 So it's so great to be back at the Democratic Party here in Hula in Burlington back in person and how does it feel to be here with your colleagues? We are just we couldn't be happier. We are so excited. It's you're right to be in person is such incredible energy and we are looking forward to a really great night and celebrating with some incredible candidates who are going to be elected before the night's over. That's fantastic. Now, can you tell us a little bit about your role as the chair of the Democratic Party of Vermont and a little bit about what you do? Yes, so I really see my role when things are going really well as chief cheerleader. I really feel like now that with elections season we have had an amazing talented young staff who they they know how to you know push the levers and make things happen and do the data and all that and so my job is really just to to be behind the scenes helping everybody feel like you know how important that is. This is making sure that volunteers that are county chairs are getting out to volunteers are really giving the resources that are really talented staff can use to then help people get elected and then I'm also like troubleshooting and problem solving the background you know if there's some issue with someone I'm happy to come in and kind of smooth things over you know it's election season and feathers get ruffled and that sort of thing but I have to say that this has been an amazing team effort and I just feel like we've come together in a beautiful way and this together for Vermont you know it wasn't me who came up with that slogan but that is I feel how we have conducted ourselves and I feel coming out of this we are just on a real high and working together beautifully. That's wonderful Anne and I I'm curious how you feel about there's a lot of races nationally that Vermonters and particularly Democratic Vermonters are looking at closely how do you feel those results may impact Vermont Democrats? I want to tell you that tonight we have talked about this and we have said we are going to make this a celebration of Vermont. We are of course incredibly concerned about what's going on around the country. I mean there are so many scary folks you know election deniers, science deniers, climate deniers and some of them are going to get elected and that's going to be very very tough but I want to tell you that we are going to keep the focus on Vermont and then everybody can go home and you know a lot of those western states the results won't even be in so we'll deal with that you know we can cry into our beer tomorrow but tonight is about Vermont and celebrating our amazing candidates. Well we're looking forward to celebrating Vermont with you tonight here at the Democratic Party and thank you so much for speaking with us. I am delighted to have you here and I look forward to you know let let the party begin. So all right thanks a lot. Thank you so much. Great. Back here at Hula in Burlington with the Vermont Democrats I'm joined by Democratic candidate for Chittenden County State's Attorney Sarah George. Sarah how does it feel to be back in person tonight with your colleagues for less than night? It feels really good I actually didn't really think about it until I like walked in and then was like oh man this first time I'm going to see a lot of these folks which is really exciting it's good to see everybody. Awesome. What are you hoping to accomplish in the state's attorney office for the next couple of years? I hope to continue doing a lot of the same work I've already been doing most of the policies and practices that I implement in this work come from the community and come from the data as it comes out so I don't have like a plan now for all the things I want to do I'm just going to wait to see what the community wants and what the data tells us we should be doing and then do what I can to implement policies that will help to address those issues. And you had a pretty challenging primary race earlier this year did that change the way that you thought about running this campaign or the way that you think about your job in the state's attorney office? You know the the challenge that I faced was disinformation so I think that something I really want to focus on going forward is finding ways to be more accessible to the community to fact check things that they hear you know I've been thinking about setting up like a tip line or some way that people can call and ask if something they've heard is accurate what during the campaign something I did was get curious with Sarah George and they were like clips to sort of try to tackle some of the disinformation and people have asked that I continue doing that because they found those really helpful so I don't think that how I do the work will necessarily change but I do think how I interact with the community will. Thanks so much Sarah back to you guys Studio A. Thank you. Thank you. You know my son I got a kick out of hearing uh hearing trucking uh because that's become something we played every one of my elections an election night I think the first time they thought maybe play it because I may be trucking out of there because I wasn't supposed to win but it has been so wonderful to do it Marcel and I have enjoyed all these years seeing all of you here and back a couple months ago I'm not going anywhere oh good the uh after after a month in the hospital with myself taking care of me teaching me how to walk again I'm glad she's here but uh about two or three years ago we started thinking about where where this is going what would be the legacy I felt one it was time we wanted to go we figured out between primaries and general election of state's attorney and senate I've been on the ballot and but want 24 times and that should be enough for most people and uh and so leave me up for mine and as announced a year ago that we're going to go home and be back home have more time with children and grandchildren but I also saw the way the country is going and I this is not a plug but I wrote a book just to finish a couple months ago called the path taken and I've talked about the downward arc of much of what we've counted on both Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Senate and how badly it's gone and I'm worried about that for the future we saw in January 6th an example of the worst aspect of that the one thing that gave me hope at all during this time is watching who would be the next senator I'm not I don't want somebody to be a rubber stamp or be a duplicate I want somebody to have Vermont values Peter Welch has those values and he's our next senator I was talking to you earlier this evening every time during his past two months the senators whether they're running for reelection or just watching elections have asked me what is Peter Welch like I said you could not ask for a better senator I don't care what party you're in you couldn't ask for a better senator because he has the true value as I pointed out in the book and as I learned he keeps his word you can trust him he cares about our state of Vermont now I gotta admit my first campaign was called the children's crusade we had all these young volunteers including this young new attorney down the far western uh our eastern side of the state brother and Windsor County called Peter Welch look who Peter Welch is every single one of you on January 3rd and noon when Peter stands there and takes the oath of office you could say Vermont all of us we're in good hands a lot of states aren't going to be able to say that for Monk Ken for Monk and say with Peter Welch so Marcel and I want to welcome Peter and Margaret up here this is our future I'm like what I keep let's hear it again for Patrick and Marcel Irish family it is a big family thank you all so much first of all I want to thank my wife Margaret and these are like everybody behind me is the big Irish family and friends begun to misbehave my campaign manager thank you and our whole campaign staff which is the best in the entire country I want to thank again and I can't stop thanking him enough Patrick Leahy and his wife Marcel peers of service with integrity with honesty with standing up for democracy every single day of those 48 years Patrick and Marcel thank you so much and Bernie Sanders my partner for 16 years