Democrats lose majority and a pair of committee chairmen in the Vermont House

Updated November 6 at 02:12

Democrats no longer have the upper hand in the Vermont House.

Republicans significantly reshaped the power dynamics in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, winning 18 seats in the 150-member chamber. They will have 55 seats in the next two years; That’s enough to prevent Democrats and Progressives, who together would hold 92 seats, from overriding Republican Gov. Phil Scott’s vetoes. Three independents won their races Tuesday, according to unofficial results from the Vermont Secretary of State’s Office.

The chairmen of two House committees were among scores of Democratic incumbents fired Tuesday — including the party’s deputy majority leader — pushing for major changes in the chamber when lawmakers return to Montpelier in January.

Result reflected that of the Vermont SenateRepublicans unseated four incumbents and picked up two more seats on the 30-member board.

Vermont Republican Party Chairman Paul Dame said Republicans’ success in legislative races will force Democrats to work with Republican Gov. Phil Scott. set out to seek re-election Tuesday.

“I don’t think we’ve had a night this good in 10 years,” Dame said. “Tonight, voters weighed in on how to resolve this impasse. “They said, ‘You should have listened to the governor for the last two years.'”

Speaking at an election party in South Burlington Tuesday night, House Speaker Jill Krowinski (D-Burlington) lamented the results of that day’s election.

“We are sick to our stomachs tonight because of what’s going on in the national election and the elections at home,” Krowinski, joined by about a dozen House members, said. “We’re still waiting to get final results from across the state. We won some seats. We lost some seats. It’s tough, but what I want Vermonters to know is we’re still behind you.”

The loss of two committee chairmen was a particularly heavy blow for Democrats.

Rep. Diane Lanpher, D-Vergennes, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, finished third in a four-way race for two seats in the Addison-3 district, according to unofficial results from the State Department.

Republican Rob North came in first with 24.67% of the vote. Lanpher’s fellow incumbent, Rep. Matt Birong, D-Vergennes, came in second with 21.86%. Lanpher received 21.7% of the vote, just 17 votes behind Birong. Republican Joseph Baker received 20.63 percent of the votes.

Lanpher’s leadership position on the powerful money committee is among the most coveted posts in the House, helping guide state spending. First elected in 2008, he chairs the House Transportation Committee and takes over the appropriations panel in 2023.

Chairman of the House Government Operations and Military Affairs Committee, St. Rep. Mike McCarthy of St. Albans lost his reelection bid in the single-member Franklin-3 district to Republican Joe Luneau. Luneau won 52.53% and McCarthy won 44.43%.

Rep. William Notte, the Democratic deputy majority leader in the Rutland-7 House district, was also defeated. Republican Chris Keyser won 55.9% of the vote to Notte’s 40.43%.

Other House Democrats impeached Tuesday included:

• Rep. Josie Leavitt in the Grand Isle-Chittenden district
• Representative Dennis Labounty in the Caledonia-3 district
• Rep. Robin Chestnut-Tangerman in the Bennington-Rutland district
• Representative Jim Carroll in the Bennington-5 district

Jim Dandeneau, executive director of the Vermont Democratic Party, said in an interview around 11:15 p.m. at the party’s election night convention in South Burlington that the state GOP’s — and especially Scott’s — messaging on property taxes has proven more effective on the campaign. He has made a mark beyond what Democrats call his “giant job” of knocking on doors and engaging with voters on the ground.

Dandeneau said Scott and the GOP “are drowning out people’s concerns about the future of our democracy with concerns about the future of their own pocketbooks.”

“We were fighting this fight one person at a time, each household,” he added, holding several boxes of uneaten finger food from the party’s hors d’oeuvres as workers began clearing out the venue. “He was flooding the airwaves with messages about lowering taxes. “That wasn’t good for us.”

Shaun Robinson and Sarah Mearhoff contributed to this story.