2018 Vermont gubernatorial election

For related races, see 2018 United States gubernatorial elections.

The 2018 Vermont gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the governor of Vermont, concurrently with the election of Vermont's Class I U.S. Senate seat, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican governor Phil Scott, who was first elected in 2016, was re-elected to a second term in office.^[1] Hallquist's 40.3% was also the worst performance for a Democratic Party candidate since 2008. This was one of eight Republican-held governorships up for election in a state that Hillary Clinton won in the 2016 presidential election.

2018 Vermont gubernatorial election

← 2016 November 6, 2018 2020 →
Turnout	55.6%
Nominee Phil Scott Christine Hallquist Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 151,261 110,335 Percentage 55.19% 40.25%
County results Municipality results Scott:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Hallquist:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Governor before election Phil Scott Republican Elected Governor Phil Scott Republican

Despite initial expectations of a potentially close race due to national blue wave, Scott easily won reelection in what became a difficult year for Republicans, winning by 15 percentage points. As of 2025, this election marked the last time a Democratic candidate won a county in a gubernatorial election in Vermont.

Background

Along with New Hampshire, Vermont is one of only two states where governors are elected to two-year terms. Republican Phil Scott was elected in the 2016 election.^[1]

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

• Phil Scott, incumbent governor^[1]

Eliminated in primary

• Keith Stern, businessman, Republican candidate for U.S. representative in 2010, independent candidate for U.S. representative in 2006, independent candidate for U.S. senator in 2004^[2]

Endorsements

Debates and forums

• CCTV Channel 17 Republican Primary Forum for Governor 7/25/2018
• WCAX Democratic+Republican forum 7/31/2018

Results

Results by county:

  Scott—70–80%

  Scott—60–70%

  Scott—50–60%

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Phil Scott (incumbent)	24,042	66.67
	Republican	Keith Stern	11,617	32.22
	Republican	Write-ins	401	1.11
Total votes			36,060	100.0
	Republican	Blank votes	700
	Republican	Overvotes	20

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominated

• Christine Hallquist, CEO of Vermont Electric Cooperative^[3][4]

Eliminated in primary

• James Ehlers, executive director of Lake Champlain International and environmentalist^[5]
• John S. Rodgers, current State Senator from Essex County, former State Representative, and construction business owner^[6] (write-in candidate)
• Brenda Siegel, opioid epidemic and Brattleboro hurricane relief activist and worker, former community organizer for Bernie Sanders, southern Vermont nonprofit executive and founding director^[7] (also ran in Progressive primary)
• Ethan Sonneborn, freshman in high school^[8] who began his campaign when he was 13 years old.^[9] The election was held a few weeks before he entered his freshman year of high school.^[10] His campaign was focused on healthcare for all, the environment, economy, and education.^[11] Had he won, he would have been the youngest governor in American history.^[11] Vermont (as well as Kansas) does not have a minimum age requirement for governor.

Endorsements

James Ehlers

Organizations

• AFL-CIO

People

• Ben Cohen

Brenda Siegel

Statewide and local politicians

• Mike Mrowicki, state representative^[12]
• Tommy Walz, state representative^[13]

Businesses

• Vermont Green Grow Wellness Center

Organizations

• Emerge Vermont
• SolutionsToWork

People

• Mark Hughes, executive director of Justice for All, organizer of Poor Peoples Campaign VT^[14]

Debates and forums

• Brattleboro Community TV Democratic Gubernatorial Candidates Forum 6/6/2018
• CCTV Channel 17 Democratic Primary Forum for Governor hosted by VTDigger 8/2/2018
• WCAX Democratic+Republican forum 7/31/2018

Results

Results by county:

