I just want to thank my family Jane and all of the kids behind me and I want to thank all of you and mostly the people of Vermont being a United States senator from Vermont has been the honor of my life and I thank the people of the state for allowing me to once again serve as their senator thank you all very much it's going to be tough to compete sound wise I'll send them Julia's name and all you've got to draw her over rather than having her worry about the camera and in this awkward way for it until, yeah are you ready? okay good then everyone's ready Julia Shannon Grillo in 5 4 3 2 1 welcome back to the Burlington Hilton I'm joined by Julia Shannon Grillo who is a student at Burlington High School and on the team of the Burlington Register you're a student journalist is that right Julia? yeah I'm one of our four editors at the VHS Register okay and you were out this morning interviewing voters getting a sense of what was on their minds when it came to these midterm elections what did you learn? well you know we were asking people about those on the ballot and we did get a lot of people who were talking about how this election meant a lot to them on more of a national level than local but also we did see a lot of support for the school bond and for the wastewater sewage bond right so there are two big bond items on the ballot in Burlington and thus the school bond would allow Burlington High School to add on and renovate that's pretty exciting as a high school student I imagine you've got some opinions on that I mean I've seen the plans I just wrote an article about it for the register I've seen the plans personally I'm jealous that I wouldn't be able to go to that school but I know a lot of the students in the school do see the need and we you know the people who are in the school right now aren't going to be affected by it but nobody wants the future generations of Burlington High School students to have to loop through four different buildings because one ramp is raining in the hallway so well you certainly know how how the current school is in it just doesn't work anymore maybe it never worked in especially this time of year when the weather starts to get bad we really see the effects of the deteriorating infrastructure at the school so well great thanks what else did you learn this morning I said a lot of people we got a lot of response from people who are looking at the national scale today and people seem generally pretty optimistic I think when we talked to people they were riled up and they were excited and there was a huge huge voter turnout I was in Ward 6 first this morning and they said they had a line out the door right when the polls opened and they had never seen that before and it was the same thing with Ward 5 and I believe I heard that there were lines when the polls were closing too so they had to keep them open which usually doesn't happen especially in midterm elections so that seemed like a pretty good sign for everyone and people were in good spirits well great there's definitely a lot of optimism in this room so we're going to let you get back to the party and thanks so much for checking in with us thank you guys take care back to you in the studio like you almost can probably end up here but I'm right here alright I know this is where he pointed they made me stand on one she'll maneuver you to stay right there and talk to her I'm very awkward with this so just stay there let me do the countdown and then you're in Secretary of State Jim Kondos in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 we're back at the Hilton and I'm joined by Secretary of State Jim Kondos who is running for another turn welcome thank you so much for talking to us here at Channel 17 so there has been a lot of talk about voter turnout I was at the polls in Winooski and Essex Town and Essex Junction today and I experienced what seemed to be like a good voter turnout but I bet you can talk to that more statistically so we don't have actual numbers yet and it'll be a few days before we do but what we understand is that the turnout so far has been somewhere around 55% which would might be a record for the midterms just if you look at early vote ballots in 2014 the last midterm we had 33,400 this year we're up to 69,000 already wow so that's double what was selected previously any other thoughts about what's happening to bring out the voters or voter engagement what's working well I think there's several factors one of course is the national discourse that's going on but I think also you have some highly contested races at the local level at the county level and even at the state level and I know the other thing that you care deeply about is voter integrity of elections and security of elections so I want to talk a bit about that sure so we've had a good day and to say that when I can say nothing happened that's a good day so we're very pleased obviously what has occurred around the country did not occur here there have been instances where there was some voter suppression going on we feel pretty confident that the voter engagement has been strong and that we've protected the right to vote and we've protected the security of that vote well great thank you so much for spending some time with us tonight and we'll look forward to seeing more results as they come in and hearing more about Vermont's hopefully record breaking turnout for this midterm it's a good night so far terrific thank you so much back to you in the studio back to you in the studio put your toes right on that black intro and count in she's going to kind of shift over and you just talked to her okay thank you very much you're just going to look at her that's even