Free Republic

It took nearly six weeks -- talk about a long election night wait -- but we finally have a winner in the race for Vermont State Auditor. Incumbent Randy Brock (R) appeared the winner on election night by a margin of 137 votes. After the statewide recount, and correcting for errors in how paper ballots were tabulated in some rural communities, it turns out Brock lost to accountant Tom Salmon Jr. (D) by 104 votes. It was Vermont's first statewide recount in 26 years. Before election day, Brock was one of six African-American Republicans holding statewide elective offices around the...

Brock ousts Ready November 3, 2004 By John Zicconi Vermont Press Bureau BURLINGTON — Republican Randy Brock made history Tuesday, unseating two-term incumbent Auditor Elizabeth Ready to become the first African-American to win a Vermont statewide election. Along the way, he won by a comfortable 10-point margin, garnering 52 percent of the vote to Ready's 42 percent with more than 92 percent of the vote counted. "I am looking forward to changing the tone at the top," Brock said Tuesday night. "We're going to focus not on finger-pointing, but on keeping people out of trouble." Ready declined to make a...

MONTPELIER — Republican Randy Brock on Monday called on his election opponent, State Auditor Elizabeth Ready, to cease overseeing state audits until she can explain why several biographies credit her with college degrees she does not possess. Ready, a two-term Democrat from Lincoln seeking re-election on Nov. 2, said she has no intention of recusing herself. "I have a contract with Vermonters," she said Monday. "And I'm going to keep that contract." A biographical sketch book published by the Vermont secretary of state from 1988 to 1996 reported that Ready holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Vermont. Editions...