Secretary of State: Condos Wins For Dems; Gibbs For GOP

AP

Jim Condos (left) and Jason Gibbs

(Host) In the secretary of state's race, there were primaries in the Democratic and Republican Parties.

Former state senator Jim Condos (KON-dohse) won the Democratic nomination.

And Jason Gibbs, the former aide to Governor Jim Douglas, will represent the Republicans.

VPR's Ross Sneyd reports.

(Sneyd)  Condos won about two-thirds of the vote in his contest against Democratic Montpelier lawyer Charles Merriman.

Condos represented Chittenden County in the state Senate for eight years and spent 18 years on the South Burlington City Council.

And Gibbs, the Republican, beat Williston lawyer Chris Roy by about 10 points.

Gibbs served as a policy aide and spokesman for Governor Douglas and spent 18 months as commissioner of the Forest, Parks and Recreation Department.

Both men promise to continue raising the same themes that became familiar in the primary.

For Condos, it's all about government transparency.

(Condos) "I'm certainly going to continue my focus on the issue of transparency and I think we need to make sure the government business is above board and open for all citizen monitoring and participation. Without transparency there is no public faith."

(Sneyd) Gibbs says he'll continue talking about reforming the secretary of state's office.

(Gibbs) "My focus is going to continue to be on how we reform and rethink the office of secretary of state in ways that make it a much more valuable tool in the generation of private sector economic activity, ways that we can leverage innovation to reduce the tax burden, ways that we can make it a stronger, more valuable partner in the creation of jobs in Vermont."

(Sneyd) The secretary of state's office will be open this fall because incumbent Deb Markowitz is stepping down.

For VPR News, I'm Ross Sneyd.

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