[B]URLINGTON — Three more years for Mayor Miro Weinberger.
The incumbent Democrat received 5,749 votes, overcoming independents Carina Driscoll with 4,155 votes and political newcomer Infinite Culcleasure, who had 1,910.
During his victory speech at Nectar’s in Burlington, Weinberger said the city sent a clear message that it was on board with his agenda of fiscal responsibility, investment in infrastructure, increasing the city housing stock and taking action on climate change.
“They affirmed our broader vision of Burlington, a city where there’s opportunity for all members of our community,” Weinberger said.
He praised his opponents for challenging him and his ideas — challenges that he said better prepare him to continue leading the city.
“They both had the courage to climb into the arena, and fight for their visions of Burlington’s future,” Weinberger said. He also praised his opponents for running a clean campaign, and said it should stand as an example across the country.
“America should take notice of this,” he said. “This election represents the best of what democracy looks like — no angry late-night tweets, no sharp sticks, but rather committed candidates discussing real issues.”
However, with 48.38 percent of the vote, Weinberger failed to capture a majority. He said after his speech that his vote total this time around in a three-way race was about 100 votes less than his first election in 2012.
“The fact that we did as well as we did in a strong field, I’m proud of it,” Weinberger said.
Driscoll was considered by many to be Weinberger’s first true challenger. The stepdaughter of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Driscoll was a former city councilor, state representative and school commissioner who offered a more inclusive vision of the city and sought to slow down the city’s rapid pace of development.
After Weinberger’s election, she said that his failure to gain a majority means he needs to shift his outlook.
“We’re paying close attention and expect to see the mayor change after this election,” Driscoll said.
Driscoll said she was proud of the campaign she had run, and praised Burlington’s high voter turnout. With more than 12,000 votes cast, nearly one-third of the city’s registered voters cast a ballot. Driscoll won nearly 35 percent of the vote and captured Ward 3 outright, a Progressive stronghold in Burlington’s Old North End.
“We needed every day of the last 12 weeks to raise awareness of the fact that City Hall is not listening to the people who lived here. Over 11,000 people turning out to vote in this election was remarkable,” Driscoll said.
Culcleasure, a longtime community organizer and political novice, said after Weinberger’s re-election he was thrilled with his performance. On top of capturing more than 16 percent of the vote, he won the student-heavy Ward 8.
“I think we did amazing. The integrity of this campaign was amazing,” Culcleasure said at gathering at Three Needs bar. “I can’t ask for anything more. There’s just so much love in the room.”
Culcleasure often said that his campaign would continue beyond election day, and on Tuesday night he said plans were already in the works to make that happen.
Culcleasure said he wants to mobilize the campaign he started to organize around advancing ballot items during the next vote. He suggested promoting a ballot item that, if approved, would ask city leaders to expand the role of Burlington’s hyper-local Neighborhood Planning Assemblies in city government.
Expanding the role of NPA’s was a key part of Culcleasure campaign.
“The issues sort of get lost with the candidates. So if we can find good issues and craft good questions around it in order to push our City Council, I think that’s the next step,” Culcleasure said.
Culcleasure was leaving his party as the clock was striking 9 p.m. Tuesday to go see his newborn boy, Izra.
Incumbents nearly sweep City Council
All incumbents who ran again won their seat back on the Burlington City Council.
Incumbent Democrat Karen Paul beat out Progressive Charles Simpson and Republican Joel FitzGerald in Ward 6. Incumbent Democrat Chip Mason beat Progressive Jesse Warren in Ward 5, and incumbent Progressive/Democrat Ali Dieng bested Democrat James Loop in Ward 7.
The closest contest race came in Ward 8, where incumbent independent Adam Roof beat University of Vermont student JF Carter Neubieser by 113 votes.
“For a young guy like me, walking into a room with everybody yelling my name. It’s a weird feeling. It’s amazing,” Roof said. He said he owed everything to his campaign team, and said it was validating to win re-election with such a high voter turnout.
Ward 8’s voter turnout jumped in this election. There were 865 votes cast in Ward 8 on Tuesday, compared to 325 votes cast during the last mayoral election in 2015.
In Ward 3, the only seat that was up for grabs, onetime councilor Brian Pine, a Progressive, beat out independent challenger Jim Lockridge and Democrat Lizzie Haskell.
Incumbents Sharon Bushor, I-Ward 1, Max Tracy, P-Ward 2, and Kurt Wright, R-Ward 4, were all unchallenged and won re-election.
Voices from the ballot box: What voters had to say
Vote tallies tell the big story on Town Meeting Day, but insights from individual voters can also shed some light on what the electorate was thinking as it went to the polls Tuesday.
Here’s what some Burlington voters had to say to VTDigger:
Nicole Calderone, who has lived in Burlington for the past two years, said this year’s discussions with her friends were particularly passionate. One of the major points of contention was a ballot resolution calling on the City Council to oppose the basing of the F-35 fighter plane at Burlington International Airport.
Calderone said she ultimately decided to vote no on the resolution, thereby supporting the F-35.
“I think the planes should be available; they’ve responded to a variety of important incidents in the past, “ she said.
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Dan Bouchard, who has lived in Burlington for 25 years, said he voted against the F-35.
“I can’t believe they’d disregard the health issues” involved with the plane, he said.
Bouchard said he voted for independent Carina Driscoll for mayor because he was upset with the downtown development backed by incumbent Miro Weinberger.
“I am very against the monstrosity being built in the middle of town,” he said. “I left where I used to live to get away from that.”
He also said he thought Driscoll would help provide more affordable housing.
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Ariana Ansari and Annie Jones both came out to vote for mayor, saying it was the most important race.
And both said they voted for independent Infinite Concleasure.
“He puts the emphasis on community building and social justice,” Ansari said. “He sees Burlington as a community rather than a business.”
She also said she was against the F-35, largely out of concern for the health and well-being of those who might be affected in South Burlington and Winooski.
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Laurie Vasquenza, 48, called her vote for Weinberger an easy one.
As a supporter of the Burlington mall redevelopment that he negotiated, she said she likes that the city is becoming more “urban.”
“For me, he was the lesser of the three evils,” Vasquenza said. “Moving Burlington into more of an urban environment, I like that.”
She opposed the school budget and the F-35 resolution, saying her vote was a show of support for the warplanes.
“You can’t complain about something before it happens,” Vasquenza said. “They’re complaining about the noise, but it hasn’t even happened yet. So what if it’s not a problem?”
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Tim and Terry McGrath, 64-year-old twins, both backed Driscoll for mayor.
“I think Weinberger is in bed with the developers,” Tim McGrath said. Both brothers said they are concerned about the scale of the Burlington mall project, and thought the city got a raw deal from the developers.
They also agreed that the F-35s shouldn’t come to the Burlington airport. “They should ask to send us something quieter,” Terry McGrath said.
VTDigger interns Kelsey Neubauer and Elizabeth Gribkoff contributed to this story.
