French, Hutchinson

A HAPPY MAN Rep. Jim Hutchinson seems to be enjoying himself as he campaigns door-to-door on Prospect Avenue on Monday. Hutchinson, who is also Randolph's selectboard chair, easily won his second term.

Are Easily Reëlected

By Sandy Cooch

By substantial margins, voters in the Orange-Addison 1 district returned Democratic incumbents Patsy French and Jim Hutchinson to another two years in the Vermont House.

French, a two-term incumbent, was top vote-getter pulling 2218 votes in the district of Braintree, Brookfield, Granville, and Randolph. Hutchinson, a Randolph selectman who was first elected to the Vermont House in 2004, was just behind with 2062 votes.

Their Republican/Libertarian challengers, David Atkinson of Braintree and Bob Wolffe of Randolph, polled 704 and 884 respectively. (See charts elsewhere in The Herald for town-by-town results.)

Hutchinson and French, both long-time Randolph residents, this week acknowledged that they were aided in their campaigns by being well-known in the area, both as incumbent legislators and by other involvements in the area.

However, both took their challengers seriously and campaigned energetically. French noted that she stopped at almost every house in the district, distributing more than 2600 brochures.

"I based my campaign mostly on property taxes and health care," Hutchinson said. "I think it’s pretty obvious that we spoke to things that people were concerned about."

"I strongly believe," he continued, "that we need to fund at least part of the Education Fund other than through property taxes, which are regressive in that they tax people who don’t necessarily have the most ability to pay."

Hutchinson said he was also committed to examining "the enormous number of exemptions" for property tax payments.

With two years’ experience in the legislature, Hutchinson said he is ready to get to work immediately on the issues.

Hutchinson said he arrived in Montpelier two years ago with "some principles I wanted to work on. Now, I not only understand more of the specifics of the problems, but also more on how to go about doing something about them."

Property taxes and health care were also the issues that she heard most about from constituents, Rep. French noted.

In terms of taxes, French said she supports having more Vermonters paying taxes based on their incomes. However, she also stressed the importance of retaining the "equity" aspects of Acts 60 and 68 that put towns on an equal footing, in terms of funding their local schools.

Both French and Hutchinson said they felt that the federal budget deficit and spending patterns had affected the state, by reducing federal funding for education, transportation, housing, and in other areas.

The Democratic majority in the U.S. House, and possibly in the U.S. Senate, should eventually "turn around" budgeting so that it better assists the states, French predicted.

In his first run for elected position, Bob Wolffe said this week he was disappointed not to win, but pleased with his showing.

He said he personally believed that Vermont voters would regret "allowing liberals to control" so much of their government, and he added that Pres. George W. Bush’s unpopularity probably damaged the prospects of many Republicans in Vermont.

Wolffe pledged to run again in two years: "They’ll be ready for us then," he said.

David Atkinson was disappointed in his vote tallies, but added that the result might have to do with being "on the fringe as far as new things–always a little too early for what was happening."

He emphasized that he and voters remain highly concerned about property taxes.

Rep. Hutchinson said this week that he appreciated they way Atkinson and Wolffe conducted their campaigns.

"I am always really happy when candidates approach (campainging) with open hearts," Hutchinson said. "It’s a fabulous process."

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