Bernie was so shy and so holding back that it took him one hour to endorse me after I announced Bernie thank you very much for that endorsement you know it's it it's a it's an extraordinary time in our democracy we know that we're excited about the outcome of the election here for the U.S. Senate but this election is in the shadow of what happened on January 6th and as we are here today celebrating this moment there's votes being cast there's votes being counted but it's uncertain whether all election results will be accepted and I was there when the Capitol was attacked and the shot was fired and the doors were broken down and everyone was dismayed because this election unlike any other election has democracy right front and center on the ballot in our mission here in Vermont is to restore and defend and protect the democracy that we a lot of people have asked me Peter you know how do you do it or how can we all do it after what happened on January 6th and you know the answer to that we don't pick the times we're in we don't pick the challenges those times present the choice we make is to face those challenges whatever they may be that's what we do and you know I have so much confidence that we for monitors will do that again and our example will be a beacon of hope for the rest of the country look at our history no look at our collective history this is all of us ours was the first state the first state in its constitution to ban slavery country was driven by the civil war it was Vermonters more than any other by population who enlisted in the union cause to save our union and to ban and abolish slavery and in the midst of that with all those challenges it was a predecessor of Patrick Leahy Justin Morrill who created the land grant college where there was a fundamental commitment to the educational opportunity of everyday people for monitors who wanted to get ahead and you know when it came to the question of whether every citizen should have the opportunity to marry the person that that person loves it was the Vermont General Assembly with Republicans and Democrats who said the law of this state is you have the right to marry the person you love fast for Patrick Leahy preceded by George Akin who said it all when he said about Vietnam a war that was misguided was tearing our country apart causing heartbreak and loss of life said we should declare victory and come home and who was the senator that succeeded him and cast his first vote to end funding for the Vietnam War that was Patrick Leahy we've seen in our history is that we don't pick the problems we face the problems and you know some folks think it's like a farmer farms in the weather that the farmer wants no way it's the weather you have and it's the problems we have and a big problem and a challenge we face is democracy and we are going to face it and you know what's also special about Vermont it's the way we do democracy it's the small d democracy it's mutual respect it's humility that understands that a person that you disagree with maybe even vietnam elite is most likely guided by the same aspiration you have to make this a better state we understand that listening is more important than talking and that by having an approach where we seek the common ground for the common good we can make a better and more just society so i gotta tell you i am so excited about the challenges ahead in how we can face them and i'm looking forward to doing that with who i know will be our next member of congress becca ballot the first woman to represent us in becca in bernie and i are going to be there in the way all verminers want to be there we know that this state that fought for marriage equality we know that this state that stood up to joe mccarthy when he was trying to take our way our civil liberties we know that this state that banned slavery in its original constitutional document we know that this state offers america hope for the future and with the vermont way we can be successful and face the challenges that are before us and i am so excited to be your representative in the united states senate to take those vermont values to washington thank you i want to say that it's incredible to see this amazing family of blood relatives but so yes actually let's give them all a cheer but guess what peter has a much larger family than that we are all family to peter welch in this room he could not be more excited to be sending our vermont brother to the us senate so thank you thank you we are now in a little bit of a waiting period so everybody go refresh your drink chit chat we will be back very soon as soon as we have more results thank you very much studio a i'm joined here with berlington mayor morrow wineburger who um he's so much studio a i'm joined tonight here at hula with berlington mayor morrow wineburger morrow this is a great night for for vermont we've had a vote on two really significant constitutional questions we just a few moments ago we saw senator lehi kind of hand off the torch to center elect welch both of them are men i've worked with a known since i was a kid worked for a long time and uh we've just elected the first woman to congress from vermont so that's sort of the overall tenor and then on top of that we've gotten some very good news that berlingtonians and peers have decisively come down in favor of building a new high school which uh yeah i'm very excited about you can definitely feel the excitement here tonight and with uh six out of eight berlington wards reporting on that berlington high school bond vote um it's looking likely that it will pass and now um how what does this mean for berlington residents well it means that we've got an answer to really one of the biggest challenges we have you know we a city certainly a great city like berlington needs a permanent high school the district has done a great job uh working with it with the state really being very resourceful to set up a temporary high school upon the decision that that the old high school had to be abandoned um but that was everyone knew that was you know my daughter goes there that's a it's a temporary situation we need a 21st century high school for for our students and um i certainly i and i think everyone involved in this uh i was very conscious that we were bringing this forward to voters at a challenging economic time when we're experiencing inflation unlike anything we've seen in in years when there's just great financial uncertainty and in that context it is really remarkable i think uh that and very clear where berlington's values are that they have come down decisively uh in favor of making this investment in in a in a permanent high school that's great now and really quickly what's the next steps for berlington high school now that the bond has passed yeah well that's a great point it's the the the work is far from done i mean what this does mean is that the design and construction teams of course can move forward full speed to try to be in construction to be in construction by next fall which is their goal um what it also means is that uh the the school district the commissioners city counselors and i are very committed to making good on what we said to voters which is that we're going to continue to work very hard for the next three years as this building is being designed and constructed to do everything we can to bring down the ultimate cost to berlington taxpayers it would be really wrong for berlingtonians alone to have to pay for a what is it going to be a great regional facility serving hundreds of non-berlington students it would be wrong for berlingtonians alone to have to pay for these uh environmental cleanup costs which you know the berlingtonians weren't the ones that made this pollution so we have a lot of work ahead but uh what's very exciting coming out of tonight is to know that this project is going to get done and it is our kids are going to have a great 21st century high school uh for for the decades ahead well thank you very much mayor morrow looking forward to seeing uh those next steps play out with the high school thank and thank you so much back to you studio a privilege to introduce a champion for all of monitors and our very soon to be senior senator senator bernie sanders well on behalf on behalf of my wife jane everybody knows my