Governor Phil Scott delivers his victory speech at the Associated General Contractors of Vermont building in Montpelier on Tuesday, Nov. 5. Photo by Josh Kuckens/VTDiggerUpdated at 12:19 a.m.Vermonters overwhelmingly backed Gov. Phil Scott in his bid for reelection on Tuesday — and many answered his call to elect new Republican lawmakers to help him combat the Democratic majority in Montpelier.That the Berlin Republican won his fifth two-year term, defeating Democratic nominee Esther Charlestin, was clear soon after the polls closed. But it took several more hours for the extent of Scott’s down-ballot success to become clear.By midnight, it appeared that multiple Republican Senate candidates the governor had backed had prevailed, threatening the Democratic supermajority. While Scott’s campaign focused most of its energy on flipping Senate seats, his electoral success extended to the House, as well. At least two Democratic House chairs and an assistant majority leader were also defeated Tuesday.“I think tonight’s success rests heavily on the shoulders of Gov. Scott and his willingness to spend political capital that he’s been building up for over a decade in a way that has been more generous than we’ve ever seen him before,” said Vermont Republican Party Chair Paul Dame.Scott and dozens of his closest supporters and staffers gathered Tuesday night in Montpelier at an Associated General Contractors of Vermont warehouse, which was adorned with various Scott campaign and motorcycle paraphernalia for the occasion. A guitarist serenaded the room with country and classic rock songs.After the Associated Press called the race for Scott, his campaign manager, Jason Maulucci, broke the “good news” of the governor’s victory to the room, which erupted in applause.Just before 9:30 p.m., Scott took to the podium to thank the voters who voted decisively to keep him in office — and those who answered Scott’s call to send him Republican backup to the Vermont Legislature.“This election was about one basic question: Can you, your aging parents, your grandparents, your kids, your grandkids, your neighbors, afford to live and thrive in Vermont, if we don't make a course correction on the path set by legislative leaders over the last two years?” Scott said. “Vermonters voted and sent a clear message. They voted for balance. They voted for moderation. They told us they can't afford the direction we've been going, and they want lawmakers to set clear priorities.”Charlestin, a political newcomer and education consultant who lives in South Burlington, appeared onstage at the Vermont Democratic Party’s election night party in South Burlington shortly after 9:15 p.m. Flanked by her mother and her husband, Jesse Norford, as her children watched from out in the crowd, she conceded the race and congratulated Scott on his decisive win.“I believe in doing what's hard. This race — come on, this race was a mountain in itself,” she said, adding that, “it's important that we still engage in our democracy, even though it's hard.”Defeated Democratic gubernatorial candidate Esther Charlestin, flanked by her husband and mother, speaks during an election night gathering in South Burlington on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger“It has been an honor to travel Vermont and really see and hear the concerns of the people,” she said. “And so I thank you all for that.”Scott’s easy win arrived despite the fact that former President Donald Trump — who remains deeply unpopular in Vermont — led the Republican ticket.If Tuesday was any indication, Vermonters were eager to split their tickets. Earlier that evening, the AP also declared Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris victorious in the Green Mountain state — the first of the vice president’s wins of the night.Just after midnight, with 94% of towns and cities reporting, Scott was on track to pick up almost 71% of the vote, according to unofficial results provided by the Vermont Secretary of State’s Office. Charlestin had collected more than 21% of the vote.At the same time, Harris was leading Trump by about 63% to 32% in Vermont, according to the Secretary of State’s Office’s unofficial results.Concern about the cost of living motivated many voters to choose Scott, they told VTDigger earlier Tuesday.