  Hallquist—60–70%

  Hallquist—50–60%

  Hallquist—40–50%

  Hallquist—30–40%

  Siegel—40–50%

Democratic primary results^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Christine Hallquist	27,622	45.07
	Democratic	James Ehlers	12,668	20.67
	Democratic	Brenda Siegel	12,260	20.01
	Democratic	Ethan Sonneborn	4,696	7.66
	Democratic	John S. Rodgers (write-in)	950	1.55
	Democratic	Write-ins (other)	3,074	5.02
Total votes			61,279	100.0
	Democratic	Blank votes	7,997
	Democratic	Overvotes	68

With this result, Christine Hallquist became the first openly transgender candidate for governor nominated by a major political party in the United States.^[16][17]

Progressive primary

Candidates

Eliminated in primary

Write-in

• Brenda Siegel (also ran in Democratic primary)

Endorsements

Brenda Siegel

Statewide and local politicians

• Mike Mrowicki, state representative
• Tommy Walz, state representative

Businesses

• Vermont Green Grow Wellness Center

Organizations

• Emerge Vermont
• SolutionsToWork

People

• Mark Hughes, executive director of Justice for All, organizer of Poor Peoples Campaign VT

Debates and forums

• Brattleboro Community TV Meet the Candidates for VT Governor 7/18/2018

Results

^[18]

Vermont Progressive Party primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressive	Brenda Siegel (write-in)	35	8.75
	Progressive	Write-ins (other)	365	91.2
Total votes			400	100.0
	Progressive	Blank votes	199

Libertarian nomination

Candidates

Withdrawn

• Seth Cournoyer^[19] (running for State Senate instead)

Liberty Union nomination

Candidates

Declared

• Emily Peyton, candidate for governor in 2014^[20]

Independents

Candidates

Declared

• Trevor Barlow, business and startup executive and founder, coach, as well as community and nonprofit board volunteer^[20]
• Cris Ericson, activist and perennial candidate also ran for congress.
• Charles Laramie, activist, roofing architect, school teacher, United States Navy veteran, and Vermont Air National Guard^[21]
• Stephen Marx, environmentalist

Write-in

• Tarl Warwick, far-right^[22][23][24] author, internet personality, and YouTuber^[25]

Withdrawn

• Joseph Barney, auto and agricultural mechanic, member of the Vermont Army National Guard, and school teacher^[26]

General election

Debates

• Complete video of debate, October 17, 2018

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[27]	Safe R	October 26, 2018
The Washington Post[28]	Lean R	November 5, 2018
FiveThirtyEight[29]	Safe R	November 5, 2018
Rothenberg Political Report[30]	Safe R	November 1, 2018
Sabato's Crystal Ball[31]	Safe R	November 5, 2018
RealClearPolitics[32]	Likely R	November 4, 2018
Daily Kos[33]	Likely R	November 5, 2018
Fox News[34][a]	Likely R	November 5, 2018
Politico[35]	Lean R	November 5, 2018
Governing[36]	Safe R	November 5, 2018

Notes

1. The Fox News Midterm Power Rankings uniquely does not contain a category for Safe/Solid races

Endorsements

Christine Hallquist (D)

US Cabinet members and Cabinet-level officials

• Barack Obama, 44th president of the United States^[37][38]
• Joe Biden, 47th vice president of the United States^[39]

US senators

• Cory Booker, US senator (D-NJ)^[40]
• Elizabeth Warren, US senator (D-MA)^[40]
• Bernie Sanders, US senator (I-VT)^[40]
• Patrick Leahy, US senator (D-VT)^[40]

US representatives

• Joe Kennedy III, US representative (D-MA-4)^[40]
• Peter Welch, US representative (D-VT)^[40]

Statewide and local politicians

• Martin O'Malley, former governor of Maryland^[41]
• Claire Ayer, state senator^[42]
• Chris Bray, state senator^[42]
• Joey Donovan, state representative^[42]
• Alice Emmons, state representative^[42]
• Helen Head, state representative^[42]
• Matt Hill, state representative^[42]
• Warren Kitzmiller, state representative^[42]
• Gabe Lucke, state representative^[42]
• Curt McCormack, state representative^[42]
• Dick McCormack, state senator^[42]
• Mary Sullivan, state representative^[42]

