The chair of the Vermont Progressive Party, Martha Abbott, has decided her time at the party’s helm is up.
Abbott’s announcement of her departure coincides with the news that Emma Mulvaney-Stanak will run to replace her when the party holds its state convention Nov. 9.
Abbott, who has led the party for the past 12 years, said she has no qualms about stepping down — in fact, she’s been actively recruiting a replacement.
“Twelve years is way long enough,” Abbott said, and, she points out, “I’ve outlasted probably four and five chairs on the other sides [the Democratic and Republican parties].”
Abbott made her decision public in an essay in the Burlington Free Press stating her intention to move aside to make way for younger members of the party.
It wouldn’t be appropriate to make a formal endorsement, Abbott said, but she “strongly encouraged” Mulvaney-Stanak to seek the position.
“I think she will be really good for the party,” Abbott said. “She is extremely talented, and she has already been working in various leadership capacities for the party.”
Mulvaney-Stanak, whose father, Ed Stanak, ran for attorney general on the Progressive ticket in 2012, has served on the party’s coordinating committee and is currently the secretary. The 33-year-old has also worked on local campaigns, and a few statewide ones, for her father and for Sen. Bernie Sanders. In 2006, she served as a state field director for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Scudder Parker.
“I’ve grown up in Vermont so I’ve seen the Progressives grow as a party, and I’ve also seen the challenges of being a Democrat in Vermont,” Mulvaney-Stanak said. “I really feel the [Democratic] party is not as progressive as it needs to be.”
Mulvaney-Stanak spent two terms on the Burlington City Council before she stepped down in 2009. She’s an organizer with the state teachers union, Vermont-NEA, and lives in Winooski.
Mulvaney-Stanak said she plans, in the future, to put her name on the ballot for public office again. But if she’s elected chair, her focus for the next few years will be on recruiting young people and raising money.
“It’s important to have a healthy party, finding great candidates, and getting young people and women in particular involved in leadership positions.”
Abbott will maintain her allegiance to the party by also focusing her efforts on fundraising — something she regrets not having done more of as chair.
“I’ve done as much as I can while also being chair, but it’s been neglected,” she said.
Abbott said she thinks she’s leaving the party on solid footing, pointing to its presence in the Statehouse, where there are eight Progressive legislators and one statewide officeholder — Auditor Doug Hoffer.
Beyond tabulating their stock of elected officials, Abbott said the party has accomplished a lot, simply by “harping on the issues.”
“Two issues we’ve worked hard on are single payer and closing Vermont Yankee, both of which look like they are going to happen,” she said.
Abbott said she also believes the party has been successful at making inroads at the local level, advocating, for instance, for the preservation of the Burlington waterfront.
This story was updated on Oct. 24 at 8:50 a.m. to include comments from Emma Mulvaney-Stanak.