easier okay I'm ready lead Jang in five three two one at the Hilton and I'm joined by city counselor Ali Jang and there is a big bond a couple of bond initiatives on the ballot in Burlington can you tell our viewers a little bit more about what's happening with the bonds and the goals of there's the Burlington High School bond let's talk about that that's a big massive number that we're talking about absolutely absolutely and I think this is just showing us that Burlington they value education they value the safety and the well-being of our students and also they value to invest and have assets in the city and also they value that if we have a wonderful beautiful high school we might be inviting people from other state to be able to come that is not growing and I think this is an example that you know Burlington is coming together and we want to invest in the future and the safety of our children and I'm sorry yes and I think you know it has passed it has passed and overwhelmingly we don't have all the numbers yet but I think in Burlington they spoke out very strongly in favor of the Burlington high school renovation bond oh that's great I hadn't heard that the numbers didn't come in so as far as you know it looks like it is going to pass in favor of the 70 million dollar bond now that wasn't the only investment in infrastructure that Burlington residents were being asked to vote on what about the wastewater infrastructure and the bond to help fund that so as a member of the city council I think I was the only person who voted against the sewage and water I voted against it because I have some reasons one of the reasons is in order for us to put something on the bond for the voters to vote we need to explore all the options that exist and I mean federally at the state level and also find out if we can find revenues from ways instead of increasing the bills of residents who are here and we also know that many people are living in fixed income we know the high school bond will be passing and if we add all the bond items such as raising the bills at least if it's 5 dollars it can't do with some people so I'm glad again that Burlington have spoke up very clearly that they want that to pass as well and I'm just proud that maybe the city will want to make sure that we don't ask for more anymore no more bond at least for the next 10 years that's what we will be working for in a vision there is some talk and maybe you can help me understand this but I thought there was another bond that is proposed for March to help with renovations of Memorial Auditorium or am I understanding that correctly? yes there are some talks and we think that it will be coming then but again like what I said earlier I think 70 millions and then 30 millions is enough for now let's not think about that to me Memorial Auditorium we need to find a private and public partnership in developing it if we can't let's sell it to a developer and the developer will at least hold on the facade because it's a historical building you know hold on to the facade and make housing we have housing problems that's my stand we should not put another 1 million or 2 million to the voters again to vote I will be voting when it comes to us to renovate the Memorial Auditorium but there are some talks well thank you so much as you said it's enough for now I think that's enough for now we had a great conversation and I appreciate your spending time with us tonight thank you so much thank you back to you Diane for your support for another term as your Attorney General and let me first thank my wife Jess McLeod my son Jack and Emmett who have been with me the whole way we couldn't do it without you thank you guys a great campaign manager somebody from the southern part of the state from Bennington County Natalie Silver I know my mother, State Representative Joey Dunham is here tonight we want to thank her as well I want to thank everybody in the Attorney General's office for their hard work over these past 2 years carrying out a new agenda working to help Vermonters to give voice to those that don't have a voice to be creative to solve problems and to stand up and protect every single Vermonter in the state regardless of who you are where you're from, what you look like who you love, or who you worship we protect civil rights in the state of Vermont that's what we're going to do these next 2 years we're going to stand up and protect everybody whether it's the civil rights or whether it's women's fundamental rights or whether it's our environment because pollution doesn't know what it is when Washington D.C. will step back the state of Vermont will step up and protect all of us I've always said that the best form of public safety is a good job and we've worked very hard these past 2 years reaching out to the backbone of our community and that's our small businesses in order to grow our economy we have to redefine what a safe and vibrant community looks like for everybody it starts with access to health care early childhood education good public schools with robust mental health treatment affordable housing and access to affordable higher education that is the foundation of a safe and vibrant community for everyone in this state where we leave no one behind where we believe in the dignity of every person and give everybody the opportunity for success in Vermont that is Vermont values that is Vermont strong and that's what we're going to continue to do as Attorney General no matter what happens in Washington D.C. we believe in justice in this state we believe in dignity we believe in respect and we believe in the human rights of all people regardless regardless of the hateful rhetoric that comes