LaFleur steps in to challenge Pieciak for Vermont treasurer

Lynn LaFleur will face Democratic incumbent Mike Pieciak in the race for Vermont treasurer. The Stowe accountant was not on the August primary ballot, but she is now the Republican Party's official candidate for the November 3 general election.

The nomination followed a strategic move by perennial candidate H. Brooke Paige. Paige appeared on the primary ballot for all four statewide offices, including treasurer, secretary of state, and attorney general. He won the Republican primary in every race, a legal strategy that allowed the party to select replacements for each position.

Matt Dickinson, a political science professor at Middlebury College, explained that the maneuver prevents Democratic voters from crossing over in the open primary system to steal the Republican nomination. Dickinson noted that Paige has used this method since 2018, though his replacements have rarely won general elections.

Dickinson described the process as legally sound but politically debated. "Perfectly legal, makes a lot of political sense, but one might argue that it defeats the purposes of having primaries as the means for nominating candidates for these offices," Dickinson said. LaFleur argued that the strategy protects the party's spot on the ballot regardless of which party employs it.

LaFleur has spent the weeks since the primary traveling the state to introduce herself to voters. "It's been a whirlwind, I'm going all over the state.. just getting out there, I need people to know who I am and what I can do for the state," LaFleur said. She acknowledged the historical difficulty for Republicans in this race, noting that no Republican has won the treasurer's office since 1989.

The treasurer's race is one of four often-overlooked statewide contests in the upcoming midterms. Charity Clark, the incumbent attorney general, will run against Republican Edwin Howell Kemon. Sarah Copeland Hanzas, the current secretary of state, faces H. Brooke Paige in that race.

Vermonters will head to the polls on Tuesday, November 3, to decide the fates of these four offices. Polls are scheduled to open at 7 a.m. that day.