Vermont Senate candidate Christina Nolan wants to make history multiple times over

ROMNEY SAYS ‘THE ‘80S CALLED’ AND US DIDN’T ANSWER AS RUSSIA INVADES UKRAINE

In a video announcing her candidacy, Nolan said it is “a blessing and a privilege to have been born in Vermont, to have been raised in Vermont, and to call myself a Vermonter.”

“That privilege and that blessing, which I did nothing to earn — I just got lucky — has called me to public service and to give back to the state that gave me so much,” Nolan said.

The open Senate seat in the deep-blue state was created by the retirement of the state’s longtime Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy. Should Nolan win her party’s nomination, she would likely face Rep. Peter Welch, the front-runner for the Democratic nomination.

Charles Moran, president of Log Cabin Republicans, told the Washington Examiner in an interview that he is “just so impressed” by Nolan and her record, citing her work on matters of domestic violence and drugs in particular.

“She was very, very dialed in to what the needs were of her state and what she could do as a U.S. attorney to help alleviate those things,” he said.

Nolan was named U.S. attorney for Vermont in 2017 by former President Donald Trump with the support of both Scott and Leahy. She earned a reputation as tough on gun and drug crimes, and she was the first woman to hold the job in the Green Mountain State.

In her campaign video, Nolan said the government should prioritize public safety, including getting those with substance abuse problems into treatment programs. She also said it should work to address inflation and foster job creation.

Vermont has not elected a Republican to Congress in more than two decades, an obstacle Nolan seemed to acknowledge in her video, promising a “fresh perspective” and bipartisanship.

“We can chart a new course where we start reaching across the aisle,” Nolan said.

But the state’s Democratic Party hit Nolan in a statement as “Trump-appointed” and said her election may hand control of the Senate to Republicans, making Sen. Mitch McConnell majority leader again.

In a statement, Anne Lezak, chairwoman of the state Democratic Party, said, “Nolan — or any other Republican candidate — would put Mitch McConnell in charge of the Senate, empowering an agenda of lower wages, tax cuts for the rich, inaction on climate change, radical anti-choice attacks, higher prescription drug prices, and further assaults on voting rights.”

“At a moment when so much hangs in the balance, Vermonters can’t risk electing someone who would put power in the hands of McConnell, allowing him to be the deciding vote on key issues affecting our families, workers, and those in need; or to give him the reins to appoint increasingly conservative Supreme Court Justices,” Lezak said. “The Vermont Democratic Party fully intends to send two Democrats back to Washington to ensure that we continue to protect our Vermont values.”

Moran called Nolan “ultimately qualified” to serve in the Senate but said her status as a lesbian Republican “is a cherry on top.”

“She would be a big glass roof-shattering candidate for us,” he said, adding that “she would bring a lot of visibility to the diversity of the LGBT community and of those being elected officials and obviously to the Republican Party as well. So I’m just super, super supportive and excited about that.”

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Asked how realistic it would be for the deep-blue state to send a Republican to Washington, Moran argued that Vermont is a much smaller state than California or New York where voters can get to know their Senate candidates on a more intimate level.

“She has a very strong connection to her state and community,” Moran said, rather than “clickbait issues of the day.”