Vermont Legislature Steps In, Reelects Kunin as Governor

MONTPELIER, Vt. — The Vermont Legislature today elected Gov. Madeleine M. Kunin to a second term, the first time in 75 years that lawmakers have had to pick the state’s chief executive.

The legislators were forced to hold the election because none of the three candidates won a 50% majority in the November election. They gave Kunin 139 votes out of 179 cast.

Kunin, a Democrat, was considered virtually certain to win a second two-year term, and was so confident of victory that she distributed advance copies of her inaugural speech Wednesday.

Kunin won 47% of the November vote. Republican Lt. Gov. Peter Smith received 38% and Bernard Sanders, the Socialist mayor of Burlington who ran as an independent, garnered 15%.