Numerous unique candidates are competing for power in Vermont's primaries ahead of the 2018 midterm elections, as voters head to the polls on Tuesday.
Phil Scott, the Republican governor in the reliably Democratic state, is running for re-election despite growing concerns from the right surrounding his stance on gun control. After passing a series of measures tightening gun restrictions in Vermont, guns rights groups like the Gun Owners of Vermont launched a campaign calling on voters to write-in other conservative candidates, including Keith Stern and John Rodgers.
If he loses the support of his base, Mr Scott’s seat could very well go to one of four Democrat candidates.
Ethan Sonneborn is one of those candidates. He’s a 14-year-old progressive who decided to launch his campaign after violence erupted last year during a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, North Carolina. State law allows anyone who has lived in Vermont for four years to run for governor after securing enough signatures to get on the ballot, making Mr Sonneborn legally qualified despite his age.
While his campaign has only raised a reported $1,700, other progressive candidates appear to be viable contenders for the governor’s mansion. Christine Hallquist, a transgender woman and former executive of the Vermont Electric Co-Operative, would be the first transgender gubernatorial candidate from a major political party if she were to win the Democratic nomination.
She's ran on a platform of addressing local and state issues, from rural economic development to climate change, and has described her gender as just one of many defining traits.
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Vermont, where polls close at 7 p.m., has a competitive gubernatorial race ahead. Four Democratic candidates and two Republican candidates are vying for the Vermont governor seat. On the Republican side, incumbent Gov. Phil Scott is looking to secure his party's nomination once again.
Through a loophole in Vermont's laws, 14-year-old Ethan Sonneborn is running for the office as a Democrat. Vermont's Constitution doesn't have an age requirement, it just requires candidates to have lived in the state for four years.
"I think Vermonters should take me seriously because I have practical progressive ideas, and I happen to be 14, not the other way around," the 14-year-old said in a recent gubernatorial forum. "I think that my message and my platform transcend age."
Connecticut has closed primaries - meaning the only people who can vote in its Democratic and Republican primaries are those who are registered with that party. Polls close at 8pm
On the Democratic ballot, voters will have the option of choosing between Mayor Joe Ganim and businessman Ned Lamont. Mr Ganim was Mayor of Bridgeport from 1991 to 2003, when he resigned after being convicted on corruption charges. He then launched a remarkable political comeback after serving seven years of a nine-year prison sentence, becoming Bridgeport's mayor once again in 2015.
Although Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton has won the endorsement of the state's Republican party, he still has to fend off a number of other business leaders for the nomination.
Washington state Governor Jay Inslee, who leads the Democratic Governors Association, predicted that Tuesday would offer fresh evidence of a blue wave that would sweep Democrats into power this November.
"Trump has managed to alienate every form of human life on the planet," Mr Inslee told The Associated Press when asked about his party's appeal among white working-class voters. "They're tired of this chaos."
Tuesday's primary contests for governor, the US Senate and the House will measure the strength of Trump's fiery coalition against the energy of the Democratic resistance.
And, of course, there’s Bernie Sanders. Vermont’s current senator is also seeking re-election as an independent, and will reject the Democratic party’s nomination if he wins it — as he had done since 2006.
Vermont isn’t the only state holding a primary on Tuesday — Minnesota, Wisconsin and Connecticut also held elections to determine which candidates will face off come November.
