President pro tempore of the Vermont State Senate

The President pro tempore of the Vermont State Senate presides over the body in the absence of the Lieutenant Governor. In addition, the Senate President serves as a member of the Committee on Committees. The Committee on Committees, made up of the Lieutenant Governor, President of the Senate and a State Senator chosen by his or her peers, is responsible for making committee assignments and designating committee chairpersons, vice chairpersons and clerks.[1]

Since 2011 the Senate President has been Senator John F. Campbell of Windsor County. Peter Welch, currently Vermont's member of the United States House of Representatives, served as Senate President from 1985 to 1989 and 2003 to 2007, and was the first Democrat to hold the post. Peter Shumlin, Governor since 2011, served as Senate President from 1997 to 2003 and 2007 to 2011.[2]

From the founding of the Republican Party in the 1850s until the 1960s, only Republicans won statewide offices, and Republicans also controlled both the Vermont Senate and Vermont House of Representatives. As part of the party's Mountain Rule, the post of Senate President, along with that of House Speaker, were used to groom future Governors and Lieutenant Governors. Including Shumlin, nine Governors have served as Senate President (Eaton, Hendee, Redfield Proctor, McCullough, Prouty, Wills, Mortimer Proctor, Emerson, and Shumlin), as have six Lieutenant Governors who did not attain the governorship (Dale, Hinckley, Bates, Farnsworth, Babcock and Racine).

Senate President Term Party
Horace Eaton 1841 Whig
Ebenezer N. Briggs 1843 Whig
James Barrett 1845 Whig
George T. Hodges 1846-1847 Whig
John Kimball 1848 Whig
Oliver P. Chandler 1849 Whig
Asa Wentworth Jr. 1851 Whig
Edward Seymour 1852 Whig
Bliss N. Davis 1859 Republican
George Wilkins 1860 Republican
Frederick E. Woodbridge 1861 Republican
George F. Edmunds 1861-1862 Republican
Henry E. Stoughton 1863 Republican
Leverett B. Englesby 1864 Republican
Worthington C. Smith 1865 Republican
Seneca M. Dorr 1865-1866 Republican
George W. Hendee 1867-1868 Republican
George N. Dale 1869 Republican
Charles H. Heath 1870 Republican
Lyman G. Hinckley 1872 Republican
Redfield Proctor 1874 Republican
William W. Grout 1876 Republican
Loveland Munson 1878 Republican
Philip K. Gleed 1880 Republican
Justus Dartt 1882 Republican
Laforrest H. Thompson 1884 Republican
Henry C. Bates 1886-1888 Republican
Frank A. Dwinell 1890 Republican
Alfred A. Hall 1892 Republican
Frank Plumley 1894 Republican
Ashbel A. Dean 1896 Republican
John G. McCullough 1898 Republican
Frederick W. Baldwin 1900 Republican
Chauncey W. Brownell 1902 Republican
George H. Prouty 1904 Republican
William J. Van Patten 1906 Republican
Ernest W. Gibson, Sr. 1908 Republican
Max L. Powell 1910 Republican
Frederick H. Babbitt 1912 Republican
Max L. Powell 1915 Republican
William H. Fairchild 1917 Republican
Martin S. Vilas 1919 Republican
Harvey R. Kingsley 1921 Republican
Walter K. Farnsworth 1923 Republican
Edward H. Edgerton 1925 Republican
Levi P. Smith 1927-1929 Republican
William H. Wills 1931 Republican
Charles B. Adams 1933 Republican
William H. Wills 1935 Republican
Ernest W. Dunklee 1937 Republican
Mortimer R. Proctor 1939 Republican
Joseph H. Denny 1941 Republican
Lee E. Emerson 1943 Republican
John A. M. Hinsman 1945 Republican
Carroll L. Coburn 1947 Republican
Asa S. Bloomer 1949 Republican
Merrill W. Harris 1951 Republican
Carleton G. Howe 1953 Republican
Asa S. Bloomer 1955 Republican
Robert S. Babcock 1957 Republican
Asa S. Bloomer 1959-1963 Republican
John H. Boylan 1963-1965 Republican
George W. F. Cook 1965-1969 Republican
Edward G. Janeway 1969-1975 Republican
Robert A. Bloomer 1975-1985 Republican
Peter Welch 1985-1989 Democratic
Douglas Racine 1989-1993 Democratic
John H. Bloomer 1993-1995 Republican
Stephen W. Webster 1995-1997 Republican
Peter Shumlin 1997-2003 Democratic
Peter Welch 2003-2007 Democratic
Peter Shumlin 2007-2011 Democratic
John F. Campbell 2011-Present Democratic[3]

References

  1. The Vermont Encyclopedia, by John J. Duffy, Samuel B. Hand and Ralph H. Orth, 2003, pages 17 to 18
  2. Presidents pro tempore of the Vermont State Senate since 1870, by Vermont Secretary of State Archives and Records Administration, 2011, page 7
  3. List of Presidents pro tempore of the Vermont Senate, published by Vermont General Assembly, 2011
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