The American Communist Party appears to have elected its first member to public office, with unofficial results showing Chris Helali leading in his write-in campaign for High Bailiff of Orange County, Vermont. This marks the party’s first general election since its formation this year.
Jackson Hinkle, a member of the party’s Executive Board, announced on November 6 that Helali had won the race, identifying him as a member of the American Communist Party. However, while Helali leads in unofficial totals as of this week, a winner has yet to be declared, and final certified results have not been released.
Helali launched his write-in campaign after incumbent High Bailiff Bob Workley opted not to seek re-election, leaving the seat open when no candidates filed by the deadline to appear on the ballot. Helali still faced a challenge in the general election from Tom Harty, another write-in candidate who announced his campaign around the same time.
According to unofficial data from the Vermont Secretary of State’s office, a total of 1,887 write-in votes were cast for the position, with nearly 16,000 ballots left blank. Voters wrote in over 600 unique candidate names or variations of a name. An estimate compiled by Independent Political Report suggests that Helali currently leads Harty by close to 150 votes.
The final outcome will depend largely on how the Vermont Secretary of State’s office handles certain groupings of votes, as several variations of Helali’s and Harty’s names appear in the current totals. How these variations are tallied could impact the final result if certain names are treated as distinct candidates.
The office of high bailiff is unique to Vermont and is responsible for serving writs that the sheriff cannot otherwise serve, as well as temporarily assuming the sheriff’s duties if they are otherwise incapacitated or incarcerated.
Is there a sober bailiff, or a bailiff who is merely buzzed?
It’s Vermont… he could be to the right of Bernie Sanders!
I don’t think it would have made all that much difference, because Vermont loves its communists. Dear old McCarthy – God bless him – would be proud of what that state has become.
Anyone want to guess how the election would have gone if he had identified as a communist before the vote?