Today, Vermont Conservation Voters (VCV) released its complete slate of pro-environment endorsements for candidates running for the Vermont State Legislature. Find out which local candidates were endorsed at: VermontConservationVoters.com/elections.
“VCV is pleased to endorse so many candidates for the Vermont House and Senate who understand that a healthy environment is essential to a healthy economy and good quality of life,” said Lauren Hierl, Executive Director of VCV.
To inform VCV’s endorsement process, the organization closely monitors lawmakers’ actions at the State House, including leadership demonstrated by sponsoring and championing environmental bills, and key votes on priority issues – which are tracked in VCV’s Environmental Scorecard. VCV endorses candidates with strong environmental records, typically a score of 80% or higher in the latest Scorecard, with a small number of exceptions for candidates who were noteworthy champions on key issues.
For new candidates, endorsement decisions were based on completed VCV questionnaires that expressed clear support for tackling climate change, investing in clean water, reducing Vermonters’ exposure to toxic chemicals, and other environmental community priorities.For statewide candidates, VCV’s Board and staff invite candidates for an in-person interview.
Notably, for the first time in VCV’s 36-year history, the organization did not endorse any Republican candidates, because none achieved a high enough score in the 2017-18 Environmental Scorecard. VCV is a nonpartisan organization, and this year’s endorsements include Independent, Democratic, and Progressive candidates.
On the lack of Republican candidates on the list, Hierl noted “It’s very discouraging to see Vermont Republicans’ average environmental voting records drop dramatically over the past two years. Hopefully this session is an outlier and not a trend toward the extreme partisanship we’re seeing elsewhere in the country, which would undermine our work toward shared and broadly-supported goals of clean water, climate action, and healthy communities.”
The full list of VCV-endorsed candidates is available at VermontConservationVoters.com/elections.
“With urgent issues like climate change and polluted waters facing Vermont, we urge Vermont voters to get out and vote for pro-environment candidates up and down the ballot on or before November 6th,” added Hierl.
Vermont Conservation Voters is a nonprofit, nonpartisan statewide organization that works to elect pro-environment candidates, advocate for strong environmental laws, and hold lawmakers accountable.