from our nation's capital we believe as the poet wrote so many years ago that when justice can rise up hope and history can rhyme let it rhyme in this state in these next two years this is Vermont, these are our values let's continue to lead this nation in decency, respect and the respect for all people thank you so much well again folks, Josh Massey here with Executive Director of the Vermont Democratic Party it is now my honor to introduce another one of our statewide candidates that has been up for reelection and won somebody who has given us the best election law in the entire land somebody has made voting easy in Vermont somebody we are all very proud of Secretary of State Jim Condos ladies and gentlemen thank you everyone it's a pleasure for me to be here tonight and I want to thank the voters of Vermont for all the support that they've given us I especially want to thank the VDP staff they're all around the room but thank you to the VDP staff for their hard work in getting out the vote and of course I want to thank my partner Annie who's over here who has been so supportive of me in my runs for Secretary of State this election was about one thing and it's a four letter word vote and I want to say that it's great to see that the turnout here in Vermont has been so strong when this country was first founded in the 1700s only white male landowners were allowed to vote since that time we've had 10 to 12 changes to our constitution 10 to 12 changes to our statutes all in the interest of increasing an access to the vote then in 2010 the tea party hit and actually started to decimate our voter registration laws around the country our democracy has been and is under attack but not here in Vermont we in the legislature my office and the legislature have worked together to make Vermont one of the most accessible voting areas in the country we have 17 year olds who can vote in primaries if they turn 18 by the general election we have same day voter registration which was on course today we have automatic voter registration we have online voter registration and we have 45 days of no excuse early voting and just to give you some numbers in the 2014 midterm we had 33,000 early votes cast this election 39,000 early votes cast we more than doubled it very often I have said the true voter fraud that occurs in this country is the denying of any eligible American the right to cast a ballot that's the true voter fraud but make no mistake if allowed the other side will enact measures that negatively impact young adults minorities low income and our seniors early today our voter turnout was extremely good we believe that the numbers may turn out to be around 55% which might set a record for a midterm election it's important that we remember that this is our country our state and it's our democracy your vote is your voice thank you I'm going to go to the intro and then she'll kind of shift over like this so we have a nice shot okay great thank you to see the back of me don't break your camera again there is nothing official yet but the bond votes are looking good are there other highlights you would look at well the school folks they had people out at all at the polling station so they're pretty confident they got about 70% of the vote I haven't seen 6 results for the water bond that was at about 94% okay pretty confident seems like a nice Mayor Miro Weinberger in 5 4 I am joined by Mayor Miro Weinberger who is going to tell us a little bit more about a couple of I guess unprecedented bond votes in Burlington there was a bond for renovations at Burlington High School and then also wastewater treatment and other infrastructure so tell us what you know about that now and just inform us a little bit more about those issues and anything else you want to tell us great well yes there were two very significant bond votes bond question number one was about a up to 70 million dollar investment in a renovated high school and then there was a separate bond item for 30 million dollars in investments in our wastewater and stormwater systems and it does appear that both bonds did very well I was just a few minutes ago out at the high school with the crew that's been working hard to secure a yes vote there and their unofficial results were that about 70% of the city had voted in favor of the investment which is a it is a historic vote we have not had any substantial investment in the high school in about 55 years so this is really an exciting opportunity for our high school students generations of Burlington High School students in the years ahead will benefit from this investment the wastewater bond and stormwater bond we don't have final results for yet I did see the numbers at award six and there about 94% of the voters had voted yes so it does seem very likely that that passed with a big strong outcome as well that too maybe not quite as significant as the high school vote but it is for the last 75 years Burlington has been really doing better and better at protecting Lake Champlain up until 1953 we didn't do anything to protect the lake from sewage since then we've had a number of rounds and major investments wastewater treatment plant, the main plant in the 1950s in the 1990s we started treating stormwater which was very significant 2009 we started a stormwater utility that kept things getting even better this 30 million dollar investment I think goes along with those other big steps that you know in some make us far better than we used to be at protecting Lake Champlain and this investment will really ensure we don't go backwards and that things don't break the way we saw happening multiple times this summer so when you're saying it's less significant