Three Republicans are vying for two seats in that party’s primary for the Addison County senate. Incumbent Steven Heffernan of Bristol is joined in the race by New Haven’s Andrew Klein and Orwell’s Andrea Treadway. The two victors will challenge incumbent Democrat Ruth Hardy and Democrat Hannah Sessions.

County residents are fortunate to have a competitive slate among the Republican challengers.

Klein, 48, was born in New York City, but his family has long had a close connection to Vermont. His grandparents’ home was in South Ryegate and his father acquired a farm in Norwich. Klein attended high school in New Hampshire, then attended the University of Vermont for two years before transferring to Middlebury College for his junior and senior years (1999-2001). During that time he served on the Middlebury Fire Department. “That group of people (on MFD) is really what formed my love for Middlebury and Vermont,” he said.

Following college, Klein became an investment banker on Wall Street for three years, then attended law and business schools, earning a joint JD-MBA at NYU. He joined the NYU School of Law board of trustees in 2016 and continues to serve.

Following law school, he launched what he called “a series of real estate investment companies.”

In 2018, Andrew and his wife Ashleigh looked for a new place to raise their family, which includes son Lockwood, now 7, and daughter Fielding, 7. They quickly chose Vermont finding a house in New Haven. He quickly joined the MFD, now serving as lieutenant. He specializes in technical rescue operations.

He’s an advocate of economic growth, saying the state has to grow to overcome its problems. “I only see one way out for Vermont,” he said in a recent interview with the Addison Independent. “If you look at all the issues — whether it’s housing, education, health care, affordability, taxes, they’re all tied to one thing: Vermont doesn’t have enough revenue coming in. It needs more people paying income taxes and corporate taxes.

“We need a bigger pie; we can’t keep trying to divide up the same small pie to fix the problems Vermont has,” he added. “It’s like trying to get blood from a stone. It will not work.”

It’s a solid, business-minded approach to governance and represents the GOP well.

Andrea Treadway is Orwell’s chair of the selectboard. She’s also has a well-established bookkeeping business, is the mother of two children who graduated from the local school systems, is vice chair of the Addison County Regional Planning Commission’s Transportation Advisory Committee and is a member of the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity (CVOEO) board.

“I’ve always had a passion for government and public service,” Treadway told the Independent in a recent interview. “I believe you should always serve your community and do it to the best of your ability without any preconceived notions.”

Treadway is a moderate Republican who has a cautious approach to tackling the state’s biggest problems with added taxes, but remains open to finding viable solutions wherever possible. For example, on universal primary care, she says “In theory, I’m a supporter of universal primary care. I think it’s a great idea. But in reality I think it’s going to be really hard — in a state our size — to be fiscally responsible and find a way to pay for it.” She also lamented the federal cuts in safety-net programs and said she would “fight for programs that help Vermonters” in need.

The unusual challenge to incumbent Senator Steven Heffernan is no doubt due to his dubious performance in this first term, during which he has outraged many moderates and Democrats with provocative stances in favor of ICE’s tactics against immigrants, a callous disregard for individual’s right to habeas corpus (the right the challenge unlawful imprisonment or detention by the government), and other conservative stances that are out-of-step with a majority of voters in the county. To that end, Republicans who are seeking candidates with a chance to win a Senate seat in Addison County might do well to consider Klein and Treadway as their candidates.

—Angelo Lynn