Vermont
Vermont’s biggest Election Day winner? Phil Scott. – VTDigger
Vermont’s biggest election night winner was, by all accounts, Gov. Phil Scott.
The Berlin Republican was widely expected to cruise to a fifth two-year term — and cruise, he did. Scott won 71.6% of the gubernatorial vote on Tuesday, besting his Democratic challenger, South Burlington education consultant Esther Charlestin, by a more than 50-point margin.
That’s a new record for Scott, who has increased his margin of victory every two years since he was first elected in 2016. In 2022, he beat Democratic challenger and housing activist Brenda Siegel by 47 points.
Scott also exceeded his previous record for the greatest number of votes received: 266,438 this year, according to uncertified election results from the Vermont Secretary of State’s Office, compared to his previous record of 248,412 in 2020. Once again, he won at least a plurality of the gubernatorial vote in every Vermont municipality.
But Scott’s electoral success Tuesday night was not limited to his own contest. He also ushered a new class of down-ballot Republican allies into the Vermont Statehouse.
Frequently at odds with a Democratic supermajority in the House and Senate this past biennium, Scott hit the campaign trail this summer and fall to make the case to Vermont voters: For his agenda to succeed, they had to elect Republican allies to the Legislature.
“The governor made it clear right out of the gate that this campaign wasn’t about him. It was about the issues that he cares about, that we know Vermonters care about most: affordability, housing and public safety,” Scott’s campaign manager, Jason Maulucci, said after the election. “What we tried to do right from the get-go was convince voters that if they shared those priorities — which we were confident they did — it wasn’t enough just to vote for the governor. They needed to deliver him a more moderate and balanced Legislature.”
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It worked. On Tuesday, Republicans exceeded even their own highest expectations, flipping six of the Senate’s 30 seats from blue to red. They also flipped a net 17 House seats.
“We were overwhelmed by the response,” Maulucci said. Voters, he continued, “delivered to the governor his asks, and then some.”
Additionally, Vermonters made the rare move to oust a statewide incumbent. By a 1.6% margin, they elected Republican John Rodgers, a former Democratic state senator from Glover whom Scott had endorsed, over incumbent Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman, a Progressive/Democrat.
Rodgers largely worked from the same playbook as Scott, campaigning on affordability for average Vermonters. He was boosted — both in campaign appearances and with generous amounts of campaign cash — by Scott, who urged Vermonters to deliver him an ally in the Lieutenant Governor’s Office.
Again, it worked. When all was said and done, all but one down-ballot Republican Scott endorsed won on Tuesday.
“I think tonight’s success rests heavily on the shoulders of Gov. Scott and his willingness to spend political capital that he’s been building up for over a decade in a way that has been more generous than we’ve ever seen him before,” Paul Dame, the chair of the Vermont Republican Party, said Tuesday night.
From Scott’s election night party in Montpelier on Tuesday — even before the extent of Republicans’ success was fully realized — Dame said, “I don’t think we’ve had a night this good in 10 years.”
“In 2014, there was a backlash against a Democratic near-supermajority that pushed too far on single payer health without talking about the cost,” he said. “And I think we saw that mirrored almost identically in the clean heat standard, and we added on top of that property taxes.”
On the campaign trail, Scott and his endorsees hammered hard on Democrats for legislation like the clean heat standard, which Republicans said could raise heating bills for Vermonters, should it be fully enacted in 2025. And for this year’s ballooning property tax bills, Scott rested the blame on Democratic legislators for failing to rein in education spending.
Democrats pushed back on the governor’s rhetoric for months, saying this year’s annual yield bill — which raised property taxes statewide by an average rate of 13.8% — was must-pass legislation. To rewrite Vermont’s education funding structure would take more than one year, they argued. And as the governor railed against Democrats for failing to bring down tax rates, Democratic leaders asked of the governor: Where was his plan?
On Tuesday night, though, it became clear that Scott’s messaging prevailed, not theirs. David Glidden, the chair of the Vermont Democratic Party, said in an interview Wednesday that Scott “was very tightly on campaign messaging the entire time” when it came to talking about affordability.
