“We’re drowning,” said campaign manager Cameron Russell. “We’re just trying to field as many [interview requests] as we can.”
It’s a nice problem to have.
Hallquist, former CEO of the Vermont Electric Coop, won Tuesday’s four-way Vermont primary with more than 40 percent of the vote, according to unofficial totals from the Secretary of State. Her nearest competitor, water quality advocate James Ehlers, was a distant second at 19 percent. The result means that Hallquist is the first openly transgender person to win a major-party nomination for governor.
The media interest began building in the days before the primary, but hit full force as Hallquist’s victory became official. “She was on CNN last night and [Wednesday] morning,” said Russell. “She’s been interviewed by NPR, the BBC, the New York Times, the Guardian, the Huffington Post, MSNBC, TMZ and Fox.”
Newspapers and media outlets around the country and the world have featured Hallquist in coverage of the state primaries that were held on Tuesday. Vermont news media have seen a sharp rise in site visits; a Seven Days profile of Hallquist, published in 2015 at the time of her gender transition, has been read more than 10,000 times in the past week — the vast majority in the hours since her victory became certain. The Drudge Report, a news aggregation website, prominently featured a Burlington Free Press recap of Hallquist’s primary win Tuesday night.
The outside attention focuses on Hallquist’s gender identity, which could prove to be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, she will receive a significant boost in donations from LGBTQ and progressive groups. “Our community is ecstatic,” said Elliot Imse, spokesperson for the LGBTQ Victory Fund. “We’ve already seen more than 1,000 of our supporters sign a digital congratulations card for her” as of late Wednesday morning.
On the other hand, it could prove a distraction from the business of running for governor. Hallquist has been careful to run on the issues, not her identity. Russell acknowledged a necessary balancing act — riding the wave of attention without letting it dominate the narrative. “We want to make sure that Vermonters know this is about Vermont, and the issues we face,” said Russell.
(The filing deadline for independent candidates was August 9, so it’s too late for Ehlers to get his name on the ballot. He could run as a write-in candidate.)
The fourth Democratic hopeful, 14-year-old Ethan Sonneborn, finished with a respectable 7 percent of the vote. He immediately promised to campaign on Hallquist’s behalf. In a Wednesday morning tweet, he urged Ehlers to do the same.
Democratic unity or not, the tsunami of media attention will give Hallquist a golden opportunity to raise money and boost her name recognition. Her gender identity remains a potential wild card, but at least she’s got that card in her hand.
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Not what the democratic party needed to combat The Trump Insanity.
James Ehlers ran in a Democratic primary and lost. There is no vast chasm separating his views from those of the three candidates he ran against (and with!). He should support the choice of Democratic Party voters. Failure to do so will reflect badly on him.
I am a Trump supporter. Gov. Scott is a RINO. If Hallquist is elected, she will just be another Democrat helll-bent on ruining America. That is the real insanity.
Yah, this is just what Vermont needs. Another statement on what a freak show it’s become. I guess this is the “circus” part of “give them bread and circus”. Time get the parties, both of them, out of our politics and our lives.
Vermont has become a JOKE. A 14 yo kid who can’t even vote and a transgender who said He will raise our taxes, has said that if he becomes Governor gun laws will be stricter, there WILL be a carbon air tax, he was very strong about that. He needs to go back to NY and take Sanders with him…
@FreedomToThink In Montpelier Weds at the Montpelier HS they had a circus there.. No animals just people. lol
I saw Hallquist on CNN the day after the election. The host showed her a poll taken among Democrats as to what they preferred: capitalism or socialism, the split was fairly even. The host then asked Hallquist about her preference between those two choices . Hallquist seemed flummoxed and bungled the interview badly, muttering at the end that she didn’t like labels and looked as if she was ready to sprint away from the camera. There were a few easy answers for her but she seemed unaware of them. Maybe she was expecting softball questions or some sort of celebration of diversity to break out. If Hallquist wants to be taken seriously and not as some sort of novelty candidate she had better improve her game plan.
Vermont has proven in the past that it prefers Governors who are somewhat moderate to conservative ( Snelling, Douglas, even Dean who was a Democrat) without all of the foaming at the mouth that seems to be mandatory of the national GOP. Phil Scott is conservative enough without all of the rabid rantings of the Trump Rump kissers. This is his election to lose. The only way he does lose it is if he is caught on a hot mic saying that Trump should be impeached and the unhinged Far Right Republicans in the state abandon him.
The insanity continues in Vermont politics.
Donna makes some interesting points. He says “Vermont has become a JOKE,” but his reasoning involves a lot of good policy options. Then he says that Christine Hallquist and Bernie Sanders should go back to New York, but must be forgetting that Bernie Sanders is actually the most popular senator among their own constituents nationwide. Sounds like he (Donna) is in the minority.
@ NorthOldEnder
What we are being fed as capitalism & socialism for that matter, is nothing but good old fashioned fascism in nice clothing with a really good PR manager. The sooner we stop ignoring the “man behind the curtain” & stop believing the propaganda that everyone to our right or left is our sworn enemy, the sooner we all get to setting things right again.
Now is the time to change our laws for contributions to campaign financing! To be sure donations will be pouring in from other states to help with the campaign! Yet we as US citizens consistently help other countries oust or elect officials, yet complain when allegations are focused on another country influences our election…no different in state elections…all monies need to be from ” residents” within this state…however…no elected official will ever make a stand and do everything in his – her power to make sure contributions are from in state residents! Phsssss! Another fiasco on the horizon in the Dems corner!
@ some of us are sometimes right.. if you want to call me a he thinking it will upset me, that’s fine.. in fact, I laughed.. but when you still have your tallywacker you’re still a male…
Wouldn’t it be something if Christine reached out to her running mates, and included them and their ideas, talents, plans and service in her campaign , and plans for improving Vermont? Unify the democratic party in Vermont and demonstrate it IS possible to work together cooperatively and succeed. No one has all the answers, but together we can forge a future of our own design that meets the needs of the greater good. Creativity abounds. Let’s access it!