WILLISTON — Debbie Ingram, executive director of the group Vermont Interfaith Action, announced Wednesday she will run for the Vermont Senate.
Ingram, 54, who serves on the Williston Selectboard, is running as a Democrat. She previously ran for a state Senate seat in 2012, finishing seventh. There are six Senate seats in Chittenden County.
At least one seat will be open in the Chittenden delegation, as Sen. David Zuckerman, a Progressive/Democrat, is running for lieutenant governor. Defense attorney David Sherr has already announced his bid for Senate in Chittenden County.
Ingram, who is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, said her campaign will primarily focus on bringing good-paying jobs to the region, improving the state’s health care system and protecting those in the greatest need, whom she identified as elders, children, and survivors of sexual violence and domestic abuse.
“For the past eight years I have worked with volunteers throughout the county to effect systemic change around all of these issues – just as I would do as a state senator,” Ingram said.
Vermont Interfaith Action is a grass-roots coalition of congregations from across the state that advocates for a variety of social and policy goals, including most recently the Moral Economy campaign, which highlights the impact of stagnant wages and cuts to government services.
Ingram is a graduate of the Snelling Center’s Vermont Leadership Institute and is part of the Emerge program for Democratic women. She graduated from Stanford University and Fuller Theological Seminary in addition to completing a fellowship at Cambridge University in England, according to her announcement.
Ingram said her campaign will host a formal launch event in mid-May.