entire family that is scattered around here uh we just want to thank pat lehy for his years of dedication and service to our state i am delighted more than delighted to have as a new colleague in the senate peter welch i am confident it's going to do a great job and before the evening is out i am confident becker ballant will be our new congresswoman i don't have to tell anybody here that these are tough times for our country we are fighting to make sure that it is women who control their own bodies not the government we are fighting for our kids and grandchildren so that the planet that they live in will be healthy and habitable because we're going to take on the greed of the fossil fuel industry transform our energy system and we're here tonight to remind trump and his friends that in a democracy sometimes you lose elections hey trump you lost that election and at a time when over 60 percent of our people nationally are living paycheck to paycheck when 85 million americans have no health insurance when bright young kids can't afford to go to college when we pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs when a half a million americans are homeless what we are saying right now is we are prepared to take on the billionaire class and create an economy that works for all not just the few we are all proud that vermont has a long history a history of fighting for justice whether it's racial justice whether it is social justice whether it is environmental justice or economic justice and i am confident that with peter alongside with me in the senate and becker in the house we are going to become a model for what this country can be in terms of fighting for ordinary people not just the people on top so let me thank all of you not only for the work you have done to help elect peter and becker but to understand the struggle continues tomorrow and the day after and the day after we are taking on enormously powerful forces but the stakes are enormous we're fighting for the future of our kids jane and i have seven grandchildren we're fighting for our grandchildren and your grandchildren let's go forward together let's do it some a very important issue that senator bernie sanders addressed i want to announce some very important incredible news which is that prop five the reproductive liberty amendment has passed all deserve to applaud yourselves because so many of you stepped up and knocked on doors and went to rallies and contributed and talked to your neighbors and made sure that people were not bamboozled by the ridiculous you know falsehoods we heard and this just makes me very very proud of all of us so congratulations that's great and now i have to say that it is election night as we know and i wish i had more control than i do but i don't so guess what we're going to take a little break while we wait for some more results so enjoy yourselves thanks thank you so much jordan and christine i'm joined with kate logan who's just been elected as a burlington state representative kate how are you i feel great um we knew it was an uncontested race uh we worked really hard in the primary this summer to secure our spot knew that we were going uncontested into the general but it still feels great to know that um i'll be going in as one of the most progressive legislators to ever serve the old north end in downtown of brilington in the legislature that's wonderful um and looking forward to this next biennium what are you hoping to accomplish well a lot of what i hope to accomplish in the next biennium depends on what happens across the state in all 150 house seats i've worked as an advocate in the state house for years and have worked really hard on issues where the governor vetoed uh the legislation that we were able to pass and more often than not we weren't able to overturn the governor's veto and um and it looks like we're going into another biennium with governor scott um as our governor and so i'm really interested i'm looking to see what happens in all of the other house races and in the senate to know what the composition is and the general political orientation but in general i think that we need to move really aggressively to a more equitable and sustainable economy kind of across the board child care education from birth to college healthcare um energy you name it if it's something that um working people are struggling to pay for housing um on a daily basis then vermont should be doing more just like every other state in the country needs to do right now while we're struggling um at the federal level to get all the stuff that we know we need and is there anything else you'd like your constituents to know i would love my constituents to know that they can reach me at my website www kateloganforhouse.com you can find my email address and my social media there um i would love you to sign up to um for my social media and my email list so that i can communicate with you because when it comes time to make a decision in the legislature and take testimony on issues that are impacting the people in the chitinon 16 district then i want to hear from you i'll be reaching out to you but i want you to reach out to me and i would love you to come visit the state house i've learned that there are many legislators who get elected to office who have never actually been to montpelier and visited the state house so i'd love to bring burlington to montpelier so that you can share your story on issues that matter to you in the state house that sounds great kate and we're looking forward to seeing how the rest of the races shake up and the steps that you take in the next biennium so thank you so much appreciate it back to you the studio way welcome back to hula and burlington uh with the vermont democrats i'm joined by tanya viehovsky who's a candidate for the vermont state senate in the chitinon central district tanya how would you describe the feeling in the room tonight the feeling in the room tonight is really excited i mean people i think are really excited to be sending our first woman congresswoman congressperson to washington and just i think really excited for all of the great opportunities we have to put good people in office so you served in the vermont house before this and now you're jumping to the senate can you describe a little bit about that decision to jump from the house to the senate and how your work might look a little bit different moving forward yeah absolutely i mean i so i served in the house which is 150 people and when the senate district were redrawn there was an immediate open seat and then when my mentor chris pierce and decided not to run again there was a second open seat and after a lot of conversation with him we sort of came to the conclusion that in order to continue to have a progressive voice in the house somebody needed to run for that seat and as a social worker i rely on relationships and it's a lot easier to build relationships with 30 people than it is to build them with 150 so i just felt like i would be able to do more for vermonters with my skillset in the senate and maybe walk phil chris pierce and shoes at least a little bit tanya behovsky candidate for vermont state senate thank you so much back to you guys in the studio we wished that some of these races had been called and they haven't been however i am now going to bring up my friend and one of vermont's fiercest advocates for all of us brenda seagull brenda fought an incredibly hard race and we could not be prouder of what she's done to stand up for vermonters in need to hold the governor accountable and to continue to be the fiercest advocate that we know you will continue to be on behalf of so many vermonters who you know count on your voice and your beliefs and your commitment thank you so much brenda on behalf of all of us good evening everyone i just spoke to the governor and congratulated him on his win i'm gonna start by saying that susan b anthony gave her whole life to the work of voting rights for women her whole life and then she died on the eve of its inevitability the work is about making progress fighting for us to have safer and stronger communities we all need to become brave enough to lose all of us one thing that stuck out to me throughout this race was how important it was not only that someone ran but