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Lanpher, Clark re-elected as Vergennes-area lawmakers
VERGENNES — Incumbent Reps. Greg Clark, R-Vergennes, and Diane Lanpher, D-Vergennes, easily won re-election to their respective House seats representing the Addison-3 district amid heavy voting in Tuesday’s General Election.
Lanpher, 56, was the top vote-getter in securing her third consecutive term representing the communities of Addison, Ferrisburgh, Panton, Vergennes and Waltham. She finished with 2,635 votes, compared to 2,355 for Clark, who secured his fifth consecutive two-year term.
Arabella Holzapfel, a Ferrisburgh Democrat and Middlebury College employee, finished third with 1,277 votes in this, her second bid for one of the two Addison-3 House seats.
Lanpher said she was pleased to finish on top in voting, the first time she has accomplished that feat during her legislative career.
“I’m very honored to be re-elected and to be representing this district,” Lanpher said. “It means a great deal to me.”
Clark, too, was gratified by the support he received.
“I am pleased to once again be able to serve the Addison-3 district,” he said.
Lanpher was the top vote-getter in four of the five Addison-3 communities. She out-polled Clark 984-829 in Ferrisburgh; 218-210 in Panton; 769-648 in Vergennes and 185-144 in Waltham. Meanwhile, Clark took Addison by a 524-479 margin over Lanpher.
Lanpher has served her first two terms on the House Transportation Committee, a panel she has no desire to leave, citing “unfinished business.” That business includes managing a transportation budget that is $250 million short of what officials believe is needed simply to maintain the state’s current infrastructure, according to Lanpher. Also on her transportation list: further advancing improvements to the state’s western rail corridor to allow for passenger train service from Rutland to Burlington (through Vergennes and Middlebury) by 2017.
She also wants to advance the state’s health care reform agenda and, on the local level, is monitoring the status of Northlands Job Corps’ lease for its Vergennes property. That lease is set to expire next year, raising questions about the future of Job Corps in Vergennes and the more than 100 local jobs at the federal learning center that imparts work training skills to youths from throughout the region.
Clark, 65, is a longtime member of the House Education Committee. The veteran Mount Abraham Union High School educator is happy to remain on that panel, but would also like to serve on the House Ways and Means Committee. The Democratic majority leadership in the House will determine on what committees lawmakers are placed.
Clark is pleased with the manner in which the recently concluded campaign was conducted.
“I am impressed,” he said. “The three candidates were willing to put themselves out there, work hard and talk with people to try and make a difference,” he said. “And I want to congratulate Arabella for her campaign and making the effort.”
See town-by-town results from this election at our special Addison County election page.
Reporter John Flowers is at [email protected].
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