Before the five-month program wound down, four Emerge participants declared for Statehouse office — Becca Balint of Windham County and Dawn Ellis of Chittenden County are seeking senate seats and Kiah Morris of Bennington and Julie Raboin in Orleans County are vying for House seats. All are running as Democrats.
One of 14 states to join the national organization, Emerge Vermont launched its first training program in March, educating Vermont women on the nuts and bolts of a political career: public speaking, fundraising, networking, campaign strategy, media and ethical leadership. It turned out to be a diverse group; The women hailed from nine counties, ranged in age from 29 to 58, and included attorneys, consultants, executive directors and government employees.
For the four who made the leap into politics, their campaigns are well underway, and two — Morris and Balint — face primary battles on Aug. 26.
“Due to ongoing health and family issues,” Raboin said she may resign from the race following the primary.
Sarah McCall, executive director at Emerge, says the candidates are utilizing the training they’ve received and running competitive campaigns. Balint, she said, has raised more than $10,000 by last count, substantially more than the other three Democrats running against her in a competitive Windham County primary.
“We were really, really thrilled with four women running for office,” McCall said. “I think the training got them over the hump of ‘OK, yes, I’m going to do this.’”
The women also represent Emerge’s mission of diversity of all kinds in public office, McCall added; two of the four identify as women of color, and two are LGBT.
The Emerge group met for seven days of training from March to July, convening a weekend a month in towns around the state. More than 30 speakers brought their expertise from a variety of professions and fields: covering the basics of campaigning, fundraising, media and messaging and approaches to ethical leadership and cultural competency.
The candidates consider Emerge key in laying the groundwork for a run for office, but perhaps just as important, they said, is the camaraderie and community they have forged. The group ended up, Morris said, to be “a sisterhood.”
Even in the wee hours of the night, Ellis said, she can keep in contact with her fellow female Democratic candidates.
“When I’m up at midnight, I say, ‘How’s it going?’” Ellis said of the ongoing Facebook dialogue. “We’re still in touch and it’s a wonderful way to create a community that didn’t already exist. We cut across geography. The Democratic Party is a big tent — this cuts across that tent.”
Emerge was founded in California in 2002, and now has 14 states promoting its mission to “recruit, train, and mentor Democratic women and increase the number of women running for all levels of public office.”
Last year, former Vermont Gov. Madeleine Kunin was the keynote speaker for Emerge participants in San Francisco. She came back to Vermont and, after talking to a few female legislators that summer was inspired to take the next steps. “It really resonated,” she said. The 17 Vermont participants sat down to their first weekend training six months later.
Kunin helps raise the money for Emerge — for McCall’s salary and for training costs — and calls herself a “mentor and cheerleader” for the women.
Emerge “is working out even more successfully than I anticipated. The four women that are running are evidence of that. That’s exciting,” she said. “And even if (participants) don’t run, they have gained a knowledge base.”
That focus on teaching, Morris said, was something Emerge did very well.
“I could not speak more highly about the depth of information we were receiving,” Morris said. The face of Vermont politics is changing, she explained, and education becomes a must with the advent of social media, Super PACs and private interest groups.
At 38, Morris, of Bennington, is married with a three-year-old son. She’s one of four Democrats running in the primary in a two-seat House district. By the time she applied to participate in Emerge last year, Morris had already decided she wanted to run for office. Emerge, though, gave her the practical tools to take the next step with confidence.
She cited the program’s comprehensive training on networking and social media as a particular benefit.
“Having an understanding of campaign finance laws was immensely important,” she added. “Knowing that I’m in compliance with the law.”
July 13 marked the first graduation and Kunin passed out the diplomas. The confidence and optimism exuded by the participants at the ceremony “thrilled” her, she said.
After the graduation, Kunin asked one participant what she had gained from the program.
“She said ‘it restored my idealism,’” Kunin said. Women, she said, “go into politics because they want to achieve change.”
Despite Emerge’s focus on women’s education and empowerment, discrimination or issues of race and gender barriers didn’t often arise in group discussions, Morris said. Rather, there was a strong interest among participants in the environment, education and the economy, she said, and in strengthening Vermont communities.
But the barriers for women that Emerge means to help female candidates overcome are still very real, they said.
Toward the beginning of her campaign, Balint received an anonymous postcard in the mail. The card read: “I urge you to end your political ambitions and stay home with your children.”
It was an eye-opening moment.
“It was like, ‘Oh, this is real,’” she said. “People still feel that way.”
The Vermont Legislature is 40 percent female, with a higher percentage of women than all states except Colorado. But there are far fewer women than men at the town level, on selectboards and in local governance, McCall said. And Vermont is one of four states that has never sent a woman to Washington, D.C.
“The world of politics is still seen as masculine and very competitive and not necessarily collaborative,” Morris said. “It’s not inherently welcoming to women and the strengths we bring and our lived experiences.”
The candidates, however, don’t see the political competition as a deterrent — they see it as an opportunity to create change in the political sphere.
Ellis, who heads up a national research and consulting firm, was an executive director of a nonprofit, and is the mother of twin boys has struggled to find the right balance between work and home life. In many ways, she said, political structures haven’t adapted to the shift in women’s role in society.
“Particularly at poverty level, we see parents who are stretched really thin,” Ellis said. “I see it as a design opportunity — how can we catalyze an opportunity that makes (our society) healthier and more productive and more efficient.”
Ellis sees a solution through decentralizing support services, increased flexibility in work hours and locations, among other changes.
“I see the discussion stuck at maternity leave,” she said with a laugh. “And really that’s just the beginning.”
“I bring personal experience and an extreme listening ear,” Ellis said. “I’m prepared to bring a fresh perspective.”
That kind of optimism is what keeps Kunin excited about the program.
“You look at what’s going on in the world today, I can’t help but think that if there were more women in office there’d be less of us killing each other,” she said.
That’s a high calling, but when the going gets tough, Balint says she can always share her frustrations on the Emerge Facebook page.
“They always respond,” she said. “At Emerge, I’m not just the candidate. I’m Becca when I go there and I can talk about the challenges and successes of my campaign.”
For Balint, that support will be a constant no matter what happens in Windham County on Aug. 26.
Win or lose, she said, “I still have these women doing incredible things all over the state who have got my back.”
CORRECTION: Ellis holds a masters degree in public administration; she is not a lawyer, as originally reported.
