At a virtual event for Vermont Democrats Tuesday night, Welch said he was looking forward to the party's congressional gains and to the prospect of Leahy chairing the Senate Appropriations Committee, in the event the Dems take the chamber.

"We're going to be able to return to the reasons that motivated each of us to get into politics in the first place," Welch said. "It's about using government to try to solve difficult problems in a way that's helpful to everyday people."

Back in Vermont, Winooski voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot item to allow noncitizen immigrants to vote in local elections, the second Vermont municipality to pass what’s known as “all-resident voting” in as many years.

The measure passed 2,479 to 999, according to unofficial results Tuesday night. The “yes” vote is to change the city’s charter, a decision that the state legislature and governor must now approve. Noncitizens would be able to vote in city and school elections; state and federal races remain off-limits.

The vote is significant for Winooski, a city of 7,300 that boasts Vermont’s most diverse population and the state’s only majority-minority school district. Nearly 10 percent of residents there are not U.S. citizens.

Prashant Singh, an Indian immigrant who moved to Winooski in 2014, was nearly speechless when Seven Days told him the result of the vote.

“That’s great news,” he said just before 7:30 Tuesday night, adding, “I don’t have words to say, but I’m so, so happy.”

Singh was one of two noncitizens to serve on Winooski’s Charter Commission, which helped bring the item to the ballot. His application for legal permanent residency has been in a queue for four years, and he would have to hold that status for five years before he could apply for citizenship. Meantime, he works in Winooski, owns a home there and sends his children to Winooski schools.

Proponents of the measure argued that situations such as Singh’s amount to taxation without representation. Opponents, however, said that voting is a sacred right that should be reserved for American citizens.


Montpelier voters adopted a similar charter change in November 2018, but the measure stalled in the Statehouse. The bill must be reintroduced next year in the Senate. Unofficial results show that 3,734 voters cast ballots on Tuesday, a 68 percent voter turnout.