Leahy retirement sets off scramble in Vermont for successor

By LISA RATHKE
Associated Press

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Democrat Patrick Leahy’s announcement that he will retire after eight terms in the Senate has set off a scramble in Vermont over the rare opening in the state’s tiny congressional delegation. While political observers expect Democratic Rep. Peter Welch to be a leading candidate if he decides to run, there is also some pressure for Vermont to elect a woman. It’s the only state in the nation to never send a woman to Congress. The last time Vermont had an open seat was in 2006, when Bernie Sanders succeeded Jim Jeffords as a U.S. senator and Welch took Sanders’ spot in the state’s only U.S. House seat.