that that person be someone with knowledge experience guts and most importantly the lived experience to make clear what we face what is going wrong and what work we all have to do all of us have to do to make it better as public figures and elected leaders we can get lost in outcomes or wins but the outcomes that matter most are if we get housing to all vermonters if we begin to make change across the finish line for strong bold action for climate adequate child care and if we stop burying our children from overdose and suicide at some point in this campaign i turned to my team and i said let's fight like hell to win but also let's fight like hell to win on the issues because losing on the issues is not an option for me be 100 without fail one on the issues and we did not just win we knocked it out of the park beyond compare not there being the drum when v-wrap and e-wrap was cut off without notice if i had feared at all speaking truth to power when this administration was ready to cause harm we would not have found found 20 million dollars we would not have a new commissioner of dcf and we would not see a scramble to do something yet i was just at a meeting last night we ended this campaign just as we started it meeting with people experiencing homelessness so i was at a meeting with people utilizing the hotel program and through tears people told me they're immense fear of being dumped back in the street we have to do something i am talking to all of you we have to do something i'm not done and i need all of you standing with me and these folks are ready to tell their stories and we are going to help them do just that we broadcast that child care money wasn't getting out the door and now it is we used a megaphone about the needs of our downtowns we shared bravely and explicitly about the overdose crisis and the need for us to move forward we will get overdose prevention sites this year because we were not afraid and i am not done yet this year i will work with a legislator to introduce a comprehensive bill on the overdose crisis and with all of your help we will get it done i want to turn to the 845 families because this is personal who lost loved ones and promise you that your loved ones will not die in vain we will fix this for other families no matter how long it takes and in that 845 families included was my nephew kaya seagal and while i have the platform i want to turn to my dad who's here tonight and say though i was there i can't imagine what it was like to bury your first son and your first grandson and i say to you that they will not die in vain i won't let them we talked about climate and the clean heat standard and corrected the record on that and we drove home the need for the build on in-state renewable energy and we are going to get some serious climate action this year we have shown throughout this entire race is that vermonters are worth fighting for and that there are a lot of wins even in a long shot race we ran an incredible truly tireless though we are tired but tireless relentless disciplined tenacious campaign and we did absolutely everything we could we left all of it on the field i want to start though by thanking my staff page diana shopman my campaign manager who's home with covid long covid shanae chase clifford who is the who is the master of debate prep and you all saw me absolutely crush it in debates right and and also thank you becca white and kate lap for debate prep as well chris lamb who is an og staffer and did a lot for data finance call time and filled in all the gaps zoey flag olay who came in at the end to do admin admin work nick clark who was our pinch hitter when we needed him and there's one person i want to shout out and thank who needs no introduction but mira macy and it was a rocky start but anyone on the team will tell you that she is now my champion staffer she is my right hand woman she did so much and she learned all of it on the job thank you all for the absolutely incredible job on a tough race i want to say about them that they also took on this same risk the same one i did they did it anyways they rose anyways and we need to recognize recognize how hard that is to do not just for me but also for them and trust me it is hard i also want to say that there's some special champions in this race you all know who you are you came out early for us you kept showing up my whole team noticed when you showed up special big ups to governor howard dean and and all of the legislators who championed this race and all of my supporters who believed in a vermont where all can feel loved and supported it may not have been the outcome we wanted but it was way better than most imagined and we nailed down the things that mattered most to vermonters because of all of you we will get those things across the finish line this session or in the coming sessions and that's no small triumph it is in fact huge my most important thank yous are to my family my dad who has stood by me every step of the way my mom who quietly sent me emails and texts and phone calls of encouragement but didn't ever ask for a return call and the one who deserves the most praise is ajna segal my son it is not easy when for our kids when we run for office it is not easy for them when we don't have the outcomes we want but ajna has shown up at events stood behind me been in a commercial and held debate watch parties and as of today he has show he has a tattoo in my logo that he showed me when he got here that was his gift to me i didn't know about it he championed his mama ajna segal i love you you see together we are stronger the work is hard it is long it is lonely but it is worth it and i hope that what i leave you with what i leave you all with is that tomorrow we must get up stand strong and fight another day we have accomplished so much together and we will accomplish so much more i said over and over again throughout the race that this is a tough fight but it is not even close to the toughest one i've had to face in my life and i'm still standing and believe me when i say i am still standing now and ready to keep pushing forward to those of you that are fearful of loss and so don't see the point in trying words i heard at times we have to try please join me and all of us to go forward to all of you in vermont who have to get up and fight anyways even though it's hard like i always have i promise i am going nowhere to every vermontter who said that i was their only hope to me thank you but that is simply not the truth we are all each other's only hope together we have got this let's keep moving we elected the most historic slate in the history of vermont the most women the most lgbtqia folks the most people of color we did that together for my race i'm not gonna lie this and my team this is a tough moment but it is in no way a loss just look at what we did together it's really quite something thank you vermont and i am nowhere near done yet i am only just getting started brenda you may not have gotten the votes we wanted you to get but you are a winner for so many thousands of vermonters and as you said you fought harder fights and you will continue to fight those fights and we vermonters are so fortunate to have you and so many folks who live in the margins you are in their corner and you will be fighting for them from now on thank you so much brenda it is now my great listen up everybody because you're not going to want to miss this it is now my great pleasure to bring up elizabeth wall who is the wife of beca ballant elizabeth i know you're here very good you have to come up quickly i'm gonna start talking because i can't wait thank you thank you so much for the introduction you all don't want to hear from me so i will be as brief as i possibly can when beca first told me that she wanted to run to represent windham county in the vermont senate our kids were three and six and she said it's really a bad time the kids are little what if it doesn't work what if and i and i said to her beca you've always wanted to do this you believe that this is what you want to do it's always going to be a bad time it's never going to get easier they're going to be teenagers or they're going to be in college or you're going to get a different job and then i said besides you probably won't win you might as well try now