Covering the Midterm Elections in Vermont
Vermont has a small population — around 623,000 people live in the entire state. With Middlebury College students making up approximately 0.4% of the population of the entire state, being a college student at one of the state’s largest higher education institutions gives us unparalleled access to Vermont’s government and politics.
On November 1, the week before the election, our staff at the Middlebury Campus published its first-ever Election Issue. Over the past few months, our staff went around the county and state interviewing two gubernatorial candidates (including the incumbent, Phil Scott), two past governors, our one congressman, State Senators, attorneys general and two prominent journalists. We received op-eds from political science professors at Middlebury, a 14-year-old who ran for Governor of Vermont and students who worked on political campaigns. We produced eight incredibly solid pages of election coverage. However, we really had not given much thought to our reporting after the election actually happened. At a senior editors’ meeting when the paper came out, an editor said, “Now what?” We were all at a loss for words.
Up until Election Day, we still had very little plans as to what live reporting we would do. I wanted to make it my mission to be the first person in Middlebury to vote on the day. As Middlebury College students, we are residents of Vermont and can therefore vote in elections here. Being a registered voter in Vermont is incredible fun. When it comes to local elections, many of the candidates are active members of the Middlebury community and some are affiliated with the college. For me, voting in Vermont gives me a sense of active engagement in the community.
The polls in Vermont open at 7 a.m. Waking up at 6:30, I expected to stroll in at 6:45 and be the first person at the polls. I was wrong. A small queue of people had formed outside the Town Offices. Guess I’ll have to settle for the 11th person to vote.
MiddVote, a nonpartisan student initiative at Middlebury with a goal to mobilize students to be active participants in our democracy, began operating hourly shuttles to the polls to encourage students to vote. I rode down on the 8 and 9 a.m. shuttles. While many students voted later in the day, we caught a glimpse of former Governor of Vermont, Jim Douglas '72, at the polls.
I’m not sure if this is a uniquely Vermont thing, but members of various campaigns for local offices were campaigning right outside the polls. The Vermont “honk and wave” is apparently a big thing here.
At 10:51 a.m., I had an idea for our live coverage throughout the day. Inspired by previous elections’ commentary by the New York Times’ Maggie Haberman, I wanted to do some sort of play-by-play coverage online, which would update throughout the day. I texted our senior editors and we began plans for the coverage. Turning our basement office into Democracy Plaza à la Rockefeller Center, we added pictures to our election coverage here throughout the day.
Midday arrives. The usual Tuesday politics luncheon by a political science professor here turns into a packed house. Predictions were made for a Democratic takeover of the House of Representatives and an unchanged Republican majority in the Senate.
Rain descends on the Champlain Valley as we continue our coverage. Students continue to go to the polls while voter turnout surges. Vermont offers same-day voter registration, so many students take the opportunity to vote for their first time. Later in the afternoon, MiddVote hosted a “Party at the Polls” with Vermont-shaped cookies, pizza and face painting.
It’s getting dark, but people still come and vote. I catch a glimpse of the post-5:00 rush.
I had received an invite from a friend working with Christine Hallquist’s campaign to the Vermont Democrats’ Election Night Watch Party at the Hilton Burlington. Preparing for the results to come in, our staff prepared for an Election Night coverage game/battle plan. Photographer Michael and a few of our other editors would be stationed at a watch party on campus, featuring live commentary by two political science professors. Digital Director Amelia and editor at large Sarah would be stationed at the Middlebury Inn, where the local Democratic candidates would be. I would make the trek to Burlington in my car, which I dubbed “Democracy One.”
Democracy One departs for Burlington at 6:47 p.m., just before the polls close. An hour later, I arrive in Burlington, turning the car into a mobile election tracking center. In constant contact with Amelia in Middlebury, we set up live graphics that would update for local races as the results came in. Clinging onto the Wi-Fi from the nearby Marriott, we monitor the first round of results. Take that, FiveThirtyEight.
After sorting out the charts, which Amelia would update live as results came in for local races, I headed into the Hilton for the Democrats’ election night party. I was initially worried that I would be denied entry due to not registering as an official journalist or carrying two large camera lenses, but I forgot this is Vermont — no one was going to stop me. I walked right into the room and encountered Senator Patrick Leahy giving a speech. I instantly took out my camera and started photographing the event. Next to me were photographers from Getty Images and Vermont Public Radio. The Middlebury Campus is really moving up here.
Congressman Peter Welch gave a speech too.