Individuals

• Misha Collins, actor and former White House intern^[43]
• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, educator and political activist; Democratic nominee for NY-14 in 2018^[44]

Labor unions

• Vermont-NEA^[45]

Organizations

• Human Rights Campaign^[46]
• Justice Democrats
• LGBTQ Victory Fund^[47]
• LPAC^[48]

Phil Scott (R)

Statewide and local politicians

• Rep. David Ainsworth
• Rep. Bob Bancroft
• Rep. Fred Baser
• Rep. Lynn Batchelor
• Rep. Scott Beck
• Senate Minority Leader Joe Benning^[49]
• Sen. Carolyn Branagan
• Rep. Pat Brennan
• Sen. Randy Brock
• Rep. Tom Burditt
• Rep. Bill Canfield
• Sen. Brian Collamore
• Rep. Larry Cupoli
• Rep. Dennis Devereux
• Rep. Lynn Dickinson
• Rep. Anne Donahue
• Gov. Jim Douglas (former)^[50]
• Lt gov. Brian Dubie (former)^[50]
• Rep. Peter Fagan
• Rep. Marty Feltus
• Sen. Peg Flory
• Rep. Bob Frenier
• Rep. Marianna Gamache
• Rep. Rodney Graham
• Rep. Jim Harrison
• Rep. Bob Helm
• Rep. Mark Higley
• Rep. Bernie Juskiewicz
• Rep. Brian Keefe
• Rep. Rob LaClair
• Rep. Richard Lawrence
• Rep. Paul Lefebvre
• Rep. Patti Lewis
• Rep. Michael Marcotte
• Rep. Marcia Martel
• Rep. Chris Mattos
• Rep. Pattie McCoy
• Rep. Topper McFaun
• Rep. Mary Morrissey
• Rep. Linda Myers
• Rep. Gary Nolan
• Rep. Corey Parent
• Rep. Chuck Pearce
• Rep. Connie Quimby
• Rep. Carl Rosenquist
• Rep. Brian Savage
• Rep. Heidi Scheuermann
• Rep. Butch Shaw
• Rep. Brian Smith
• Rep. Harvey Smith
• Sen. David Soucy
• Rep. Vicki Strong
• Rep. Tom Terenzini
• House Minority Leader Don Turner
• Rep. Warren Van Wyck
• Rep. Gary Viens
• Sen. Richie Westman
• Rep. Janssen Willhoit
• Rep. Kurt Wright

Organizations

• National Federation of Independent Business^[51]

Declined to endorse

• Planned Parenthood Vermont Action Fund^[52]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Phil Scott (R)	Christine Hallquist (D)	Other	Undecided
Gravis Marketing[53]	October 30 – November 1, 2018	885	± 3.3%	49%	39%	–	12%
Braun Research[54]	October 5–14, 2018	495	± 4.4%	42%	28%	7%[55]	22%
Tulchin Research (D-Vermont Democratic Party)[56]	September 23–26, 2018	406	± 4.9%	50%	42%	–	–

Results

2018 Vermont gubernatorial election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Phil Scott (incumbent)	151,261	55.19%	+2.28%
	Democratic	Christine Hallquist	110,335	40.25%	−3.91%
	Independent	Trevor Barlow	3,266	1.19%	N/A
	Independent	Charles Laramie	2,287	0.83%	N/A
	Marijuana	Cris Ericson	2,129	0.78%	N/A
	Earth Rights	Stephen Marx	1,855	0.68%	N/A
	Liberty Union	Emily Peyton	1,839	0.66%	−2.17%
	Write-in		1,115	0.41%	-0.31%
Total votes			274,087	100.00%	N/A
	Republican hold

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Chittenden (largest municipality: Burlington)
• Windsor (largest municipality: Hartford)