Theo Wells-Spackman is a Report for America corps member who reports for VTDigger. Deputy State Auditor Tim Ashe held off newcomer Nick Graeter. Ashe is pictured here in August 2020. File photo by Mike Dougherty/VTDigger As Vermont voters went to the polls for Tuesday’s primary election, th ey sought change, citing concerns such as tax policy, education reform and wealth inequality. But while Democrats selected a progressive political newcomer and self-described “long shot” candidate as their nominee for governor in Amanda Janoo, incumbents across Vermont in legislative and statewide offices largely survived their primaries. Gov. Phil Scott and Lt. Gov. John Rodgers were both unopposed in their Republican primary bids and will face Janoo and Democratic lieutenant governor nominee Molly Gray in November’s general election. State Treasurer Mike Pieciak, Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas and Attorney General Charity Clark each secured another Democratic nomination unopposed. Tim Ashe, who currently serves as deputy state auditor and who was formerly president pro tempore of the Vermont Senate, beat political newcomer Nick Graeter to the Democratic nomination for his office’s top job. Longtime state auditor Doug Hoffer did not run for reelection.  H. Brooke Paige, a businessman and frequent Republican candidate in Vermont, received the GOP nominations for state treasurer, attorney general, state auditor and secretary of state. He told Vermont Public this summer he planned to drop out of all but the secretary of state contest, challenging Copeland Hanzas in November. In a moment of transition for the state Senate as current President Pro Tempore Phil Baruth, D/P-Chittenden Central, exits his seat, no current senator lost a primary bid for reelection. Two Democratic House members — Rep. Jim Masland, D-Thetford, and Rep. John Bartholomew, D-Hartland — did lose their primaries, while Republican members all held on, according to party leaders Wednesday morning.  Paul Dame, who chairs the Vermont Republican Party, said in an interview that the success of GOP incumbents — and their relative lack of challengers across the primaries — was both an endorsement of recent legislative work and a signal of party unity. Democrats, he argued, struggled to showcase the same level of togetherness, as their incumbents saw more difficult tests at the polls. “I think Republicans are feeling very energized, very motivated to support the folks who have served us for the last two years,” he said. In the coming days, Dame said, he’ll focus on filling in gaps in the ticket, such as the race for the Rutland-6 House seat, where no major party mounted a candidate for the primary. Looking to November’s general election, he added, the GOP will focus its message on affordability with an emphasis on issues like tax relief and housing. Lachlan Francis, the state’s Democratic Party chair, pushed back on Dame’s takeaways from Tuesday’s results, pointing to the near-total success of the party’s incumbent candidates for both legislative and statewide offices. Vermont Democrats are unified and “moving forward,” he said Wednesday, adding that assertions to the contrary are “a little rich” given recent conflicts within the GOP’s Senate caucus. Sen. Ginny Lyons, D-Chittenden Southeast, added Wednesday that for her, strongly contested primary elections signify strength for Democrats. “I welcome that kind of competition,” she said. “I think it’s extremely healthy.” Lyons held her own Tuesday evening in a contested Chittenden Southeast primary, alongside fellow Democratic Sens. Kesha Ram Hinsdale and Thomas Chittenden. Challengers Elizabeth Ann Hunt and Joanna Grossman finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the three-seat district. “I think that was an affirmation of the work that we have been doing,” Lyons said, emphasizing her recent focus on addressing healthcare costs. “We each bring valued experience, leadership — and we’re getting results.” Meanwhile, the hard-fought and well-funded Chittenden Central Senate primary saw progressive newcomer Nikhil Goyal, an adjunct professor at the University of Vermont, take first place in the three-seat district. Incumbent Sens. Tanya Vyhovsky, a Progressive/Democrat, and Martine Gulick, a Democrat, fended off a robust challenge from former county planning commissioner Elaine Haney.  “We have a resounding mandate for bold structural change,” Goyal said in an interview Wednesday. His intensive canvassing model allowed him to reach some voters who have historically skipped primaries, he said, which may have accounted in part for his decisive success Tuesday. Incumbents also prevailed in a crowded Windsor County Senate primary, which saw Rep. Elizabeth Burrows, D-West Windsor, gain the nomination for the seat previously held by the outgoing Sen. Alison Clarkson, D-Windsor. Incumbent Democratic Sens. Becca White and Joe Major staved off three other challengers. Masland and Bartholomew, who lost their House seats in Tuesday’s primary, each came third in the two-seat Windsor-1 and Windsor-Orange-2 districts. Bartholomew said Wednesday that personal issues had kept him from campaigning as vigorously as he has in the past, but also that lawmakers have failed to adequately address education reform in recent years. “We keep coming up with plans that are going to extend into the future, and they just don’t happen fast enough,” he said. Read the story on VTDigger here: Incumbents largely hold on in Vermont’s legislative and statewide primaries. ...read more read less