The Vermont Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Vermont. From the time of the American Civil War until the 1960s, Vermont was an almost exclusively Republican state, with Republicans dominating Vermont politics, especially the governorship, from 1854 to 1960. However, perhaps inspired by the election of John F. Kennedy as president in 1960, Vermont Democrats have since staged a resurgence in state politics. The Democratic Party is currently the dominant party in Vermont. The party has almost complete control of the state, with the exception of Republican governor, Phil Scott. It controls Vermont's at-large U.S. House seat, one of its U.S. Senate seats, and both houses of the state legislature. The other U.S. Senate seat is held by Independent Bernie Sanders, who caucuses with the Democrats. History The exact date or year the state party was formed is unknown because the state headquarters has not retained archives of historical documents. Prior to 1824, opponents of the Federalist Party were known as Republicans or Democratic-Republicans. After the demise of the Federalists left only one major party, supporters of Democratic-Republicans John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay were largely responsible for founding the Whig Party in the early 1830s as the main opposition to Democratic-Republican Andrew Jackson. In 1830, Vermont newspaper articles still referred to supporters of Andrew Jackson for president in 1832 as Democratic-Republican, or occasionally "Democratic". By 1831, the name Democratic was used more often as a way to distinguish Jackson and his supporters from the "old" Democratic-Republican Party of Thomas Jefferson. By the end of 1831, "Democratic" was used almost exclusively. Since Vermont was dominated for so long by Republicans, the national Democratic Party paid little attention to Democrats in the state. Democrats usually contested statewide elections, but opposition to Republicans was generally desultory. Democrats filled appointed federal positions such as U.S. Attorney during the administrations of Democratic presidents, and occasionally received appointment to positions that were considered non-partisan, such as Seneca Haselton's tenure as an associate justice of the Vermont Supreme Court. It was not until the 1960s that the Democrats started to pull together an effective statewide organization. Ideology, policies, and party platform Ideology Today, the Vermont Democratic Party is rooted in progressivism and American liberalism. The state is considered a breeding ground for Progressives and Independents, many of which have close ties to the Vermont Democratic Party. Most Progressives