MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - The Vermont Senate on Tuesday honored the nearly half-century of service of former member William Doyle, who was first elected to the chamber in 1968 when the state was still solidly controlled by the Republican Party and Richard Nixon was first elected president.
Doyle, 90, a Republican, lost his re-election bid last November, coming in fourth in a race for three seats to represent Washington County in the 30-member Senate
In the Tuesday ceremony in the Senate chamber, former Sen. Vince Illuzzi, a Republican who served with Doyle, said Doyle spent his years in government working to expand Vermonters’ opportunity to participate in government.
Doyle also worked to ensure members of the minority party in the chamber, Democrats when he began serving, were given committee chairmanships as a way to ensure all voices would be heard.
Now Republicans are in the minority in the Senate, holding seven of 30 seats, with the rest held by Democrats and Progressives. In the committee assignments handed out in the opening days of the 2017 Legislature, Republicans chair two Senate committees.
“As a member of the Senate majority, and later as a member of the Committee on Committees, Bill Doyle supported and insisted on that bipartisan approach, which certainly creates a different spirit in these halls from what prevails in Washington,” Illuzzi said. “And it’s nice to see it continues today. Thank you, Bill Doyle.”
Doyle was the body’s longest-serving member when he lost his re-election bid. Before leaving the Senate, Doyle was tied with a Texas lawmaker as holding the second-longest tenure as state legislators in the country.
Doyle, a New Jersey native, moved to Vermont in the late 1950s to teach political science at Johnson State College. He ran for a seat in the state House in 1966 and lost.
He was elected to the Senate two years later and was re-elected every other year until November.
In comments Tuesday, Doyle said he’s grateful to his family and colleagues.
“I hope that members of the General Assembly and my former constituents will allow that I did my best to help steer our government and meet the … needs of Vermont and the state we love,” Doyle said.
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