While door-knocking around the state, Democrats found Vermont voters were still eager to talk about policies pertaining to the environment and reproductive health care, Glidden said. But on the top issue of affordability, he said, Democratic candidates failed to articulate an effective counterpunch to Scott’s rhetoric.
“The governor was really only ever hammering away at property taxes, and we didn’t have a strong counterpoint to that, which I think was one weakness,” Glidden said. “In the media environment, that one singular response from Democrats was never quite articulated.”
Addressing his staffers and political allies from the Associated General Contractors of Vermont’s warehouse in Montpelier Tuesday night, Scott delivered a victory speech that celebrated Republicans’ down-ballot success even more than his own personal victory.
“Vermonters voted and sent a clear message,” he said. “They voted for balance. They voted for moderation.”
They also voted, up and down the ballot, for Scott.
BOLTON, Vt. (WCAX) – A wrong-way driver was safely stopped on Interstate 89 overnight Sunday.
Vermont State Police say just before 12:30 a.m., they stopped the car near marker 77, near Bolton.
The driver, Denise Lear, 60, of Revere, was charged with driving under the influence and gross negligent operation.
Lear is expected in court Monday.
Copyright 2026 WCAX. All rights reserved.
Score: UAlbany 4, Vermont 14
Location: Virtue Field | Burlington, Vt.
Records: UAlbany (10-5, 5-1 America East) | Vermont (8-6, 4-1 America East)
Short Story: UAlbany women’s lacrosse fell to the Vermont Catamounts on Saturday afternoon.
Key Stats
- Grace Cincebox recorded a total of 14 saves with 13 goals allowed for a .565 save percentage.
- Ravan Marsell led the Great Danes with two points on one goal and one assist.
- Four different UAlbany players scored in the contest.
- Reggie Williams was the team’s leader with three ground balls.
- Delilah Mile caused a team high three turnovers.
How It Happened
- The Catamounts came out of the gates hard and heavy, scoring all three goals between both sides in the first quarter.
- Vermont would take an 8-0 lead in the second quarter before Amanda Williamson found the back of the net on a women-down goal to put the Great Danes on the board and make it 8-1.
- The Great Danes would allow one more goal in the first half to trail 9-1 after 30-minutes of play.
- Grace Cincebox would enter the half with 10 saves.
- Riley Forthofer started the Great Danes off in the second half to make it a 9-2 game, before Vermont put up three more goals to take a 12-2 lead entering the final quarter of play.
- Mya Carroll and Ravan Marsell both scored on back-to-back free-position goals to make it a 12-4 game.
- The Catamounts finished the game with two more goals to take the win 14-4.
Up Next
The Great Danes will next have a bye week and wait to see the outcome of next week’s Vermont vs UMass Lowell game to see who will host the America East Tournament.
Social Central: Stay up to date with UAlbany women’s lacrosse by following the team on Instagram (@UAlbanyWLax), Facebook (UAlbany Women’s Lacrosse), and X (@UAlbanyWLax) for all of the latest news and highlights throughout the year.
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Here’s another reason Vermont is the best New England state: It’s home to one of the top 5 happiest cities in the United States.
Plus, it has another within the top 15.
Massachusetts, on the other hand, doesn’t even break the top 50. Nor, does Connecticut or Rhode Island.
The personal finance website analyzed 182 of the largest cities in the country, and ranked Boston 63rd overall. Although the city is home to some of the nation’s top universities, high-ranking hospitals, and well-regarded companies, it didn’t break the top 50.
To get the rankings, WalletHub compared the cities using 29 metrics, including life-satisfaction index, depression rate, poverty rate, job security, and acres of parkland per 1,000 residents. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, and cities were assigned an overall happiness score.
Here’s a look at how the cities ranked.
