Out In The Mountains : News - CU Supporters, Opponents Defeated in Primaries

Five Republicans who voted for the law granting same-sex couples marriage benefits and rights were targeted and defeated. One Democrat who opposed the law was targeted by a challenger who supports civil unions. The challenger won that race.

Chittenden County was the surprise of the primary season. Several groups, with substantial backing from outside forces, waged a nasty and inaccurate campaign against Sen. Peter Brownell and former Lt. Gov. Barbara Snelling.

The campaign, conducted through direct mail, advertising and telephone banks, was largely successful. Brownell was defeated and Snelling, one of the state’s most admired Republicans, barely survived the primary.

Much of the misinformation was distributed by a group called the Vermont Defense of Marriage Political Action Committee. Among the material it distributed were brochures suggesting that a “militant homosexual” agenda had been launched in Vermont and was being promoted by a willing media.

The brochures suggested that Brownell and Snelling were anti-family because Brownell voted for the law and Snelling said she would have if she’d been in the Senate this year.

Also targeted in the campaign were Bill Meub, a Rutland lawyer who challenged Ruth Dwyer for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. It was unclear why he was targeted, because he has said he opposes civil unions. Meub was defeated by Dwyer, as expected.

Rep. Thomas Little, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and one of the key architects of the civil unions law, also was targeted by the campaign. He won his primary re-election bid.

There also were telephone calls and mailings sent by a group from northern Virginia. Michael McHugh, a former Vermonter who was instrumental in helping to blockade abortion clinics a decade ago, was an instrumental player in conducting the campaign. McHugh now lives in Virginia but spent a good part of the summer in Vermont working against civil unions supporters.

Another ugly and successful campaign was waged in Orange County against Rep. Marion Milne, who said during civil unions debate in the House that she might lose her seat because of her support for the law.

Milne, who represents six small towns, was targeted by the loose-knit Take Back Vermont movement, which is based in her area. She was subjected to a variety of mean-spirited campaigning and even her grandson was.

Although she was defeated in the Republican primary, Milne decided to give all of the voters of her district an opportunity to judge her six-year tenure as a legislator. She will run in November as an independent.

In the Northeast Kingdom, Republican Rep. Robert Kinsey, a member of the Legislature for more than 30 years, also was defeated in the GOP primary. But he received enough votes in the Democratic primary to win that nomination, and Kinsey decided to accept it.

Another defeat came in the northwest corner of the state, where Republican Rep. John Edwards lost. Edwards, a retired state police lieutenant, was skeptical of the issue of same-sex unions when the Legislature convened this year but, as a Republican member of the Judiciary Committee, became one of its most important backers.

Edwards said he decided not to run as an independent in November and he will retire from the Legislature.

In Burlington, Rep. James McNamara suffered a backlash of a different sort. A Democrat from Burlington’s New North End, McNamara voted against civil unions. His challenger seized on that vote and defeated him in the primary.

Some others who were targeted, however, won their primaries. Democratic Rep. George Cross in Winooski survived a challenge, and will appear on the November ballot. In the Morrisville-Stowe district, Republican Reps. Cathy Voyer and Richard Marron also turned aside a challenge from two civil unions opponents.