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By Fiona Sullivan
Three Republican candidates are trying to unseat the three Democratic incumbents who serve as state senators in Washington County.
In preparation for the Nov. 5 election day, Harwood Union School’s seventh graders hosted a candidate forum on Oct. 17, when they asked the slate of candidates for the Washington County Senate, “What makes you a good candidate for office?” Candidates were later asked what comes to mind with the word “Affordability,” and how best to address it.
Incumbent Democratic Sen. Ann Cummings, a former realtor and mayor of Montpelier, is currently serving her 14th term. She is the current chair of the Senate Committee on Finance and serves on the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing, and General Affairs. She said her strength lies in bringing people together, that she serves all people, listens to everybody, and that “nobody gets everything they want but everybody gets something.”
Cummings noted that, despite candidate Donald Koch’s remarks earlier in the forum, taxing heating fuel has never been discussed. Cummings noted, “we put $800 million into subsidized housing” to address the housing crisis. And, she added, to make housing affordable “we need to subsidize [the construction of houses] and grow our tax base.” She then proposed that the state may need to raise taxes and fees in order to find ways to subsidize house construction to address the on-going housing crisis.
Republican candidate Michael Deering II, is a community advocate and Barre City Councilor. Deering said he wants to keep young people involved in politics, and his Facebook page states his “only agenda is to make Vermont a place families can live, grow, learn and play.”
Deering, who is also a football coach and “substitute coordinator,” said these roles engage him in the community. Deering regularly stressed the need for affordability; he wants his kids to be able to live in Vermont. Deering said he supports building more houses, filling jobs, growing the economy and implementing a tax stabilization program that allows new property owners to gradually build up to paying a full property tax.
Republican candidate Michael “Mike” Doyle, a former college professor with ten years experience on a school board in Pennsylvania, said the most important thing he learned in the 20 years he worked as a senator’s chauffeur was “civility.” Doyle stresses economic growth, economizing, removing “cumbersome regulations,” and stepping away from the “spend money philosophy.” Doyle suggested that to lower inflation we must increase the supply of goods by creating more money for people so they can afford these goods; He said that this will ultimately happen by lowering the cost of heating oil and fuel.
Republican candidate Donald Koch is a native Vermonter who studied at Johnson State College and now runs a trucking company. He would like to return to work on his family farm, he said, and cited his experience as a small business owner as qualifying him as a good candidate for office. According to VTDigger’s election guide, Koch does not support imposing taxes on the wealthiest Vermonters.
At the Harwood forum Koch expressed concern about people not being able to afford Vermont, and denounced what he called a “throw money at problems” mentality, by raising income taxes, taxing fuel, and the cost of “socio-environmental policies.”
“We need to focus on helping businesses come to Vermont and succeed, and grow the economy, rather than just taxing us to death,” he said.
Incumbent Democratic Senator Andrew Perchlik, originally from Colorado where he earned a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary politics, has served in the Peace Corps and has been the director of Vermont’s Clean Energy Development Fund as well as the executive director of Renewable Energy Vermont. Perchlik is the vice chair of the Senate Committee of Appropriations and has recently been serving as the chair of the Senate Committee on Transportation.
Perchlik said what makes him a good candidate is his “interest and curiosity regarding policy and colleagues’ perspectives.” He emphasized the need for a 10-year plan to build “a lot more housing.” He also stated Vermont should support small towns with infrastructure costs.
Incumbent Democratic Senator Anne Watson, a former Montpelier mayor, is a high school physics, engineering, and math teacher; Watson is the vice chair of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Energy and serves on the Senate Committee on Government Operations. Watson said she is a good candidate for office because she listens to people with different perspectives and is “solution oriented.” Regarding affordability, Watson cited concern for property taxes, inflation, and healthcare cost and debt.
The Vermont League of Women Voters also held a Washington County Senate Forum on Oct. 18 featuring the above six candidates that was filmed by ORCA Media. See the forum at orcamedia.net.
Election Day is Nov. 5
Vermont polls open between 5 and 10 a.m., and are open all day until 7 p.m. Polling locations opening at 7 a.m. include Montpelier’s City Hall and the Barre Town Middle and Elementary School. To find other polling locations and hours and to learn more about registering to vote, visit sos.vermont.gov/elections/voters.
VTDigger has compiled candidate information and their platforms in its general election guide, found at vtdigger.org/2024-general-election-guide.
