Phil Scott easily defeated progressive activist Brenda Siegel to win a fourth two-year term as governor of Vermont.
With about half of state precincts reporting, the incumbent Republican had more than 73 percent of the vote to 22 percent for Siegel.
Since he became governor in 2017, Scott says he has focused on minimizing Vermonters’ tax burden, ensuring that the vulnerable are helped and growing the economy. Scott led Vermont through the COVID-19 pandemic and won high marks for helping the state avoid some of the harshest impacts felt by other states.
Get Complete Vermont Election Results
Siegel, who focused on issues like housing, ending the opioid crisis and fighting climate change, ran for governor in 2018, coming in third in a four-person primary. In 2020, she ran for lieutenant governor, again coming in third in a four-person race.
Scott was a frequent critic of former President Donald Trump, and voted for Joe Biden in the 2020 election. He was often highlighted in national politics as among Republicans not caught up in the Make American Great Again version of the party that has emerged in recent years.
Scott is a fiscal conservative who has been reluctant to raise taxes or impose more of what he feels are onerous regulations that reduce economic opportunity in Vermont. The state is trying to counter a demographic crisis that has seen it losing young people.
But Scott also has pushed, he says, to grow the state’s economy, make Vermont more affordable, and protect the vulnerable through efforts such as fighting the opioid epidemic, strengthening the mental health system and working to protect the environment. He has said he also wants to restore trust in government.