South Burlington is No. 4 happiest city, Burlington is No. 11
South Burlington came on top for Vermont in WalletHub’s list of the happiest cities in the United States, ranking at No. 4. In scored very high for emotional and physical well-being coming in at the No. 4 spot, which made up for coming in No. 48 for community and environment. It was No. 9 for income and employment ranking. That gave it a total happiness of score of 70.15
Burlington wasn’t far behind at all, taking the No. 11 spot on the list and a happiness score of 67.54. It’s highest score was for income and employment ranking where it came second. It ranked No. 13 for community and environment and No. 21 for emotional and physical well-being.
Happiest cities in the US, per WalletHub
Here are the 25 happiest cities in the U.S., and their happiness scores, according to WalletHub’s 2026 list:
- Fremont, California – 74.09
- Bismarck, North Dakota – 73.11
- Scottsdale, Arizona – 71.36
- South Burlington, Vermont – 70.15
- Fargo, North Dakota – 69.36
- Overland Park, Kansas – 68.45
- Charleston, South Carolina – 68.44
- Irvine, California – 67.99
- Gilbert, Arizona – 67.96
- San Jose, California – 67.79
- Burlington, Vermont – 67.54
- Madison, Wisconsin – 66.35
- Columbia, Maryland – 66.28
- Chandler, Arizona – 65.69
- Seattle, Washington – 65.62
- Plano, Texas – 65.34
- San Francisco, California – 64.99
- Lincoln, Nebraska – 64.90
- Portland, Maine – 64.59
- Tempe, Arizona – 64.30
- San Diego, California – 64.30
- Raleigh, North Carolina – 63.47
- Peoria, Arizona – 63.38
- Durham, North Carolina – 62.84
- Huntington Beach, California – 62.80
Least happy cities in the US, per WalletHub
Here are the 25 least happy cities in the U.S., and their happiness scores, according to WalletHub’s 2026 list:
- Detroit, Michigan (#182 overall) – 29.55
- Memphis, Tennessee (#181 overall) – 34.39
- Shreveport, Louisiana (#180 overall) – 34.93
- Cleveland, Ohio (#179 overall) – 36.50
- Huntington, West Virginia (#178 overall) – 37.20
- Toledo, Ohio (#177 overall) – 37.21
- Augusta, Georgia (#176 overall) – 38.24
- Fort Smith, Arkansas (#175 overall) – 38.66
- Dover, Delaware (#174 overall) – 39.08
- Akron, Ohio (#173 overall) – 40.11
- Baltimore, Maryland (#172 overall) – 40.28
- Birmingham, Alabama (#171 overall) – 40.37
- Baton Rouge, Louisiana (#170 overall) – 40.47
- Columbus, Georgia (#169 overall) – 40.61
- Montgomery, Alabama (#168 overall) – 41.35
- Gulfport, Mississippi (#167 overall) – 41.65
- Charleston, West Virginia (#166 overall) – 42.18
- Jackson, Mississippi (#165 overall) – 42.60
- St. Louis, Missouri (#164 overall) – 43.53
- Knoxville, Tennessee (#163 overall) – 44.04
- Wilmington, Delaware (#162 overall) – 44.34
- Little Rock, Arkansas (#161 overall) – 44.48
- Mobile, Alabama (#160 overall) – 44.85
- New Orleans, Louisiana (#159 overall) – 45.19
- Tulsa, Oklahoma (#158 overall) – 45.33
Where New England cities ranked
Here are the 12 happiest cities in New England, and their happiness scores, according to WalletHub’s 2026 list:
- South Burlington, Vermont (#6 overall) – 70.15
- Burlington, Vermont (#11 overall) – 67.54
- Portland, Maine (#19 overall) – 64.59
- Nashua, New Hampshire (#27 overall) – 62.49
- Manchester, New Hampshire (#51 overall) – 59.10
- Boston, Massachusetts (#63 overall) – 56.88
- Warwick, Rhode Island (#66 overall) – 56.59
- New Haven, Connecticut (#95 overall) – 54.14
- Bridgeport, Connecticut (#96 overall) – 54.01
- Providence, Rhode Island (#98 overall) – 53.52
- Worcester, Massachusetts (#116 overall) – 50.12
- Lewiston, Maine (#145 overall) – 47.28
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