Vermont Republican Party
Chairman	Paul Dame
Governor	Phil Scott
Senate Minority Leader	Scott Beck
House Minority Leader	Patricia McCoy
Founded	July 13, 1854; 171 years ago (1854-07-13)
Headquarters	Montpelier, Vermont
Ideology	Conservatism
National affiliation	Republican Party
Colors	Red
Seats in the U.S. Senate	0 / 2
Seats in the U.S. House	0 / 1
Statewide Offices	2 / 6
Seats in the State Senate	13 / 30
Seats in the State House	56 / 150
Elected County Judges	7 / 42
Countywide Offices	5 / 42
Mayorships	1 / 8
Burlington City Council	0 / 12
Election symbol
Website
www.vtgop.org
Politics of Vermont Elections

TheVermont Republican Party is the affiliate of theRepublican Party inVermont and has been active since its foundation in the 1860s. The party is the second largest in the state behind theVermont Democratic Party, but ahead of theVermont Progressive Party. The party historically dominated Vermont politics until the mid-20th century, but was replaced by the Vermont Democratic Party. The party currently has very weak federal electoral power in the state, controlling none of Vermont's federal elected offices. The two statewide offices that the party currently controls are thegovernorship, held byPhil Scott, and thelieutenant governorship, held byJohn S. Rodgers.

The Vermont Republican Party tends to hold moremoderate views than other Republican Party state affiliates. This is because Vermont is widely regarded as one of the mostliberal and progressive states in the nation.^[1] Vermont Republicans also tend to be moreanti-Trumpist than Republicans in other states. Current Republican Governor Phil Scott voted forDemocratic nomineeKamala Harris in the2024 presidential election andJoe Biden in the2020 presidential election^[2][3][4][5] calling both "a vote against Donald Trump" and a move to "put country over party"^[5] and acknowledged Biden's victory, repudiatingfalse claims of election interference.^[6]

In the2024 primaries, theVermont primary was one of only two races thatDonald Trump did not carry (the other being theDistrict of Columbia primary).^[7][8][9]

Newspaper editorEliakim Persons Walton condemned the 1854Whig Convention for not being against slavery strongly. The first convention of the Vermont Republican Party was held on July 13, 1854, in Montpelier, Vermont. The party was organized, nominated candidates for office, selected delegates to theRepublican National Convention, and approved a platform. The convention was meant to be held on July 4, but was delayed to July 13 as to be on the anniversary of theNorthwest Ordinance. Had the convention been held on July 4, it would have been the first Republican convention held instead of the one conducted by theMichigan Republican Party.^{[10][11][12][13]}Lawrence Brainerd was selected to serve as president of the convention.^[14]

Walton was initially selected to serve as the party's gubernatorial nominee in the 1854 election, but he withdrew and the party selected to give its nomination toStephen Royce, who was a member of the Whig Party and had already been nominated to serve as their gubernatorial candidate.^[15][16] Royce accepted the party's nomination and won the1854 gubernatorial election.^[17][18] The Whig Party of Vermont disbanded and merged with the Republicans in 1854, and Joyce won reelected in the1855 gubernatorial election with the Republican nomination.^{[19][20][21][22]}

The party won every statewide election from 1854 to 1958, won every presidential election from 1856 to 1960, and held the governorship from 1854 to 1963.^[23][24]

William H. Meyer won election to theUnited States House of Representatives fromVermont's at-large congressional district in 1958, becoming the first Democrat to win statewide since 1853. SenatorBarry Goldwater, the Republican presidential nominee for the1964 presidential election, became the first Republican to not win Vermont in a presidential election as helost the state to incumbent Democratic PresidentLyndon B. Johnson.^[23][25]Philip H. Hoff's victory in the1962 gubernatorial election made him the first member of the Democratic Party to hold Vermont's governorship since the1853 gubernatorial election.^[25]

Vermont only elected Republicans to theUnited States Senate for 118 years.^[26]Patrick Leahy's victory in the1974 Senate election made him the first member of the Democratic Party elected to the United States Senate from Vermont.^[25] SenatorJim Jeffords left the Republican Party on May 24, 2001, to become anindependent and caucus with the Democratic Party which gave them the majority in theUnited States Senate.^[27]

The party controlled all of the seats in theVermont Senate after the 1924 election. The Democrats gained control of the state senate for the first time after the 1986 election.^[28] The party received its lowest amount of seats in the state senate since its foundation in the2018 election.^[29]

In the 2024 elections, the party won the lieutenant gubernatorial election withJohn S. Rodgers, and also made significant gains in the state Senate as well as the House, breaking Democraticsupermajorities in both chambers. They won 13 of 30 Senate districts - their best total since the 2000s - with Democrats and Progressives combining for the other 17.^[30]

The Vermont Republican Party controls two of the six statewide offices.

