A WEEK LATER....

Vermont election results can be found here in various formats.

From vt.Buzz

Independent Anthony Pollina finished second in the governor's race over Democrat Gaye Symington by 257 votes. Of course, both of them are well behind Republican Jim Douglas, by like 100,000 votes.

The results offers some interesting fodder. To wit:

- Pollina discounts the fact that his 21 percent of the vote showing is less than the 25 percent he received in 2002 in the lt. gov. race. You'll recall, too, that during the campaign he made note of that 25 percent and said that if those 25 percent bring a friend, he'll win. Well, the 56,564 people who voted for him in 2002 don't seem to have many friends. He had 69,791 votes this time.

- Symington pointed out that every Republican governor in the country won re-election last week, a suggestion that incumbency prevailed over the Obama wave in all governor's races, not just here. Except that there were only a few Republican governors up for election this year - Vermont, Utah, North Dakota and Indiana - and those other states are hardly Obama-friendly in the way Vermont is. Vermont, I would venture to guess without even checking, is the only state where the Democrat came in third in the governor's race.

- Progs took it on the chin in the congressional race. Thomas Hermann came in fourth, after winner Peter Welch and independents Mike Bethel and Jerry Trudell.

Liberty Union Party has lost its minor party status. To maintain it, a party has to garner at least 5% of the vote (not including the vote for Congress).

So what does this mean? Not a lot. The Liberty Union Party doesn't have to bother with a primary in the next election and might get invited to fewer debates, though they were not on a lot of people's invite list this year

Also on the debate-ignore list were Sam Young, Cris Ericson, Tom O'Connor, Larkin Forney, just to name of few of the candidates who took the initiative to gather signatures and get on the ballot. What the Buzzer hardly mentions is the power of money.

LOWER VOTER TURNOUT IN NORTHERN NEW ENGLAND

Brattleboro Reformer Glenn Adams Associated Press 11 November 2008

The nearly 327,000 Vermont voters who cast ballots accounted for 66 percent of the state's eligible voters. Of those, 29 percent -- also a record -- did so via early and absentee ballots, according to Secretary of State Deborah Markowitz. Last Tuesday's turnout percentage of eligible voters falls short of the 1992 figure, she said.

But this year's raw participation figure was higher than in the 2004 presidential election, when 314,220 people cast ballots.

While voter participation by absentee ballots was heavy if not a record in all three northern New England states, it did not translate into record turnouts.

"What was interesting to me was that our (town) clerks were reporting that they thought it was going to be much higher. In part, that was because they had such an overwhelming demand for early ballots. Election Day in Vermont began weeks before Nov. 4. So it wasn't as busy as it could've been," Markowitz said.

Find out how New Hampshire and Maine did here.

GAYE SYMINGTON FOR GOVERNOR

FOR THE PAST SEVERAL WEEKS, I've been phone banking for the Gaye Symington for Governor campaign and am impressed by Gaye's dedication to Vermonters and good government. If you remain uncertain, please take two minutes and read the column, "Courage Outside the Comfort Zone," found here.

THE GOVERNOR'S ETHICS VIOLATION

A formal complaint has been filed. GREEN MOUNTAIN DAILY has the whole nine yards.