“The taxes are getting outrageous,” said Rachel McCuin, 82, a lifelong resident of Warren and retired employee of the federal Department of Agriculture. “I’ve lived here all my life, but gosh, you know, I’m not sure I’m going to be able to stay.”McCuin said she was voting “because I want to keep the governor we got in, in,” and hoped Scott would help rein in education spending and property taxes. For Joe Danis, 30, of South Hero, property taxes were also a driving concern. “I don’t even live by the water and my property taxes went up 24% this year,” he said. Of Scott, Danis said, “I think he’s done a very good job of listening to people and doing what he said he would to keep taxes down.”Even those who voted for Charlestin described it more as a vote against Scott. “I don’t think we’re going to get Scott out of office, and he’s basically good, sort of middle of the road, said Karen Chickering, a 69-year-old retired administrative assistant, after voting Tuesday morning in Burlington. “But he needs to be taught that he is not the final authority. He has overridden a lot of things that I don’t think he should’ve and so I am voting against him this time.”Scott has frequently polled as the nation’s most popular governor, and Democratic operatives in recent years have largely written Scott off as unbeatable. Former Democratic Gov. Howard Dean — the only other governor in recent history to have won as many terms as Scott — publicly mulled a political comeback to challenge Scott this year.But even Dean backed off, telling reporters in May that he would have to resort to a “scorched earth, negative attack campaign” in order to unseat Scott. The entire (hypothetical) affair, he predicted, “​​would have been a $2 million race on each side, easily.” “In any race against an incumbent — popular or not — your first job is to convince people that the incumbent doesn’t deserve to be reelected, and that story has not been told,” Jim Dandeneau, the Vermont Democratic Party’s executive director, said at the time.Ultimately, only two Democratic candidates stepped up to the challenge: Charlestin, and her primary opponent, Peter Duval, a former Underhill Selectboard member who previously ran statewide as a Republican. Scott also faced two independent challengers — Kevin Hoyt of Bennington and Eli “Poa” Mutino of Barre — and one opponent from the Peace and Justice Party, June Goodband of Springfield, this election. None appeared on track to capture more than 3% of the vote.READ MORE On Tuesday night, Scott commended Charlestin “for stepping up,” saying, “I know it's not easy to put yourself out there.”When Charlestin won the Democratic primary in August, she became Vermont’s first woman of color to represent a major party on the gubernatorial ballot.At the time, she told VTDigger that she planned to “go hard” campaigning for Vermonters’ votes: “That means raising a lot more money. That means knocking on doors. That means seeking endorsements.”Charlestin’s gubernatorial campaign did not go exactly as she anticipated. According to her final campaign finance report filed to the Secretary of State’s Office on Nov. 1, she raised $56,692 over the course of her campaign.Scott’s campaign fundraising total, as of Nov. 1, was $343,632. That’s more than six times what Charlestin raised.On the campaign trail, Scott rarely directly criticized Charlestin. Instead, he zeroed in on legislative Democrats as his political foes.Governor Phil Scott pauses to look into the crowd after delivering his victory speech at the Associated General Contractors of Vermont building in Montpelier on Tuesday, Nov. 5. Photo by Josh Kuckens/VTDiggerIn 2022, Democrats in both the Vermont House and Senate secured two-thirds majorities — enough seats to, in theory, override Scott’s frequent gubernatorial vetoes. In the ensuing two years, Democrats forged ahead with their legislative priorities, ones they knew Scott opposed, such as a bill to move towards establishing a clean heat standard. As Scott eagerly exercised his veto authority, legislators frequently responded with decisive override votes.On the debate stage and in interviews with VTDigger, Scott conceded that he did not believe that Vermont was better off now than it was two years ago. But the blame for that, he argued, rested not with him, but with Democrats in Montpelier.Come Tuesday night, as results continued to trickle in, it appeared that Scott’s campaign trail rhetoric resonated with Vermonters. In a number of upsets, both new and incumbent Democrats in both the House and Senate lost their races to Republicans endorsed by Scott.“I'm sure it comes as no surprise to all of you that making Vermont more affordable will be our top priority,” Scott said at his election night party Tuesday. “I'm very pleased — very pleased — to have more moderate, commonsense legislators who will be willing to work with me on this goal.”Read the story on VTDigger here: Gov. Phil Scott easily wins reelection to a fifth term — and carries fellow Republicans to the Legislature.