• None

• 
  GovernorPhil Scott
• 
  Lieutenant GovernorJohn S. Rodgers

• Vermont Senate
  • Minority Leader:Scott Beck
• Vermont House of Representatives
  • Minority Leader:Patricia McCoy

House Election year No. of overall seats won +/– Governor Reference 1876 205 / 241 Asahel Peck [31] 1878 175 / 241 30 Horace Fairbanks [31] 1880 217 / 241 42 Redfield Proctor [31] 1882 183 / 241 34 Redfield Proctor [31] 1884 195 / 241 12 John L. Barstow [31] 1886 206 / 241 11 Samuel E. Pingree [31] 1888 219 / 241 13 Ebenezer J. Ormsbee [31] 1890 172 / 241 47 William P. Dillingham [31] 1892 200 / 241 28 Carroll S. Page [31] 1894 228 / 241 28 Levi K. Fuller [31] 1896 224 / 241 4 Urban A. Woodbury [31] 1898 203 / 241 21 Josiah Grout [31] 1900 196 / 241 7 Edward Curtis Smith [31] 1902 192 / 241 4 William W. Stickney [31] 1904 206 / 241 14 John G. McCullough [31] 1906 199 / 241 7 Charles J. Bell [31] 1908 201 / 241 2 Fletcher D. Proctor [31] 1910 194 / 241 7 George H. Prouty [31] 1912 146 / 241 48 John A. Mead [31] 1914 174 / 241 28 Allen M. Fletcher [31] 1916 195 / 241 21 Charles W. Gates [31] 1918 211 / 241 16 Horace F. Graham [31] 1920 215 / 241 4 Percival W. Clement [31]

Senate Election year No. of overall seats won +/– Governor Reference 1876 30 / 30 Asahel Peck [31] 1878 29 / 30 1 Horace Fairbanks [31] 1880 30 / 30 1 Redfield Proctor [31] 1882 28 / 30 2 Redfield Proctor [31] 1884 27 / 30 1 John L. Barstow [31] 1886 29 / 30 2 Samuel E. Pingree [31] 1888 30 / 30 1 Ebenezer J. Ormsbee [31] 1890 29 / 30 1 William P. Dillingham [31] 1892 30 / 30 1 Carroll S. Page [31] 1894 30 / 30 Levi K. Fuller [31] 1896 30 / 30 Urban A. Woodbury [31] 1898 30 / 30 Josiah Grout [31] 1900 30 / 30 Edward Curtis Smith [31] 1902 25 / 30 5 William W. Stickney [31] 1904 30 / 30 5 John G. McCullough [31] 1906 30 / 30 Charles J. Bell [31] 1908 28 / 30 2 Fletcher D. Proctor [31] 1910 30 / 30 2 George H. Prouty [31] 1912 27 / 30 3 John A. Mead [31] 1914 30 / 30 3 Allen M. Fletcher [31] 1916 30 / 30 Charles W. Gates [31] 1918 29 / 30 1 Horace F. Graham [31] 1920 29 / 30 Percival W. Clement [31]

• Doyle, William (1992).The Vermont Political Tradition: And Those Who Helped Make It.ISBN 0961548614.
• Hand, Samuel; Marshall, Jeffrey; Sanford, D. (1985).""Little Republics" The Structure of State Politics in Vermont, 1854-1920"(PDF).53 (3).Vermont Historical Society.{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help)

• Vermont Republican Party

• 1860s establishments in Vermont
• Political parties established in the 1860s
• Political parties in Vermont
• Republican Party (United States) by state
• Vermont Republicans

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