Moderate Republicans in Vermont are pondering their next move after falling short in their effort to stop Donald Trump from become their party鈥檚 presidential nominee.
Nikki Haley鈥檚 supporters in Vermont pulled off what her backers in no other state could do last week 鈥� a victory in the Republican presidential primary.
They didn鈥檛 have long to savor the win. Fewer than 24 hours after the polls closed in Vermont, Haley announced that she was suspending her campaign. And that鈥檚 left anti-Trump Republicans pondering their next move.
鈥淭here certainly are a lot of people who have nowhere to vote now."Mary Evslin, co-chair of Nikki Haley's Vermont leadership team
鈥淚鈥檓 really not sure where that goes,鈥� said Ashley Bartley, co-chair of Haley鈥檚 leadership team in Vermont. 鈥淎nd I am personally very concerned about what a Donald Trump presidency would look like again.鈥�
Bartley got her first call from the Haley campaign back in November, inquiring about a potential political operation in Vermont.
鈥淭he Haley team and I sat down. They said, 'This is what we鈥檙e looking to do 鈥� we鈥檙e looking to work on an endorsement and putting together a leadership team, can you help us?鈥� And I said, 鈥楢bsolutely,鈥欌�� Bartley said.
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Bartley is a Republican lawmaker from Fairfax with a history of working for presidential candidates who are not Donald Trump. She worked for John Kasich鈥檚 campaign in 2016. And she was eager to play a role for Haley in Vermont.
鈥淲hat they were doing is they were going to states and really focusing on states with an open primary,鈥� she said.
The Haley team funneled considerable resources into the state. In the months leading up to the primary, volunteer supporters were using the campaign鈥檚 I-360 smartphone app and other outreach tools to connect with likely Haley voters.
鈥淔ront Porch Forum was our best friend, which is something that鈥檚 just so different in Vermont than a lot of other states,鈥� Bartley said.
They also got the big endorsement they were looking for, from Phil Scott, the most popular governor in the U.S. Scott also appeared alongside Haley at a campaign event in South Burlington two days before the primary.
And it worked. Haley defeated Trump by four percentage points here 鈥� and then promptly dropped out of the race.
For Vermont Republicans such as Mary Evslin, it鈥檚 unclear how they鈥檒l redirect the time and energy they鈥檇 been pouring into the one candidate they believed could stop Trump.
鈥淭here certainly are a lot of people who have nowhere to vote now,鈥� said Evslin, also a co-chair of Haley鈥檚 Vermont leadership team.
Evslin said Haley represented a long-overdue new chapter in American politics. She said she could comfortably cast a vote for Biden in November.
鈥淚 think he鈥檚 a kind, good, decent human being,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 do not feel that way about Trump.鈥�
But she said the country needs something that neither of the two major party nominees offer.
鈥淚t鈥檚 time to pass the banner to a younger generation 鈥� so I don鈥檛 see where our choice is,鈥� Evslin said. 鈥淏ut there鈥檚 a whole big huge gap of people who will be looking for an answer, I think.鈥�
Joe Benning, a former Republican state senator and the GOP nominee for lieutenant governor in 2022, said he joined Haley鈥檚 leadership team in Vermont because of her platform. But he said he was also compelled to support her because of who she was up against.
鈥淚 looked at the frontrunner, and I鈥檓 hearing the same toxic, chaos conspiracy theories that have divided our party horribly,鈥� he said.
As for next steps, Benning said he鈥檚 taking his cue from the former South Carolina governor.
鈥淚 completely agree with her that the burden is on Donald Trump to win people like me and to unite the Republican Party,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 have no idea whether he鈥檚 capable of doing that.鈥�
If Trump can鈥檛 bridge that division, Benning said, then he thinks Republicans are going to have serious problems in November.
鈥淓specially in Vermont,鈥� he said.
Gov. Scott has said he鈥檒l do anything he can to prevent Trump from becoming the next president. Asked last week what he thinks Vermont Republicans should do to avoid that outcome, Scott offered some suggestions.
鈥淲ell, don鈥檛 vote for Donald Trump, number one,鈥� he said. 鈥淣umber two, educate your family members. Try to do your research and homework. Hold him accountable for the things he does and says that aren鈥檛 accurate.鈥�
Scott said he鈥檒l continue his own 鈥渞esistance鈥� against Trump whenever the opportunity presents.
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