Ted Cohen/Patch.com
Vermont this year may for the first time ever vote whether to send two women to Congress, breathtaking considering that the tiny New England state has never sent one woman to the U.S. Capitol - let alone two.
Warren physician Niki Thran and former U.S. Attorney for Vermont Christina Nolan are the latest women in the potentially historic political mix as possible U.S. Senate candidates.
Find out what's happening in Across Vermontfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
"I am seriously considering running," Nolan, 42, said.
Thran, a Democrat, said she is running to address healthcare issues.
Find out what's happening in Across Vermontfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
“I’m going to be 60 years old, and I have never seen national health care failing like this,” Thran told VTDigger. “I’m hearing horror stories from the other ER docs on the ground. It’s brutal.”
Thran and Nolan in the Senate race would join three female candidates seeking the lone U.S. House seat from Vermont, raising the likelihood that the tiny northeast state could actually send two women to Congress - one to the Senate and one to the House.
Vermont has never sent a woman to Congress - not to the house, not to the senate.
So a twofer would not only make history, it would be unprecedented.
Nolan is also a Vermont native, giving her a credential not held by the only announced candidate so far seeking retiring Sen. Patrick Leahy's seat.
U S. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vermont, has already announced his candidacy to succeed Leahy. Welch is originally from Massachusetts.
Nolan, considered a moderate Republican, had bipartisan support in her nomination as U.S. attorney.
Meanwhile, Vermont also has a woman who is one of two announced candidates for lieutenant governor this year - Patricia Preston, running against state Rep. Charlie Kimbell. The incumbent, Molly Gray, is running for Welch's seat, as is state Rep. Becca Balint and state Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale.
