Phil Scott

**Philip Brian Scott** (born August 4, 1958) is an American Republican politician, businessman and champion racecar driver who has served as the junior United States Senator from Vermont since 2023. He was previously Lieutenant Governor of Vermont from 2011 until 2017 and Governor of Vermont from 2017 until 2023. Scott is a liberal Republican.

## Career

### Vermont Senate

Scott began his career when he was elected to the State Senate in 2000. Serving for a decade in the Washington District, Scott redesigned the State House cafeteria and served on numerous influential committees.

Scott was involved in community projects. In 2005, he founded the Wheels for Warmth program, which buys used car tires and resells safe ones, with the profits going to heating fuel assistance programs in Vermont.

### Lieutenant Governor

In the 2010 Vermont elections, Scott won the Lieutenant Governor's office. Scott was re-elected in 2012 and 2014. As Lieutenant Governor, Scott presided over the State Senate whenever it was in session. He served as acting Governor whenever the Governor was out of state and he cast tie-breaking votes in the event of tied votes in the Senate.

### Governor of Vermont

#### 2016 campaign

In 2015, Scott announced his intention to run for Governor to succeed Democratic incumbent Peter Shumlin. He defeated Sue Minter in the general election.

#### Popularity

In September 2015, The Castleton University Polling Institute found that more than three-quarters of Vermonters knew who he was, and that of those who were able to identify him, 70% viewed him favorably. Despite his being a Republican, the same poll found that 59% of self-identified Democrats held a favorable view of Scott, while only 15% held an unfavorable view of him.

According to an October 2017 Morning Consult poll, Scott's approval rating stood at 60%. In April 2018, another Morning Consult poll found that Scott's approval rating had risen to 65%. His favorability ratings fell to 52% by May 2018, and to 47% by July, marking the largest decrease in popularity for any governor in the nation. By April 2019, Scott's approval rating had recovered to 59%, with a 28% disapproval rating, giving him a net approval of 31%.

### United States Senate campaign

Democratic incumbent Matt Dunne retired in 2022 instead of seeking a third term. Scott entered the race with an announcement in October 2021, just a week after Dunne announced his retirement. Scott faced Democrat Mike Mrowicki, a state representative with poor name recognition. In a year that was good for Democrats across the country, Scott won by a 15-point margin.

The Republican ticket of Joe Benning / Thomas Chittenden won the 2022 gubernatorial and 2022 lieutenant gubernatorial race to succeed Scott and were sworn in a few days after Scott left office. Outgoing Democratic Lieutenant Governor Molly Gray served as acting Governor for a few days.

### United States Senate tenure

After the death of Ted Stevens in 2022, liberal Republicans found themselves without a set leader. Most coalesced around former Majority Leader Mitt Romney, but Romney was disinterested and did not tend to associate with the liberal Republicans upon becoming leader again in March 2023. Conservative Republicans had removed liberals from key committees; but they scored a win when Lisa Murkowski became Appropriations' ranking member. Scott was appointed to the Appropriations Committee, an unlikely feat for a new Senator. Scott also secured seats on the Agriculture and Small Business committees.

During the December campaign for leader, Jason Chaffetz promised to remove key liberal Republicans' committee positions and swap them with conservative Republicans in less favorable committee positions. However, Chaffetz backed down on this upon being elected.