A Patch of Red in a Sea of Blue
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- Created on Friday, 30 October 2015 14:36
- Written by Alex Paduch
AROUND THE KINGDOM - It’s no secret that Vermont is a quirky state. It’s people (and especially their politics) make it a unique place to live. The state has the distinction of being only one of four states to join the Union as an established sovereign state in 1791, but even today, Vermont’s politics are worth a closer look.
In a state that votes with a Democratic majority, one corner of the state marches to the beat of their own drum. The Northeast Kingdom, known for its rolling hills and exceptional outdoor recreation, maintains itself as the lone Republican stronghold in the state.
According to Dr. Paul Searls, a Lyndon State College Professor, the short answer to why the area has resisted a progressive push has to do with demographics.
“The kingdom is lightly populated. It is also older than other parts of the state, certainly. It is poorer than other parts of the state, and it’s more remote from urban centers like Boston and New York City”, he said. “That makes it --to some extent—an isolated area.”
Searls maintains the difference between Chittenden County (home to Burlington) and the Kingdom is that the former is the tech and science hub of the state. In Vermont, 9 of the 30 state Senate votes belong to Chittenden County, which leaves some residents in the rural parts of the state perplexed.
“What you have is an older, more isolated part of the state that is suspicious of big government, is suspicious of big solutions, is suspicious that there is always been just within the state”, Searls said. “There is a really big dynamic of urbanites versus rural people.”
Although perennially a ‘red’ area, there have been a few exceptions in the past. In the 1962 election cycle, the race for governor, fought by Republican F. Ray Keyser and Democrat Phillip Hoff was neck and neck.
According to Searls, when Hoff toured the Kingdom on the campaign trail, some had never seen a Democrat before. “They thought he had horns or something. They would kind of see him just as a curiosity.”
Keyser had an aggressive agenda, which included the closing of Lyndon Teachers College (now Lyndon State.) In an act of resistance, the counties in the area campaigned for Hoff—the Democrat, simply because he promised to keep the school open.
“Although he didn’t win the Kingdom, he had an above average turnout for a Democrat", said Searls. Hoff went on to win the election by a narrow margin of 1,315 votes.
Pictured above left: Democratic candidate Phil Hoff celebrates his victory in the 1962 election after becoming the first Democratic governor in the state since before the Civil War.
Pictured above right: The then incumbent republican challenger F. Ray Keyser, who lost by less than 1% in the 1962 governor election.
In addition to thedistrust of the government, residents of the Kingdom are resistant to development, which was helped the passing of Act 250 in the 1970’s.
This legislation passed strict environmental guidelines that had to be looked at before construction. In the Kingdom it is tougher to commercialize or industrialize the area than in the western part of the state.
“I don’t think that the outsiders, people from New York City like me, or people who have lived here for a really long time want to see the Kingdom built up”. said Searls.
As for the future, Searls sees the status quo staying put for quite some time.
"If the economy is to stay the same, that's to say the hightest poverty rate, highest illiteracy rate, lowest number of kids going to college, and I don't see under those circumstances how the Kingdom's political outlook would change".