Republicans made historic gains in the Vermont legislature in the 2024 election. More seats flipped from blue to red here than in any other state, shattering the Democratic supermajorities in both the Senate and the House. That allowed Republican Gov. Phil Scott to veto bills favored by Dems without fear of an override — which significantly altered Statehouse dynamics this past session.

After such a success, one would think the chair of the Vermont Republican Party, Paul Dame, would cruise to another two-year term. Instead, as the VTGOP prepares for its biennial convention in Burlington this Saturday, November 8, Dame faces a robust challenge from Sen. Russ Ingalls (R-Essex), who says the current chair is not doing enough to prepare for next year’s elections.

“We cannot afford to sit back and watch the gains that we have made disappear like they have in the past,” Ingalls told party loyalists in Barre Town on Saturday. A real estate agent from Newport and one of the most conservative voices in the Senate, Ingalls argues that the party’s paltry fundraising is putting its future at risk.

The two squared off at weekend events in Rutland and Barre Town. At the latter, they spoke and fielded questions during a breakfast at the Canadian Club. Each made his final pitch about why he should lead the VTGOP.

“We cannot afford to sit back and watch the gains that we have made disappear like they have in the past.”

Sen. Russ Ingalls

Ingalls said big donors are bypassing the party, instead contributing directly to the campaigns of promising candidates. Many have told him that if he’s elected chair, they’ll once again help the party fill a war chest needed to preserve the recent gains and possibly even expand upon them in 2026, he said. As soon as Ingalls announced his interest in the position, he said, his phone started ringing. “And it rang. And it rang some more. And the message was, ‘We need a change,’” Ingalls said. “We need a change in direction. We need a change in fundraising. We need a change in the way we recruit candidates.”

Ingalls said he’s deeply concerned about how little money the party has on hand. He claimed it has “less than $10,000” in “spendable dollars” after short-term expenses, such as the cost of the upcoming convention at Hotel Champlain Burlington, are paid.

“We’re broke in the party,” Ingalls said. “We have zero dollars, and we’re one year away from an election.”

Dame denied the claims, saying the party has about $18,000 on hand. Federal filings show the party had $27,000 in its accounts at the beginning of October.

Ingalls argues that the party ought to have $1 million or more to ensure that it continues to make legislative gains, including winning a majority in the Senate, something Republicans haven’t done in decades.

“We just need three more seats to flip the Senate, and I think that we can do that,” Ingalls said.

The gains of 2024 meant the GOP went from holding seven to 13 seats in the 30-member Senate. Since then, however, two first-year Republicans have resigned. Sam Douglass stepped down under pressure last month from his seat representing Orleans County after he was outed as having participated in a racist, sexist Young Republicans chat group. Another lawmaker, Sen. Larry Hart (R-Orange), announced last week that he will resign effective November 14.

Democrats immediately announced candidates who plan to run for those two seats in 2026. That’s increased the pressure on the GOP to find candidates who can hold onto them next year.

“If you’ve got a winning team, you keep as many players as you can.”

Paul Dame

Dame, a former House member from Essex Junction who was elected party chair in 2021, says the VTGOP’s best chance of building on those gains is to stay the course. When he was elected, the party’s top leader, Gov. Scott, wasn’t even attending party meetings. Dame has helped facilitate the détente between the moderate governor and the VTGOP’s leadership, which led Scott to campaign for Republican candidates in 2024.

The governor deserves the credit for the support, but he “did that with me in charge,” Dame said.

Dame claims he has built an effective fundraising network and candidate recruitment program, both of which contributed to the gains. It makes no sense to upend leadership that is clearly working, he said.

“If you’ve got a winning team, you keep as many players as you can,” Dame told about two dozen Republicans at the Barre Town event.

Behind the scenes, however, some party insiders have been uncomfortable with how Dame has turned the role of chair into a full-time job. Instead of the $14,400 per year Dame originally earned, he now makes more than $60,000 according to people familiar with the party’s finances. The VTGOP’s 2024 federal financial disclosure included a payroll expense of $64,690; Dame is the party’s only employee.

