OK, so this is what i got when I told an AI image generator to give me a picture of “Polling Place.” Methinks our godlike Tech Wizards still have some work to do.

Anyway, it’s a few minutes before 7:00, and this is just to let you know that I’ll be sitting in front of my computer this evening, liveblogging about the Vermont returns as they come in. Expect a few races to be called right after the polls close, likely including U.S. Congress, Attorney General, Auditor, Secretary of State, and Treasurer, and probably including Lieutenant Governor. Stick around!

7:05 p.m. No votes counted yet, but I can tell you that 171,750 Vermonters cast votes before Election Day. In the last midterm year, the total vote in Vermont was around 286,000.

7:11 p.m. For the record, the Republican Governors Association’s tame IE-PAC, A Stronger Vermont, reported spending a total of $1,002,665.83 in this election cycle on ads attacking Amanda Janoo and supporting Gov. Phil Scott. That’s more money than either candidate spent on their own campaigns. No wonder people think that politics is full of lies and negativity; what they see of the campaigns is mostly these independent expenditures that are more about tearing down than building up. More than half the money was spent on TV ads ($517K); the second largest category was online advertising ($263K), and the third was payments to political consultancies ($151K).

7:35 p.m. A smattering of votes is in. Janoo has a two-percentage-point lead over Scott with about 5% of all votes counted. All the other Democrats on the statewide ballot are off to huge leads over their Republican opponents, including Molly Gray over Lt. Gov. John Rodgers. The Associated Press has yet to call any of the Vermont races except for legislative seats where only one major party fielded a candidate.

7:41 p.m. Scott takes a 5 1/2 point lead over Janoo with 10% of ballots counted. Scott beat Janoo by 16 points in Williston, which might be a worrying figure for the Democrat.

7:45 p.m. The biggest margins of all in early returns are for the two constitutional amendments. Prop 3 (collective bargaining rights) has a nearly 3-to-1 lead, and Prop 4 (equal protection) has a 4-to-1 lead. Only 3-4% of votes counted in those races.

7:50 p.m. Scott’s lead balloons to 11 points with 19% of all votes counted. Most of the returns are from small towns in conservative areas, although the governor is leading Janoo in some suburban Chittenden County communities. He won in St. Johnsbury by 12 points; Vermont’s other cities have yet to report except that Burlington has counted 17% of its ballots. Those votes went to Janoo by more than a 2-to-1 margin.

7:53 p.m. The AP called the Congressional race for incumbent Becca Balint over The Artist Formerly Known As Scary Eagle Man.

7:55 p.m. Upset alert? In the two-seat Caledonia-Essex House district, Democrat Amanda Cochrane has a big lead with 79% of the votes counted. She’s at 32%, while the other three candidates (incumbent Republican Rep. Deborah Dolgin, her husband Steven, and Democrat Heather Whitemore Young) are bunched together within a half a percentage point. Could St. Johnsbury actually send two Democrats to the House??

7:59 p.m. Some tantalizing state Senate results in the “way too early to call” category. The two Democrats are leading in both Addison and Bennington, which would be a net Democratic pickup of one seat in Addison. Dem Kim Gleason leads Republican Sen. Pat Brennan in Grand Isle, and former senator Irene Wrenner leads Rep. Ashley Bartley in the Chittenden North Senate district. And independent Dave Wolk is in second place in Rutland, which currently sends three Republicans to Montpelier. Too soon to call any of those races, but early hopes for Democrats.