Democrat Esther Charlestin was declared the winner of the Vermont gubernatorial primary on Tuesday evening and will now face the Republican governor of the deeply democratic state.
The race was called for Charlestin, an educator and first-generation Haitian-American who defeated computer scientist Peter Duvall on Tuesday.
The current governor, Republican Phil Scott, served four terms as governor and had no challenger in the primaries.
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Two Democrats, Peter Duval (left) and Esther Charlestin (right), are competing for the presidential nomination against Vermont’s Republican governor, Phil Scott (center). (Fox News)
Charlestin was endorsed by former Democratic Governor Howard Dean, Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman and Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak.
Duval, a former member of the Underhill Selectboard, declared on his website ahead of the election, “I’m going to lose this election,” but said a vote for him would help bring environmental issues to the forefront of state politics. He also urged Republicans and progressives to sign his name in their party’s primaries.
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The University of Vermont at Burlington (iStock)
Despite being a Republican governor in a heavily Democratic state, Scott remains a popular figure, receiving 69% of the vote in the 2022 general election.
Scott has been a critic of Republican Donald Trump and supported former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley for president. He said he was one of the 66% of Vermont voters who cast their ballots for Democrat Joe Biden in 2020.
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Governor of Vermont, Phil Scott (Glenn Russell/VTDigger via AP/Pool/File)
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