Dame, who is also a financial adviser, declined to confirm his salary but said all increases have been approved by the party’s executive committee. The party does not have an executive director, and Dame effectively serves as one.

Some in the party, however, say concerns about overhead have caused donations to drop, which led Dame to miss his own fundraising targets this year. August Murray, a retired Army colonel from Weathersfield who serves on the party executive committee, issued a statement ahead of the election calling for change.

“I believe we need a new VTGOP Chair who puts ‘Party over Payroll’ and rebuilds donor confidence,” Murray wrote. “We need a Chair who prioritizes fundraising growth and outreach — not overhead. We need a Chair focused on unifying the Party and winning elections — not salary and rule changes.”

Murray declined an interview request.

Paul Dame Credit: Jeb Wallace-Brodeur

Last week, Dame defended his recent fundraising efforts to Seven Days, saying he had just received a $10,000 donation and another for $1,000.

“The donors that I’ve been talking to this week are sending me checks, so they’re feeling pretty good,” Dame said.

The VTGOP has always been a party of “plucky upstarts” that can run races on a shoestring, Dame said. He argued that recruiting and training viable grassroots candidates is just as important, if not more so, than raising money to fund campaigns.

Ingalls countered in an interview that while a single big donation may help in the short term, it pales in comparison to the funds the party needs for next year.

“It’s a good thing that $10,000 came in, or we’d be meeting at Howard Johnson’s!” Ingalls quipped about the upcoming convention.

Dame has also had a recent high-profile stumble. Following an October 14 Politico story about the Young Republicans chat, top party leaders, including Gov. Scott, immediately called on Douglass to resign.

In the chat, a Republican in New York State said an Indian woman being discussed “was not Indian.” Douglass chimed in, stating, “She just didn’t bathe often,” according to Politico.

While party leaders, including Ingalls, immediately called for Douglass’ ouster, Dame held back.

The following day, he put out a statement of his own that said the “remarks attributed to Sen. Douglass themselves were not bigoted or racist.” Dame added that he would join Scott and others in calling for Douglass’ resignation if the senator did not step forward to explain himself and condemn the language used by others in the chat.

Hours later, the executive committee of the VTGOP issued what it called a “full, complete retraction of the previously issued statement by Chairman Paul Dame.” The committee condemned the “hateful, racist, and antisemitic messages” in the chat and also called on Douglass to immediately resign.

Dame told Seven Days that his goal was to prod Douglass, who had until that point remained silent about the controversy, to say something to take control of the situation.

“This was a big story and he needed to make some kind of statement,” Dame said.

He said he wanted to hear from Douglass before calling for his resignation.

“I didn’t feel the need to respond as quickly as I think other people did, and at the end of the day, I guess I was the only one,” Dame said.

Dame has pointed out that he has endorsements from 27 Vermont Republican lawmakers — out of 68 — as well as the five other GOP state leaders in New England.

Rep. Jim Harrison (R-Chittenden) backs Dame over Ingalls. He feels Dame deserves some of the credit for the 2024 gains.

“If you win the World Series and you happen to be manager and it was your players that did all the work and made the home runs, you still look pretty good,” Harrison said.

He also feels it would be difficult for Ingalls, who is a real estate agent, the owner of radio stations in the Northeast Kingdom and a sitting senator, to juggle those responsibilities and serve as party chair.

“Anytime you get up, are you speaking as a representative, or are you speaking as the party chair?” Harrison said.

Dame agreed it’s best if the chair is not also a lawmaker. Senators need to reach across the aisle to be effective, while the party chair can let loose on Democrats when needed, he said.

The real reason behind the leadership challenge, Dame thinks, is that the recent legislative wins have energized people and made them see the party’s potential.

“When you build a successful organization,” he said, “it becomes more attractive, and more people want to take it over.”

The original print version of this article was headlined “Party Planning | GOP Sen. Russ Ingalls wants Paul Dame’s job leading the VTGOP. Republicans will decide on Saturday.”

This article appears in Nov 5-11 2025.