than the high school bond well it's just not as large yeah it's not as large a number it's not you know it hasn't been in the same way that it's been 55 years since we really made a major investment in the high school we've been making investments more recently than that but it is it is still very significant day for Burlington's water stewardship, lake stewardship efforts great I think we'll just wait and see what happens when the final numbers come in and I appreciate your talking with us and giving us the heads up about what's happening in Burlington and thanks again. Thanks for having me on I really appreciate what Channel 17 does to be a definitive source for local news during these exciting election nights so thanks for your service I'm solicited and testimonial that's awesome have a good night thanks and back to you especially about really financially from here on rating things like that so I'm going to start then we'll talk to each other do I look at you or the camera you look at me got it I'm not as good at this as the other folks I'm better at numbers no that's then you're in the right job I'm in the right job so Beth Treasurer in 5 4 2 1 I am at the Hilton Hotel with Beth Pierce who is a treasurer she's still waiting to hear about whether or not you were elected for is it a fourth term yes I was appointed in 2011 and then one in 2012, 14 and 16 so it's looking good we'll wait and see what the official results are but I'm very hopeful at this point and looking forward with the help of the voters looking forward to another opportunity to serve Vermonters as their chief financial officer great so let's talk about there are a lot of issues in Vermont that require spending money so water quality has been an issue can you talk about some of those things for me as a treasurer we have to pay attention to the bottom line and I do and I think that we do a good job with taxpayers dollars with good stewards of those dollars at the same time we have to recognize that bottom line belongs to every single Vermonter and make sure that we do right by every single citizen in the various issues one of them you mentioned clean water a few years ago the legislature asked me to do a report on that and to look at financing and funding opportunities we completed that report and we did it the Vermont way we had 23 stakeholder meetings with a thousand people involved and really put together the data and we came up with a two year life path plan that did not raise taxes and then took a look at revenue and financing opportunities including the use of existing revenues for the next three years to 20 I'm disappointed that we didn't get further on that last year my goal this year is to make sure we have a plan in place that protects that asset 2.5 billion dollars of tourism is dependent on our natural resources including our clean waters we need to see it as an asset that you invest in for our future economy it's also an issue in terms of safe drinking water and our way of life so economy, safety, way of life we need to invest in that asset well you jumped ahead to the next question I was going to ask you if you are re-elected you know what your goals would be when you get back to Montpelier so you've already clean water the other is to continue to work on our pensions you know we do have liabilities that are very large because we didn't pay down our obligations from 1990 to 2007 since then we've been working one third of the way through a 30 year plan we need to continue the discipline on that and work together to find solutions employees have stepped up to the plate to put more money in we've pushed out the age of retirement in the teacher plan we've changed the way we do healthcare all in those changes will save the taxpayers from 2010 to 2038 when we will retire the unfunded liability that's real dollars for taxpayers and we preserve retirement security at the same time we need to move forward and continue that work to make sure we stay disciplined and retain retirement security at the same time for our public employees great it sounds like you've got a lot on your plate I love the job it's the best job in the state I shouldn't say that because you know I was going to say don't tell the others but they're going to hear it bottom line for me is this is what I love doing I have no plans to ever run for any other office this is it for me I've been doing government finance for 40 years I love it with the help of Vermont voters I hope to continue this for a long time alright great that seems like a great place to end and good luck to you the rest of tonight thank you very much take care and thank you we're going to continue with our coverage here from the Burlington Hilton I think we just have a few more minutes I don't know minutes left to go before we wrap up tonight so stay tuned and we'll talk with you soon come on up folks in the back folks in the back come on up we're going to have a couple of speakers here I think you're going to want to hear hello everybody I am going to be very brief I am here to introduce a person who put herself out on the line traveled every county of the state over and over again spoke to people at the county fair spoke to people in living rooms spoke to people at rallies and didn't just speak to people but also listen to people Christine Hallquist did an amazing job in her bid for governor of the state of Vermont and we got to give her a big round of applause while we welcome her to the stage here in Burlington Christine Hallquist thank you so much for all of your support it's been an amazing campaign I've shed a lot of tears of joy for the people that have approached us over the past several days it's been quite amazing