Then, Bernie Sanders came on, essentially giving a victory speech before the majority of districts had reported. On his way out, he stopped for selfies and handshakes with the crowd.
At this time, I had heard from Amelia in Middlebury that Chris Bray and Ruth Hardy had been elected to the Vermont state Senate. They gave a speech at the party at the Middlebury Inn.
The rest of the evening went basically like this: once a victory was called, the candidate would bring his/her whole family up onto the stage. (Vermont elects most leaders, including the governor, every two years so there are a lot of speeches.) He/she would give a speech and then proceed toward the middle of the room for quick live interviews with various TV networks. I would photograph the speeches and interviews and then take refuge in my “media office” outside — essentially the public Mac in the hotel lobby that I was able to upload photos and send them back to Democracy Plaza in the basement of Hepburn Hall.
Newly re-elected Attorney General TJ Donovan addressed the crowd upon announcement of his victory. Throughout his speech, Democrats cheered in the back as key races across the country were announced on CNN.
Secretary of State Jim Condos (who I believe had won re-election at that time) addressed the crowd, harping on the emphasis of voting in this midterm election. “This election was about one four-letter word: vote,” Condos said during his speech. He believes the state’s voter turnout was 55 percent today — the highest of any midterm election. 69,000 early votes were cast, as opposed to 33,000 in 2014.
Throughout these events, I recorded the speeches and sent the voice memos back to Amelia and the team sitting in the office. Their quick actions meant that our readers were being updated with quotes and photos. Since the Wi-Fi was not good inside the hotel, I made quite a few trips to the smokers’ deck outside to send photos.
Just after 10 p.m.:, Christine Hallquist, the first openly transgender major party nominee for governor in the United States, admitted defeat with 82 percent of votes reporting in the state. “I’m very proud of the campaign we’ve run,” Hallquist said in her concession speech. “Phil is going to be very committed to the future of Vermont. We sparred well and I think Vermont is a beacon of hope of what democracy looks like.” This speech was livestreamed on the Campus’ Facebook page, which you can view here (excuse my shaky hand).
I had initially thought of zooming over to Republicans’ party at the DoubleTree in South Burlington (a 10-minute drive away), but Amelia believed that Hallquist’s speech would present more salient issues. Excellent decision to stay in place.
After Hallquist’s speech and interviews, various state-wide office candidates declare their victories. Vermont is one of the only states that often has split ballots. Many voters are willing to vote for a Republican governor, but Democratic senators and congressman.
At 11:00 p.m., most of the festivities had ended and I decided to pack up and head to the mobile office in the car.
Unfortunately, a small mishap happened on the way back to Middlebury. I was slightly over the speed limit driving south on Route 7 when an officer pulled me over. Luckily, I left with a warning and a nice conversation where he applauded the amount of students he saw voting in Middlebury on Election Day.
I arrived back on campus shortly after midnight, just as the editorial staff of the Campus was preparing to send the paper to print for the week. We managed to place two photos from the evening on this week’s front page.
I went to bed just after 2 a.m. after completing a 20-hour work day. I felt very fulfilled and proud of the work our editorial team had done on Election Day. Here are a few takeaways I’d like to consider:
- We showed Vermont what democracy looks like — while we’re still crunching the numbers, it was evident that many students took the opportunity to vote in Vermont and be an active participant in local politics.
- We showed how intimate Vermont politics are and that every vote counts. Two days after the election, unofficial results say that Addison County state’s attorney incumbent Dennis Wygmans appears to have won re-election by a mere 10 votes.
- We showed that there’s no limit to the Middlebury Campus’ live and real-time reporting. Thanks to the amazing work by Amelia, Sarah, Sadie, Cali, Will, Nick and Rebecca (among many others), we kept our readers up-to-date throughout the day and into the night, which you can read here.
I had never considered myself a politically-inclined person. However, after following this year’s midterm elections and reporting on Vermont’s government and politics, I leave with a new appreciation for our political system and youth involvement in the voting process. Vermont led the nation in voter registration (with over 92.5% of eligible residents registered to vote three weeks before the election) and voter turnout was 57% throughout the whole state and 67% in the town of Middlebury. To put that into perspective, voter turnout in the 2016 election was 71% in the town of Middlebury.
I’m very proud of the Middlebury Campus’ editorial team for our excellent (and ongoing!) coverage throughout the election and Middlebury students for for standing up and being active participants in our democracy. We have to start somewhere and it’s amazing to be residents of Vermont.
We’ll see you in 2020!