and get your name out there i tell you this story because we don't win every race it is worth it to get out there and take a step do the thing that you're scared of do the thing that you believe in more than everything even when it feels like this is a terrible time to do this why am i doing this now you're doing it now because it matters it doesn't have to be running for office it could be serving a town moderator it could be just watching the polls it could be babysitting someone else's kids so they can watch the polls but i want you to think about i'm so grateful to see all of you here it's amazing and i want you to think about what is the thing that is hard or scary or inconvenient because this is our work not just tonight and not just tomorrow and not just in two years but every day if we want this democracy to be what we know it can be it is my incredible honor to get to be the spouse of the first congresswoman from the state of vermont we're bringing the team up hello monitors thank you for your vote thank you for your confidence in me thank you for giving me this incredible honor and opportunity to serve the state that i love so much thank you thank you i just received a call from leon madden conceding the race i want to thank leon for his candidacy and for his service to our country we both share a deep commitment to vermont he's actually from my home county of windham county and i know he's going to continue to serve his community well so thank you leon for running it's important to run and of course i have to give so much credit to the best congressional delegation in the whole country which is the vermont delegation i meet a lot of people from across the nation and legislatures from other states and they say you are so lucky you've got the giant of the senate patrick lehi of course as we know unparalleled service to vermont we've got peter welch who has been a mentor and a friend to me who's going to help me succeed in the house yeah it is and of course bernie sanders who's been the conscience of the nation and i was so so honored to have his support it really gave us so much energy in the home stretch so thank you to all of those men who have served us so well i can't wait to be a colleague with the senior and junior senator from vermont thank you so i'm i'm standing here with my family and my team because tonight we reaffirm that vermont and the nation is still a place where anything is possible we are all still capable of change and promise and progress and tonight after 231 years vermonters are sending a woman to congress so so thank you to my incredible campaign team for hard work and hustle and commitment and joy so much joy i know everybody says this but it's true the best campaign team in politics i thank you thank you for your deep commitment to vermont and to this movement this movement of so many people here in vermont i want to thank also my incredible campaign manager natalie silver as natalie and i like to say we're we're two scrappy little broads watch out and i want to just thank most sincerely my my close friend and advisor julia barnes so julia barnes i thank you for believing in me and for helping me to believe that it was possible for us to do this incredible thing together thank you thank you and of course thank you so much to my family to my parents to my siblings to my extended family but most of all to my spouse elizabeth and our two kids abe and sarah who are with me tonight we we always said in our family that running for congress was really a family project it's not just about one person and it really is it is is a project and the three of us have made three of you excuse me there are actually four of us yes you can tell it's been a year i'm a little tired the three of you have made incredible sacrifices to get me to this place and being in politics is incredibly lonely at times it's really lonely but it's not work that's done alone it's done in a team and we are a very tight team in this family team balance wall you are my rock you are my refuge i honestly could not be here without you thank you so i have said over and over on this campaign that this is a time for courage i know i know so many of us feel like these are such dark times and it's so easy to be cynical about politics but if we those of us on the stage if we had believed the conventional wisdom if we had believed that change was impossible i would not be standing here tonight so take note and take heart vermont is a place where kindness and integrity and courage matter vermont is a place where the daughter of an immigrant dad and a working class mom can be the first woman and the first gay person to represent vermont in the us house of representatives so there are so so many brave women leaders who gave me the courage and the hope over my lifetime to do this and those strong women who have come before me have helped me to feel like i could possibly have a life in politics and you know some of their names they're incredible women like Shirley Chisholm and Ann Richards and Bella Abzug and Geraldine Ferraro and someone you may not have heard of but whose name i need to bring into the room tonight her name was Elaine Noble she was the first openly gay person to run for a legislature in the united states it was 1975 it was massachusetts state house she experienced so much hatred and discrimination and when i learned of her race and her victory there was this little part of me that thought maybe maybe maybe someday she's still alive and i just want us to remember that it's people like Elaine Noble who did this at a time when it was incredibly dangerous to do so that enabled me to run today and another another hero of mine is congresswoman Barbara Jordan who i know many of you know she was the first black woman elected to the texas senate and the first black woman who was elected from the south to represent uh in the us house of representatives she said this of our nation we are a people in a quandary about the present we are a people in search of our future we are a people in search of a national community that is still true now we are a people in search of a national community i've been all over the state during this campaign everywhere i go every town every meet and greet somebody will say to me becca i don't want to hate my neighbors i don't want to fear my neighbors i want to live in a community where we can talk to each other again so if you feel this way in this crowd you're not the only one feeling that way thousands of vermonters are feeling that way and i know thousands of people across the country are feeling this way we cannot continue to demonize each other we have to stop and really see each other see how much we share even when we disagree even when we hear hateful words every parent regardless of their political party worries about their kids futures every working family right now is anxious and uncertain about how they're going to make ends meet we're all afraid for the planet all of us we're afraid for the freedoms that we hold dear and those fears are justified and i know congressman welch spoke to this early oh senator elect senator elect so so as as senator elect welch said earlier we know what's at stake it's not just the next two years this is going to take a long time to write this ship we gotta dig deep we gotta find our courage we have to find our strength we have to lift each other up because even if we get good news in the midterms the work is not over we have a democracy to save so so yes yes this is a time for great courage it's a time for leaders who are courageous enough to say that our politics do not work for regular people this is a time for leaders to fight as hard for other people's right to vote as they fight for their reelection this is a time for us to end the politics that fuel corporate greed this is a time for us to rebuild the middle class and bring us together this is a time to say that affordable healthcare and stable housing for all will make us a stronger nation not a weaker one but most of all my challenge your challenge the challenge of all of us is to have the everyday courage that will knit us back together as a nation we have to listen truly to each other even when we disagree not so that we can just argue but so we can truly understand where somebody is coming