Republican Businessman From Pomfret Launches GOP Campaign For U.S. Senate

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(Host) A Republican businessman from Pomfret has entered the race to challenge Senator Patrick Leahy’s re-election.

VPR’s Ross Sneyd reports.

(Sneyd) Len Britton describes himself as a ninth generation Vermonter whose ancestors go back to one of Vermont’s very first U.S. senators.

If he has his way, next fall Britton would replace the longest-serving senator in Vermont history.

(Britton) "I think that the timing is very good for this. There seems to be, from the Vermonters that I have been talking to over the last several months, just an anti-incumbency attitude that says the professional politicians have gotten us where we are now, it might be a good time to let somebody who is a citizen legislator to have a chance at it."

(Sneyd) Britton considers Senator Leahy a professional politician. Leahy has served nearly 30 years in Washington and is seeking a seventh term.

Britton lives in Pomfret and runs a lumber, hardware and landscaping business in the village of Taftsville, east of Woodstock. He doesn’t have any political experience.

He says he wants to address the needs of everyday Vermonters by focusing on jobs, national security and sustainable government budgets.

(Britton) "The first and foremost issue is that we need to, as a nation, look at everything we do from missile shields in Poland to health care, through the spectrum of whether we can afford it, how are we going to pay for it and who is going to pay for it."

(Sneyd) Britton says he doesn’t expect to be able to raise a lot of money for his campaign. So he expects it will be a grassroots operation.

Senator Leahy already has another challenger. Daniel Freilich (fray-lick), a physician from Wilmington, is challenging Leahy for the Democratic nomination.

For VPR News, I’m Ross Sneyd.

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