Christina Nolan is running for the U.S. Senate. Sounds great. The more candidates - especially the more women candidates - the better. 

The seat has been held by Sen. Patrick J. Leahy since his election in 1974. Leahy’s 48 years in the Senate deserve a detailed examination by a good journalist in book form. He challenged the venerable Republican George Aiken and won the seat when Aiken retired. He decided judicial nominations as chair of the Judiciary committee. He determined the destination of billions of dollars via the Appropriations committee. He has presided over or has been involved with virtually every big event since Watergate and he has done so while maintaining an authentic connection and love for Vermont. These are big shoes to fill. 

Sitting U.S. Congressman Peter Welch is running to replace Leahy. Welch is well-known, popular and the odds-on favorite to win the seat. 

Vermonters know their Republican party in thrall of the Trump-crazy wing. The big issues for this wing are critical race theory, guns, Joe Biden’s false election, defense of the insurrection on Jan. 6 and attacking Democrats as socialists bent on destroying America. 

Now comes Christina Nolan. Her resume is excellent. She is the former U.S. Attorney for Vermont, the highest federal law enforcement official in the state, and was appointed by former President Donald Trump. She then worked at Sheehey, Furlong and Behm, a very respected Burlington law firm. Nolan also graduated from the University of Vermont and Boston College Law School, clerked for a judge, worked as a prosecutor in Massachusetts and for another big time Boston law firm called Goodwin Proctor. 

Nolan promises a fresh perspective with independent thinking. In a recent interview with VTDigger, she called herself an environmentalist and said, as a gay woman, she cares about marriage equality and women’s rights. 

Beyond that, there’s not much to go on. But that’s what campaigns are about. Welch is an open book on his positions. He runs very close to Bernie Sanders on pretty much every issue: Medicare for All, paid family leave, higher minimum wage, Trump’s impeachment. He just does so with a quieter voice. 

As the campaign unfolds, I hope the Vermont media will push Nolan to answer a series of questions that tell us whether she is part of the Trump rabble or whether, if elected, she will be a serious, responsible senator . 

Here is my list of questions:

• Did you vote for Trump for president?

• Do you believe President Biden is the duly-elected president of the United States? 

• If you had a daughter, would you recommend that she apply for a job with the Trump organization? 

• Would you vote for Mitch McConnell to be Senate Majority Leader?

• Do you favor a women’s right to an abortion?

• Do you favor the legalization of marijuana for recreational use?

• Do you favor the death penalty?

• Do you agree with the statement from the Republican National Committee that Jan. 6 rioters were engaging in “legitimate political discourse”?

• Would you have voted for Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett to be confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court?

These are softball questions for any candidate, but for a Republican in this political climate, they are difficult ones, especially in Vermont, the most liberal state in the country. 

I invite readers to weigh in with their own questions as the campaign for the Leahy Senate seat continues. And I hope the media pushes Nolan hard to answer them.