With Election Day coming on November 3, 2026, this week's search for the shovel takes us into the voting booth.

Alison: How much could Vermont's Legislature change this election?

Answer: Potentially enough to matter. Vermonters will elect all 30 state senators and all 150 state representatives this year.

What happens next: For contractors, the important question isn't simply whether the State House gets redder or bluer. It's whether the Legislature that returns to Montpelier is prepared to tackle housing, permitting, infrastructure, workforce, taxes and the cost of doing business.

Taylor's Translation:
We aren't asking legislators whether they know how to run an excavator. We'd just like them to stop making it harder for the people who do.

Cheyanne: What's the biggest federal election question for contractors?

Answer: Who controls Congress. As of October 23, Decision Desk HQ's forecast rates Democrats as likely to win the U.S. House, while its Senate forecast is considerably tighter. That's a forecast, not an election result, and neither chamber has been decided.

What happens next: Whichever party controls the House and Senate will help determine the direction of federal policy affecting construction. For AGC Vermont, that's why the post-election conversation should quickly turn away from campaign politics and toward infrastructure, permitting, workforce and the regulatory environment.

Taylor's Tanslation:
On November 4, we still have roads to build, housing to create and people to put to work. Somebody in Washington better remember where they left the shovel.

Paul: What should Vermont contractors be watching after the ballots are counted?

Answer: Not merely the winners, but the governing majorities. Vermont voters are choosing the governor and other statewide officers along with the entire General Assembly. The gubernatorial ballot includes incumbent Republican Phil Scott, Democratic/Progressive Amanda Janoo, and other candidates.

That combination matters because the governor and Legislature will have to work together, or against one another, on the major issues facing Vermont.

What happens next: AGC Vermont's job doesn't change depending upon who wins. We need to walk into the next biennium prepared to tell every elected official:

If Vermont wants more housing, better infrastructure and stronger communities, somebody actually has to build them.

Searching for the Shovel: Election Summary

Whether we're looking toward Montpelier or Washington, the election changes the names on some of the doors, but it doesn't change the work waiting on the other side.

Here in Vermont, we're electing the governor and the entire 150-member House and 30-member Senate. Nationally, control of Congress is also on the line.

But here's the funny thing: potholes apparently don't check party registration, housing shortages don't disappear after Election Day, and bridges remain remarkably unimpressed by campaign promises.

Whoever gets elected will inherit the same basic list:

• Build more housing.
• Fix the infrastructure.
• Create a permitting system people can actually navigate.
• Find and train workers.
• Keep Vermont affordable enough that those workers can live here.
• And maybe, just maybe, remember that somebody eventually has to build all of this stuff.

So AGC Vermont's message after November 3 should be pretty simple:

Congratulations. You won. Now grab a shovel.

Because when the political signs come down on November 4, Vermont's contractors will still be getting up, going to work and building the things everybody spent the last six months promising.

And if the politicians can't find the shovel, don't worry. We're still searching for the damn thing.