After an uneven start, Donald Trump’s tour of revenge ousted Republican members of Congress, unleashed an army of Trump-backed “America First” candidates to beat back the establishment and strengthened his grip on the party.

The leader of the Vermont state Senate Becca Balint could become the first woman and the first openly gay person to represent the state in Congress.

Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell is openly recruiting Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin after his fractious split with the White House over the president’s social and environmental spending package.

Democrat Patrick Leahy’s announcement that he will retire after eight terms in the Senate has set off a scramble in Vermont over the rare opening in the state’s tiny congressional delegation.