Vermont: Anthony Pollina

Vermonters met expectations of high voter turnout last Tuesday, flocking to the polls in numbers not seen since former President Bill Clinton was elected 16 years ago.
 
On Tuesday, the Elections and Campaign Finance division of Vermont's State Department published its report on this year's voter turnout as well as complete election results.
 
Over 66 percent of all eligible voters actually cast their votes, or about 326,822 people. An estimated 30 percent of the voters used absentee ballots.
 

In an election cycle dominated by change, Vermont incumbents at the state and national level kept a tight hold on their seats and Vermont voters kept up their independent voting streak.

Vermont's sole U.S. Representative, Peter Welch (D-Hartland), claimed nearly 85 percent of the vote, according to the early results. His closest competitor, independent Mike Bethel, earned less than 5 percent of the vote.

House Speaker Gaye Symington (D-Jericho) has conceded in the race for governor, WCAX is reporting.

With almost 63 percent of the vote counted, exit polls projected that Symington received only about 20 percent of the vote. The Democratic gubernatorial challenger was in third place, trailing incumbent Gov. Jim Douglas (R-Middlebury) and Independent Anthony Pollina.  

Independent gubernatorial candidate Anthony Pollina's involvement with Vermont Milk Company has become a sour point in the final days of his race for the state's top office.

Incumbent Gov. Jim Douglas' (R-Middlebury) campaign continued to highlight Pollina's ties to the Vermont Milk Company and their apparent failure to pay due wages to local farmers.