and I'm very proud of the campaign that we have run I called Phil Scott to congratulate him on his win Phil Phil is going to be very committed to the future of Vermont I'm proud of how we've worked with each other we sparred well and I think Vermont is a beacon of hope we showed the rest of the country what good democracy looks like and as I've said all along in this race I'm standing on the shoulders of thousands of Vermonters before me who fought for what is right and what is just and we will continue to fight for what is right and what is just I'm going to tell you one of the more beautiful stories that I saw on the campaign you know on the primary night I was up an island pond and this big burly man came running across the parking lot and I thought oh I'm in trouble but he ran up and he says oh my god I thought you were going to leave without me saying hello he says I am so proud of you and I'm so happy with the work you're doing I just wanted to shake your hand so Vermonters all over we are a welcoming and inclusive state and I love Vermont and this campaign was truly a labor of love it was a real demonstration of the love we all have for each other and let's make sure we continue this in front of the headwinds that we're facing today let's continue to show the rest of America what good democracy looks like and I certainly want to thank my family for their tremendous support I want to think Pat my spouse Jillian came here with a bunch of friends from San Francisco worked hard my son Derek Kirsten I'm very proud of my family I want to thank my awesome and incredibly intelligent and committed staff Cameron Aaron David Logan Will Teddy Brenda and so many others Grace all of you have worked so hard and I'm we're never going to be able to replace what's in my heart right now so I want to every volunteer and every donor who's helped out this is not the end this is the beginning and we all will continue to strive to make a better Vermont and nothing is impossible when you're on the side of justice thank you so much okay folks the hits just keep on coming lots great news happening tonight I will just point out that Bob Hooper has managed to defeat Kurt Wright tonight and we're well on the road to having over 100 seats between the Dems and the progs in the legislature so looking good quick announcement if anyone has found a lost LG phone get it to one of us at the party and we'll get it to the rightful owner or a debit card oh there's a debit card too I get the debit card um I want to introduce an incredible woman tonight Beth Pierce our state treasurer our recently re-elected state treasurer is an amazing fighter for working Vermonters she's out there defending pensions she's out there defending her responsible state budget she's out there fighting for clean water day in and day out she does the job of balancing the numbers keeping our credit standing where it should be despite Phil Scott's efforts to undermine it we're incredibly proud of her leadership both here in Vermont and nationally as president of the national association of state treasurers state treasurer Beth Pierce thank you very much I always have to lower these I'm sure that most of the other folks that come up here I want to say thank you very much to all the voters and all the help and all the volunteers here give yourself a hand for all the volunteers hiding over there is my sister Luann Cattire and my brother-in-law Bob I want to thank them they drove me all around the state today we tried to be with candidates so we were in Barry Montpelier Linden Grand Isle St. Albans Town and St. Albans City supporting candidates we have a great great great bench thank you to all the folks that ran thank you for the folks that looks like they're picking up some house seats today thank you all for all that good work about the bottom line I'm the treasurer I talk about bottom lines that's what I'm supposed to do but that bottom line isn't for select few that Barry single Vermont it's for everybody in this room it's for everybody in this state it should be shared by everybody every single Vermont every single Vermont to a lifetime of financial and with economic well-being that's what you want for your children that's what you want for yourself that's what you want for your neighbors I want it for every single Vermont we need to continue programs to help individuals with disabilities we work on financial literacy we work in so many different ways but it's my partners our partners across the state that make a difference I want to say thank you very much to MIXI and for Tim Ash for the General Assembly to stand up for working Vermonters and make it happen every single day thank you folks thank you to Jim Condos for making sure that we have elections that are fair and that everybody in this state has the right to vote we're making sure we spend that money wisely for taxpayers justice, restorative justice and changing the way we treat people and work with them I was kind of hoping for another partner today that didn't quite work out but I want to say Christine thank you for the dialogue because you've changed that partnership that's how we get things done in Vermont we work together when we did the clean water study we had 23 stakeholder meetings a thousand ways to get things done and I'm so thrilled that he's going to be back with us that's fantastic for social justice he's an advocate for economic justice he's an advocate for financial independent for ending discrimination that our whole team's done that's what Christine has been pleasure to introduce David Zuckerman thank you Treasurer Pierce man she has become quite the gravel rouser hasn't she go Beth thank you Vermont Democratic