from let's have the courage to listen with compassion but to also speak with conviction let's have also the courage to know what's non-negotiable and let's have the courage to know when we're actually wrong and we need to change our view that takes real courage so a lot of Vermonters ask me why I still have hope why am I running for congress at this time I feel so dark why do I see the light despite all the obstacles I'm hopeful because of people who came before me like Shirley Chisholm and Bella Abzug I'm hopeful because of Ann Richards and Geraldine Ferraro and Barbara Jordan and Elaine Noble I'm hopeful because those courageous leaders made it possible for me to be here tonight and honestly I'm hopeful because I never thought I'd be standing here really it was a pipe dream I didn't know anyone in politics my parents didn't know anyone in politics it seemed like such a strange notion to think I could run for office someday but we did it we did it because of thousands and thousands of Vermonters who stood with us gave us five bucks 10 bucks 15 bucks made thousands and thousands of calls I think we made 535,000 calls and we we knocked on thousands of doors and we believed that we could reject cynicism and believe in each other and believe in a grassroots movement that could be fierce and joyful the Wyndham County Senate seat for the first time because I refused to accept that the richest nation in the world that the richest nation in the world could not take care of working families could not house them could not feed them could not give them healthcare I had kids in my own classroom who I know were we're living in tents or in cars whose parents were struggling with addiction I still believe that we have to turn towards each other in our communities that's how that's how we're gonna find our way through for each other and for our communities when we started out in this race we were down in the polls we didn't have a lot of money we didn't have a lot of endorsements but we never stopped believing that if we pulled people together and ran an authentic genuine race where people could see what I was about that they would come to us because they wanted something different this campaign has proved that incredible power of connection we are craving it we're a nation that is fraught with loneliness and disconnection this campaign renewed my hope in the power and the spirit that comes from truly seeing one another and listening deeply and being joyful together I know that Vermonters believe that politics can be different that's why we won that's why we won I give you give you my word tonight that I will not back down from hard fights in Washington I will carry your hopes and your wishes and your stories with me I will stay rooted in our communities here in Vermont and I will work for our most vulnerable neighbors every single day thank you I will do this I will be able to do this because I know you will be standing with me this past month has been incredible people stopping me at the store at the bank at the post office saying we're with you you're going down you're doing this hard thing thank goodness you want to do it because I don't want to do it I heard that more and more and more or what's wrong with you or you're too tiny to do it all the things I heard all the things but I will be able to do it because of the belief you've had in this campaign you believe in this movement because we're fighting for climate action we're fighting for universal health care we're fighting for livable wages for reproductive rights for the safety of our trans and queer neighbors for racial equity for common sense gun laws for families across the state you want a better life for their kids and grandkids for a nation finally as good as its promise so so please please have courage stand firm be compassionate find hope and nurture it we need this of each other our nation depends on this our future depends on this we must give each other the courage to do all of this important work together thank you and I have a very big announcement to make but I'm just going to build this suspense up here while my members get on stage Mike McCarthy everyone so well a couple others are coming up I just need to start by saying thank you we would not be able to do this with all of the heart and soul in this room all of the volunteers all of the campaign staff all of our former members our retiring members thank you so much for your support so we have been working incredibly hard and I am so proud of all these candidates up here Jana Martin Mike Tom I mean look at this crew and I am so excited to share the news that we have a veto-proof majority when they go low we go high I wouldn't we would not be here if it wasn't for an incredible leadership team our majority leader Emily Long I had prepared remarks but I can't give them because I am just so thrilled at this amazing group of people that are going to be going to the state house in January on a mission to to make Vermont a better place for everyone this is the same crew that worked tirelessly to make sure that we are protecting reproductive rights and we passed prop five tonight so we're going to continue to do the work that Vermonus Vermonus asked us to do we're going to continue to work on affordable housing and child care we're going to take up we're going to take up paid family leave and we are going to do everything we can to make sure every Vermonur has a fair shot and no one is left behind no one we also wouldn't been able to do this without the incredible staff at the Vermont Democratic Party our House Campaign Director Cam my campaign manager Connor Kennedy so this is not the end this is just the beginning of our journey as we head back to Montpelier and take up these critical issues to make sure that we leave no Vermonur behind again thank you from the bottom of my heart every one of you has contributed to this effort in helping us get this crew elected so thank you so much what a legislative session we're in for wow the unstoppable democratic house thank you Jill thank you leadership thank you staff this is a really a wonderful wonderful outcome for all of us and for all Vermonurs next I need your attention next we're going to hear from another of Vermont's amazing women leaders Alison Clarkson Majority Leader of the Senate come on up this is the woman who rocks this is the woman we all need to thank tonight and Lisak our astonishing chair of the Vermont Democratic Party thank you Anne does this work okay ladies and gentlemen the Senate is up here Senator or Senators one two three four who are we missing is there anybody else pull up our Senators any other Senators out there or Senate elects okay great Alison Clarkson and I just want to say the Vermont Democratic Party rocks fabulous night and we are an astonishing team and I want to first be so thankful to the party that has helped really establish a working team for the Senate Democrats who have it looks like we're going to be plus one all our results are not going to be in until tomorrow but we have we first and foremost want to thank our current incumbents who have all run terrific races it looks like hopefully everyone will be back we're we're living in hope on a couple and we are the numbers are looking good and we are hoping that we will be maybe even plus one which is very exciting so we we are also a veto proof majority in the Senate global warming bring on everything that we need to do bring on all the work that we need to do so first and foremost we have two we have two things to chat about one is our astonishing senate democratic caucus director Sally short who has done an amazing job this is the first time in a very long time that we have had a full-time senate caucus democratic caucus director and it is just exciting what we can do when we have somebody working recruiting with us raising money with us working with our candidates and look at this astonishing field of candidates we've raised although very few of them are here they're we have an incredible field this year and we're very proud of them second I just want to say that we have the an example of how well this great group of people work together is in how we are holding our arms around our teammate mark mcdonald in orange county it he is he is he's recovering astonishingly