The statewide races in the 2016 election will feature not one, but two Democratic primaries.
A gubernatorial primary matchup between three Dems has been in play for some time, but now the lieutenant governor race is also heating up.
Rep. Kesha Ram, D-Burlington, has decided to challenge Brandon Riker, a Democrat from Marlboro. She will make a formal announcement on Oct. 26 at Main Street Landing in Burlington.
The two Dems are both young, Ram is 29 and Riker is 28, both are from California — and both appear to be equally ambitious. Ram has served in the Legislature since she was 22 and is now an aide in Mayor Miro Weinberger’s administration. Riker, of Marlboro, has worked on two U.S. Senate campaigns and holds a master’s from the London School of Economics.
The biggest difference between the two appears to be money. In July, Riker reported more than $100,000 in campaign contributions, which came from family members and a personal contribution to his campaign.
Whoever wins the Democratic primary will go on to face Randy Brock, a formidable Republican candidate who ran for governor in 2012 and has served as a state senator and as state auditor. Brock also has his own means; in 2012, he contributed $300,000 to his campaign.
Ram says her fundraising effort will have to be “pretty extensive” and “well beyond what has been spent for past lieutenant governor races.” Ram anticipates the need to raise more than the high water mark of $200,000-plus for the lieutenant governor seat that was set in the last election cycle.
“I feel I have early indications that I will have strong financial support,” Ram said.
Ram is running because she says she has developed political skills in the Legislature (an eight-year track record building consensus with “courage and conviction”) and she would bring energy and fresh perspective to the lieutenant governor’s office.
Her platform focus? “Bedrock economic issues.”
Ram pointed to an initiative she said she introduced that would have expanded tax credits for first-time homebuyers. She also says she was a proponent of universal health care and has pushed Act 250 permit reforms that would give Vermont developers a “consistent result.”
She says she wants to make sure there are supports for women in the workplace and that there are “pathways out of poverty.” She has championed the paid sick leave bill and she is interested in ways to provide two free years of education for college students.
Her role, she says, would be “connector-in-chief” and she would work to “solve our intractable problems.”
Brandon Batham of Marlboro is her campaign manager and Stub Earle of Eden is the treasurer of her campaign.
Ram was born in Santa Monica, California, and grew up in Los Angeles. She graduated from UVM in 2008 with a bachelor of science and a bachelor of arts in political science. She serves on the UVM board of trustees.