Party thank you Vermont voters and thank you Don Turner for running a positive and respectful race we are very lucky here in Vermont we are very lucky here in Vermont I shouldn't say lucky it is with intention that in Vermont civility and respect across different perspectives and different issues is held while we watch negativity take over all across this country we had races here in Vermont that were positive and respectful and I thank my opponent for that this race was about the issues and Vermonters spoke very clearly that we want to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour Vermonters said we want to clean up the waterways of Vermont we don't want to keep punting that down the road Vermonters said renewable energy matters because climate change is real it's not a hoax and we have to address it now we cannot continue to use fossil fuels the way that we have been Vermont sent a message that affordability is about putting more money in people's pockets raising the minimum wage by 50 or 60 cents an hour puts over a thousand dollars a year in their pockets that's a whole lot better for Vermonters than any 20 or 30 dollar it is very clear what Vermonters want the people in this room know what Vermonters want the people across the state know what Vermonters want and we're ready to go down there and give them what they want and I'm going to introduce the next speaker who's already been a speaker who's going to be speaker again and who's going to lead a new house of representatives with tremendous victories across the state I first knew Mitzi in college we then farmed together in South Hero over 20 years ago it is an incredible pleasure and honor for me to introduce our returning speaker leader of the house Mitzi Johnson is a really good night to be a Democrat Lahey Fellows where are the Lahey Fellows tonight tonight voters across Vermont are sending a really clear message that we need a state that works for everyone these are a handful of the people who have made all of this happen across the state through some very generous support we had a series of Lahey Fellows across the state working hard field organizing supporting candidates and having conversations with Vermont thank you so much fantastic Vermont House Democrats campaign director Jim Dandanow next person I'll mention we fielded the largest slate of candidates than we've ever seen and we are seeing the results tonight and that hard work of developing those candidates raising funds to support those candidates and getting so many of them across the finish line so much of that gratitude goes to Jill Kroinsky Jill is a rock star majority leader and with all of this work we have very good news about growing that majority this year we see all these wins but we also know that there's a lot of work to do yet Christine Hallquist has my and our deep and eternal gratitude Christine Christine ran a fantastic campaign she put her heart and soul out on the campaign trail and she really used her space to really bring a lot of awareness about working families about rural economic development about the inequality of opportunities around the state and for that we are very grateful and look forward to continuing that work as we move forward in the next session so thank you Christine two years ago many of us were here in this room together when we saw the political climate in Vermont shift drastically for the last two years we've had a president who creates toxic divisions who disrespect women who despise people with disability people of color victims of sexual assault and harassment our veterans and the list goes on and on and on he believes he's above the constitution which is the foundation of our nation he systematically dismantles public confidence in our free press and he eggs the deep divisions and systemic racism that tear our country apart and tonight Vermonters fought back together with all of your help we sent a message that hate has no business here that Vermont is not for sale and that we need a Vermont economy that works for all of us not just a select few you all know that Vermont is the best place to live raise a family work grow a business and we have to do everything we can to make sure that that Vermont dream is accessible to everyone from a good strong start in early childhood to a retirement of safety and security and dignity and we've got a lot of work to do in the next session to make sure that happens in the last session you all know the record number of vetoes that happened that helped to keep people away from that Vermont dream tonight Vermonters said that's not what we want you need to listen we need to make sure to include everyone and raise all boats so I want to just give my personal thanks to every candidate that ran changed the story in their community every candidate who helps people understand why we need to build a stronger, healthier future in Vermont and this team up here is just a part of the team that you're going to see working together with you to make a Vermont that does work for everyone and I look forward to seeing that through with all of you and serving Vermont together over the next two years thank you very much got the room to 11 you can probably push it a few minutes after that but as the old song goes you don't have to go home but you can't stay here it's been a great night I want to thank everybody who ran everybody who volunteered everybody who was part of making this happen tonight the fight for 2020 starts tomorrow morning we've got to win back the governorship in 2020 we've got to win the presidency back in 2020 and the Vermont Democratic Party is going to be working day in and day out to make that happen I want to personally say