Vermont governor race: Christine Hallquist faces incumbent Republican Phil Scott

Democrat Christine Hallquist made history in August when she won her primary race for governor of Vermont and became the first openly transgender gubernatorial nominee in the country. The former CEO of Vermont Electric Cooperative is fairly liberal — her campaign focused on providing broadband internet access across the state, as well as environmental energy policies.

However, she wasn’t ultimately able to win a tough race against incumbent Republican Gov. Phil Scott. Although his popularity has dropped over the past year (in part due to his support for new gun control laws), he is popular among Democrats and a favorite in the race. He won with 55 percent of the vote.

Nevertheless, Hallquist’s candidacy was historic. She told the Guardian that she was motivated to run for office by the election of Donald Trump in 2016, which led her to attend the Women’s March and eventually quit her job and run for office.