By JOHN FLOWERS
ADDISON COUNTY — Area residents, who turned out to vote in droves on Tuesday, will see some new faces among those who represent them in the county courthouse and in Montpelier.
With turnout exceeding 65 percent in most towns, residents elected Cornwall Democrat Eleanor “Misse” Smith as their new probate court judge and sent three first-time candidates to county seats in Vermont House. One of those three new legislators — New Haven Democrat Christopher Bray — earned his spot in a tight Addison-5 contest against longtime incumbent Rep. Harvey Smith, R-New Haven.
Tuesday’s general election also gave voters an opportunity to soundly defeat a $10.3 million renovation plan for Otter Valley Union High School; endorse a new town garage project for Bridport and a veterans’ memorial in Bristol; and pick two assistant judges for the Addison County courthouse.
By ANDY KIRKALDY
ADDISON COUNTY — Addison County and Brandon residents joined with voters elsewhere in Vermont in supporting the winners in major statewide races, in most cases by roughly the same percentages, although there were many differences in voting patterns.
As of Wednesday morning independent Bernie Sanders had won his race with Republican candidate Richard Tarrant for the U.S. Senate by almost exactly a two-to-one margin, 66-33 percent, with 82 percent of statewide votes tallied.
With all votes tallied in Addison County and Brandon, Sanders’ margin of victory mirrored the statewide results in the race for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by independent Jim Jeffords. Not counting fringe candidates, Sanders won locally, 12,418-5,416, or 60.6-31.4 percent, and carried every town.
