One has it easy, and one is running hard, according to interviews with gay representatives Bill Lippert (D.-Hinesburg) and Robert Dostis (D.-Waterbury). Lippert, the long-time legislative veteran, has been in the legislature for nine years and is running unopposed. Dostis was first elected in the civil union/Act 60 backlash election of 2000.
      “I’m exhausted,” admitted Dostis in a phone interview. “I’m in a two-member district and there’s only one Republican running, but he’s working hard.”
      Asked what he’s been hearing on the campaign trail from constituents, Dostis replied, “Mostly I hear that they’re pleased with my work. I haven’t pissed anyone off. So I’m cautiously optimistic. As a freshman legislator, I still have to work hard for votes, and that means going out every day, knocking on doors.”
      One issue he hears about is affordable health care. “I’ve got folks whose kids are in the Dr. Dynasaur program, but the parents have no coverage,” said Dostis. Taxes are another perennial concern. “People are very upset with how high their taxes are going. We have to reduce our reliance on the property tax to fund education. The block grant is going up 3 percent a year, but budgets are going up 6 percent a year, and that throws the added expense back onto the local property tax.”
      He hears almost nothing about civil union, but thinks Repub-licans are “working hard to elect opponents. It’s their secret agenda.”
      If the election for the governor and/or lieutenant governor ends up in the legislature, the vote, said Dostis, should be open. “I don’t believe in the secret ballot” on this issue, he said. “It could be challenging for me to decide which way to vote. I’ll probably look at who gets the most votes statewide and at how my district votes. Likely my district will go for Racine, and that won’t be a challenge for me. But if the district went overwhelmingly against, that would make it very difficult. I’m likely to vote with my constituents.”
      And, he said, “The thing is, that we have got to get our community out there, engaged and voting. We cannot take this lightly. [Democrats] must retain the Senate if we’re going to hold onto civil unions.”
      Lippert is relatively relaxed, thanks to not having opposition for his seat representing most of Hinesburg. “I am pleased to have that be the case,” he said. “I think it’s a measure of the support I enjoy and my success in the legislature. Four years ago against a strong opponent I won with 60 percent of the vote. Last election in the backlash, that total dropped by only one point.”
      He is focusing his attention elsewhere, helping the party and working to support other Democratic candidates. “But it’s been very low-key,” he said of his own campaigning. For the final weeks of the campaign he planned to register voters and talk to people. “I’m surprised at how low-key the race is at the gubernatorial level. I think the intensity of the politics of two years ago is still having an impact.”
      Asked whether he thinks there will be a low voter turn out, Lippert said, “It makes me nervous. I’m just hoping that our community will understand that this election is so important. Out-of-staters don’t understand the significance of this election because there’s no visible civil union opposition.
      “I think there’s a strategic decision to keep it quiet, though I have no hard evidence to support that. The Republicans have learned that right wing rhetoric will cost them the Governor’s office,” Lippert said. “We need to show up, vote, be very active at the polls.” And, he concluded, we need to “have one-on-one conversations with our friends and neighbors, because they may tip the balance. Who is in the Governor’s seat is going to be hugely important for our community and the state as a whole.”

VCU Endorses Candidates

      In other political news, Vermonters for Civil Unions (VCU) issued a list of endorsements that at the top of the ticket held no surprises and encompassed the entire Democratic slate: Doug Racine for Governor, Peter Shumlin for Lieutenant Governor, Jeb Spaulding for Treasurer, Deb Markowitz for Secretary of State, and Elizabeth Ready for State Auditor.
      In the legislative races, VCU offered no endorsements in a number of races, and at least one surprise: for Lamoille County’s single Senate seat, it endorsed both Susan Bartlett, the Democratic incumbent, and Cathy Voyer, the Republican former Representative. According to notes provided on the VCU Election Report web page, the Voyer endorsement reflects Voyer’s participation in crafting and supporting the original civil union bill, despite her vote for H.404, a bill to define marriage in Vermont as between a man and a woman. “We remain extremely disappointed by then-Representative Voyer’s vote on this anti-gay bill,” concludes the note.
      VCU used four criteria to decide on its endorsements, including “loyalty,” “electability,” “strength of conviction,” and how “the candidate compare[s] to other contenders running for the same seat.” “Loyalty” was determined by the candidate’s votes on the civil union bill, and on two other House bills meant to weaken the provision. Details of “strength of conviction” and the candidate comparison criteria were not offered.