The Progressive and Democratic incumbent fell 6,000 votes short of his Republican challenger Tuesday. Though he said he would not call for a recount, he suggested the Legislature could reverse the voters’ decision.

John Rodgers, a Republican from Glover, was elected lieutenant governor of Vermont Tuesday, unseating Progressive/Democrat Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman in a rare ouster of a statewide incumbent. The dramatic conclusion came at the end of a highly competitive — and at times highly personal — contest for the state’s second highest-ranking office.