well he is now in full rehab basic training mode and he is going to be back in in great shape but this is a group that pulled together to canvas raise money call go door to door put in those ads letters to the editor make it happen and this we made we have really worked hard to make all these races happen and to bring back a veto proof majority in the senate so thank you senators so I think I think I think we're we're thrilled we're ready to work we're still waiting as we're still waiting so thank you all it's great to see you thank you it's uh getting late I think it's time to uh bring up some more statewide candidates what do you think is there a treasurer elect in the house Mike p check I want to say that Mike not only ran a fabulous race but he was Mike I want to stay with him here I want to say Mike you ran an amazing statewide race but you were also the most incredible team player working hard for every other candidate and we were able to count on you to come through so many times in so many ways and I just can't wait to have you be our state treasurer congratulations well good evening everybody thanks for hanging with us thanks for staying late but good things come to those who wait I guess I'm very excited about our victory really excited that Vermonters put their trust in our race and in myself to lead the treasurer's office forward I'm really looking forward to what we can do in Montpelier getting back to work for Vermonters it's really exciting really looking forward to it but I want to thank someone who's really special to Vermont who's put two decades of service into Vermont and Vermonters that's current treasurer Beth Pierce that is a tough act to follow I tried following her in a speech the other day and didn't go so well she's just not only is she a great treasurer but she's a great comedian as well she's a great she's just a lot of fun so I also want to thank will my partner for being there with me it's really an honor to be elected with Becca to be two LGBTQ plus candidates elected from Vermont and and Becca pointed out some really terrific national leaders in the LGBTQ community but I have to point out representative Bill Lippert who's here who has been a leader in the community for decades and I got us I mean Bill you just you made it so easy for for someone like me to be able to run and be open and it's just amazing and I owe that to you and I just am so appreciative of you and everybody else that did so much hard work to get us to where we are in Vermont over the decades so thank you so much and then I just want to thank my campaign team so we have our campaign manager that got us through the primary uncontested so that one was but Isaac Dano thank you very much Isaac our campaign manager that got us through the general David Cunin thank you very much David Colazar who drove me what 25,000 miles to every town in Vermont so thank you very much and Ryan Taggart as well from Brattleboro thank you so much Ryan and thank you so much everybody this is a pleasure look forward to celebrating with you later tonight thank you so much folks we are not done because I am very pleased to introduce our next incredibly energetic committed excited ready to go secretary of state Sarah Copenhansis you guys have been here all night long and we've been waiting for this moment for I don't know like four hours right I want to say first and foremost I am so proud of Vermont I'm proud of Vermont right now yes exactly so I'm proud of Vermont because at a time when other states around this country are putting barriers in front of people to vote are asking people to stand in long lines to wait to vote are saying you are not registered to vote on this day Vermont over the past 10 years under secretary Jim condos has been expanding voter access has been making it easier for people to vote because we believe we believe living in a democracy that it should be your right to vote and we should not be putting states are putting arbitrary barriers in front of people and their right to vote and we here in Vermont are giving a resounding no we are saying in a democracy everyone should be able to vote everyone's vote should be counted and everybody should have the confidence to know that at the end of the day when the race is called the winner is the winner so we've got a lot of really good things to stand on because of what secretary condos has done over the last decade with automatic voter registration with same-day voter registration now with with universal vote by mail we have more that we can build on we can make sure that when you get your ballot you also get a voter guide so that you know how to look up the candidate whose values most closely match your own we have more that we can do in terms of educating people on civics helping them understand how the democratic process works so that when when you hear stories or you see a social media post about a stolen election you can say not in my state because I know how elections work in Vermont and we have safe and secure elections because we have 250 something town clerks who are standing there to make sure that your vote counts so I need to give a little shout out to my campaign team I've had a whole crew of folks who've been helping me along the way they're sort of standing over in this part of the world here so thank you Lizzie thank you Nick thank you to my family who's standing in the zoom with my husband John Vermont is at this moment pushing back against what's happening in other parts of the country we are pushing back because we are saying that in a democracy in a democracy the point is that your vote counts and I am so proud of Vermont tonight for standing up and saying no to the election deniers no to the people who would put barriers in front of your right to vote and saying yes to democracy we have so much more work that we can do and I'm looking forward to doing that with you have a good night I am so excited to introduce Vermont's first elected woman attorney general charity Clark who has gone all around the state and has expressed to us the kind of energy and commitment that you are going to bring to this job which is just going to be fantastic you're gonna make us very proud charity thank you hopefully you can hear me um you know it was 1790 when the first Vermont attorney general was sworn in and it was 1902 when the first woman was admitted to the Vermont bar and it was 2022 when Vermont elected a woman attorney general to be that woman fills me with humility commitment and love of our state Vermont the greatest place on earth in this campaign I have seen all the good that's being done in our communities caring for each other creating jobs building a world I want to live in and be a part of I have also seen the work that needs to be done and after eight years at the attorney general's office I know the work and I can't wait to get started on reproductive rights on protecting the environments on fighting for consumers and families on reforming our criminal justice system across the country there are a lot of really important races happening tonight and we don't know how this night is going to end but state attorneys general play a critical role on the national stage and I will make sure that Vermont's voice is heard in this historic moment I want to shout out to those quiet unspoken workers behind every mother who ever shattered a glass ceiling and that is child care workers I would not be standing before you today without the skill the dedication and the care of Kylie Caroline Christina Emily Sally Jenna Megan and Earl thank you for taking care of my baby so I could go work at the attorney general's office I also want to thank my incredible team and all of the volunteers my family and friends who campaigned alongside me these last six months thank you finally I want to dedicate this moment to the girls of Vermont like my daughter and yours who have never seen an attorney general elected who looked like them when I was nine years old Governor Madeline Cunan came to my town for green up day and it made a huge impression on me I learned that Vermont was special to have a lady governor these almost 40 years later Vermont is one of only a handful of states to have never elected a woman attorney general until tonight so I will close by just saying Vermont