Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Democrat who is the chamber’s longest-serving sitting member from either party, announced Monday that he would not seek a ninth term in 2022. While Leahy is famously the only Democrat ever elected to represent the Green Mountain State in the Senate—Bernie Sanders campaigned as an independent in all three of his successful campaigns—there’s little question that Team Blue’s eventual nominee will prevail in this 66-31 Biden state. Leahy’s long career in office began in 1966 when Gov. Phillip Hoff, the state’s first Democratic chief executive since before the Civil War, appointed the 26-year-old Leahy to serve as Chittenden County state’s attorney. Leahy developed statewide recognition during his eight years as the top prosecutor of Vermont’s most populous county, and he began preparing for a 1974 Senate run even before longtime Republican incumbent George Aiken announced his retirement. Read more