Well, he has no political experience in his background in Vermont from what I see, so I don't know if he has any name recognition in the state. I've been away for a year and a half, but never heard of him.
Should Bernie Sanders run for the seat, he's a shoo-in unless the dems also run a strong candidate and split the lib/socialist vote.
From 28 years of observing VT politics, the people up here like to elect someone they know, and once they elect him, they don't like to change horses. Look at Leahy, Jeffords, Sanders, Dean, former Gov. Snelling. They all had/have almost lifetime positions.