Haas Convincingly
Defeats Fox

Progressive Rep. Sandy Haas of Rochester kept her seat in the Vermont House Tuesday with a convincing win over Bethel Selectman Neal Fox.

Fox had waged an intensive campaign against the two-term representative, and the contest generated more letters to The Herald than any campaign in history, with letters coming equally from the two sides.

In the end, however, Haas posted a 1193-897 victory (57% to 43%) that even Fox acknowleged as an "overwhelming" margin. She won the Bethel vote by 454 to 438, and triumphed by more than two to one in Rochester. Only in Pittsfield did Fox prevail, by a 132-115 vote.

"I'm delighted that I won in Bethel," Haas said Wednesday morning. "I didn't want to see this become a contest between two towns." She said she was confirmed in her b elief that "personal contact is more important than expensive mailing campaigns" and noted that Fox had been the beneficiary of Republican-generated mailings late in the campaign which, she said, distorted her record.

Haas said she has been happy with her assignment on the Human Services Committee but hasn't decided which committee to request this year, a decision made by House Speaker Gaye Symington.

She said she looked forward to meeting some of the new folks elected this year. "One of the fun things about being up there is that everybody brings different life experiences," she noted.

She repeated a campaign statement that a personal priority would be to "do a lot more on health care." The Catamount Health Plan as adopted should be strengthened this year, she said, though she noted she's not sure the Democratic leadership will agree that the bill should come up again.

The other priority will be property taxes, Haas said.

Fox said he couldn't think of much more he could have done in his campaign to get a more favorable result.

"It just wasn't my time," he said, "and it wasn't for any moderate Republican anywhere in the country."

He thought some unpopular decisions as Bethel Selectman may have hurt him in his home town but noted he was at the polls for 12 hours on voting day.

"One person's got to lose," he summarized. "But I'm not going to give up on my issues. We have to have more economic growth in Vermont. People have got to make a living."