we did it thank you Vermonters have chosen to bring back Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman and I want to say what a pleasure it has been to work with you David you have been such a great partner in this and I so look forward to having you just a phone call and email away as you have been all the campaign thank you so much so I'd love to hear what you have to say come on up so I'm going to start by inviting up my team but also any of the representatives elect that are still here any of the senators are elected are still here I think this is the wrap up and I think everybody deserves to be recognized for their hard work their campaigns and their victories tonight so come on up I want to first thank my family who can't be here tonight Rachel had had COVID and is suffering from Lyme disease as well and it's just too exhausting to be out this late and my daughter is doing amazing job with play rehearsal prep which is Saturday and they are up too late too and I want to thank my campaign team Lisa Gerlach who's here somewhere campaign manager and Sarah Scortino who is my field director Martha Abbott who has been an incredible standby for me for 25 almost 30 years in politics and all the amazing volunteers I have grassroots volunteers all over the state who without their help this would not be a reality so thanks to the whole team I also want to thank all the folks who have run for this office Charlie Kimball Patricia Preston Kitty Toll and of course my current opponent Joe Benning I think across the board decent solid positive campaigns are run in the Vermont tradition I think that's true across the board we can hold our heads high in Vermont in this era of negative campaigning thank you to all my opponents throughout this campaign I've highlighted the economic stress Vermonters are facing the anxiety of the economic stress combined with the anxiety of our planetary climate crisis is weighing folks down our democracy and the breakdown of our democracy and respectful discourse of people with different political differences is weighing people down people are tired we need leaders who are willing to step up and meet these huge challenges we're facing right now and today voters made that choice I'm honored to be standing here with all of these newly elected officials and I of course want to also give a shout out to Brenda Siegel who really fought a strong hard race please give it up for Brenda I also want to express appreciation and congratulations to Democrats and progressives throughout the House and Senate where we are gaining numbers it's incredible I want to add a couple remarks about our new representative to Congress Becca Ballant I had the pleasure absolutely I had the pleasure of serving with Becca in the Senate for two years and with her as she moved to leadership positions when I was lieutenant governor for four years and Becca brings an amazing skill set together to be the voice for all of us in the Vermont House she's incredibly smart and has an impeccable memory she's a thoughtful deep listener and if she does not know something she digs in and asks questions to learn more she's incredibly respectful she views issues in the moment and for the long term all of these and more are the skills and traits that Vermont deserves and can be proud of in our first US congresswoman really excited we are sending a leader who will challenge the status quo and the imbalance of power which currently protects the wealthy and the powerful and she will work very hard to help make a difference for the rest of us and with tonight's results in my election and the election of these other great wide great statewide candidates and the gains in the House and the Senate the choice that Vermonters made on these issues is very clear they chose the message that we should do everything we can to help tackle the climate crisis and do that while using progressive resources to help our poor and working class for monitors make the transition to cleaner energy cleaner energy use while lowering their bills they made the choice that we have to plan for the future and invest more in affordable housing so that everyday working people and young families can afford to live here absolutely they made a choice voters made a choice that we need to invest in childcare to support our children and working families and unleash as many as 5000 more people into the workforce to help our businesses that are struggling to meet the needs that we have they made a choice Vermont voters with these amazing folks up here that we have to do more about gun safety while maintaining our traditions they made a choice they made a choice that progressives and democrats can and must work together to expand economic opportunities for vermonters including investing in education and making trade schools more accessible they made a choice to expand the house majority so that critical bills to advance this agenda cannot be thwarted with a veto pen they made a choice to stand for our rights and reproductive liberties no matter what happens in washington voters made a choice to remove any allowance for indentured servitude in our constitution they made a choice to work towards the health and recovery of vermonters facing addiction and substance abuse challenges they made a choice to go with the team again all these incredible leaders that want to address our broken healthcare system and move towards a universal healthcare system and they made a choice to stand up for paid family and medical leave and they want us to listen and we are we all listen and i want to introduce excuse me i talked to a guy in Brattleboro the other day and he came up and pointed out my sign not knowing who i was and he said this bleep bleep bleep bleep while he wants to help protect the environment it's going to be really hard for me as a senior on a fixed income to replace my boiler and furnace system for 30 or 40 thousand dollars and that's going to hurt those of us on a fixed income and he went on for a bit and i let him voice the opinion and i said you have every right to be angry it is really hard for a lot of people but i want to give you the full picture i am someone who has fought for those issues and to make sure we work to raise the resources so that folks can have that upfront money and maybe pay it back with the savings because we can't put struggling vermoners in the bind between wanting to protect our environment and pay their bills and he stepped back remember how he started he stepped back and said you give me something to think about i'm going to tell my three sons to vote for you and i'm going to vote for you i've never in 25 years had something turned around in three minutes that fast but if we listen and we meet people where they are we can do this and i've been someone that's not only been speaking out about the climate crisis and economic injustice but within those five minutes he turned around and he's going to support us in our efforts on these issues we have to remember people are scared and as we work to solve their challenges we have to bring them into the conversation we have to make sure everyone's at the table and their concerns are heard before we're able to move forward with the solutions for everybody as before my office will be open to everyone whether you agree with me or disagreeing theme my office will help people through governance and their issues regardless of whether they vote for me or anyone else and i know i speak for everyone here that that's how we view our job as elected officials across the state and in those districts everybody is a constituent who deserves to be helped through the system i plan to travel to state and meet people where they are i'll work with students older folks and young people to help them find their voice in the system so that we have the tremendous opportunities to build the vermont that we want with clean water healthy soil resilient farms and resilient people we will work together to make this a place of hope and opportunity for all vermonters i want to thank the people of vermont for putting their trust in me to serve once again as your lieutenant governor and i look forward to rolling up my sleeves and serving vermonters to the best of my ability with this amazing team thank you very much let's do it vermont