With a week before the Aug. 11 primary, several contested House races in Chittenden County are heating up, with some longtime Democratic incumbents facing stiff competition and open seats creating free-for-alls.
In the Chittenden 6-2 district, which comprises both the Old and New North End, Emma Mulvaney-Stanak, a former Burlington city councilor and chair of the Vermont Progressive Party, has mounted a primary challenge to incumbent Rep. Jean O’Sullivan, D-Burlington.
O’Sullivan has served in the Vermont House for eight years — since she was appointed to the seat in 2012. She has most recently served as the vice chair of the House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development, and counts among her accomplishments her role in the Legislature’s response to Covid-19 and the introduction of a bill that would create a chief diversity officer position in the Vermont National Guard.
But Mulvaney-Stanak’s political experience in Burlington may give her the edge she needs to pull off the rare defeat of an incumbent.
“There is this significant power of the incumbent, and it is a part of the culture of the system but it is not insurmountable, and especially not insurmountable when I think candidates do their homework and do their legwork to really reach voters,” Mulvaney-Stanak said in a recent interview.
She also believes that her time on the Burlington City Council, leading the Vermont Progressive Party and her work as an organizer gives her a boost against O’Sullivan compared to a challenger who is unknown.
“I do seem to have a higher level of name recognition than, say, the average person challenging an incumbent,” she said.
The two recently debated on Town Meeting Television.
O’Sullivan said she has been dealing with the shortened campaign season that all incumbents face because of the prolonged legislative session focusing on the coronavirus response. She also said trying to campaign in the era of social distancing has been a real challenge.
“Now I’m jumping into election mode. It’s like ‘oh my god’ it’s just an entire change and jumping into a mode that is fundamentally different than I’ve ever done before,” O’Sullivan said.
O’Sullivan wants to return to Montpelier in 2021 to continue her role as vice chair of the Commerce Committee and help the state get back onto sound economic footing.
“Every penny that affects Burlington comes to my committee and I’m in leadership on that committee,” O’Sullivan said. “My opponent will come in and be a freshman.”
Through the end of July, Mulvaney-Stanak had raised $9,438 while spending $6,023 on the race. Her team consists of one paid campaign manager as well as a dozen core volunteers.
In contrast, O’Sullivan has managed to raise $2,665 and has spent $4,513 on the race so far.
Mulvaney-Stanak is focusing her campaign on policies that would help young families in Vermont. She said her experience as a small business owner and a mother with two young children would be an asset in the Statehouse, which is dominated by retirees.
“I’m living through what so many Vermonters in my district but frankly, all over the state, are living through. And there’s a different urgency I feel around these issues and a commitment I have, making sure that we pass meaningful policy changes to paid family leave and on supporting young families,” she said.
“That’s a very different perspective than my opponent,” added Mulvaney-Stanak. If successful, she would caucus with the Progressives in the House.
O’Sullivan, a single mother since 1984 who has run several businesses, dismissed Mulvaney-Stanak’s claim that she does not understand the issues plaguing young, working Vermonters.
She saw little point in worrying about the outcome of the race.
“I don’t know how you can be concerned,” she said. “I think you’ve got to do what you do and move forward.”
The other longtime Democrat incumbent facing a primary challenger is Rep. Bill Lippert in Hinesburg.
The Chittenden 4-2 district contest has political newcomer Christina Deeley going up against Lippert, who has been in the Vermont House since 1994.
Like Mulvaney-Stanak, Deeley says the Statehouse needs fresh perspectives. She is also making working families the cornerstone of her campaign.
“When you have a stake in the game, you’re willing to challenge an incumbent, and I did so by making sure I’m reaching out to the young families I know in town, the teachers I know in town,” she said. “The people who I see that don’t have a voice — that typically is the young families that are underrepresented in Montpelier.”
Deeley, a 36-year-old mother of four and a librarian at Champlain Valley Union High School, who said she has between five and 10 people actively helping her effort, is optimistic about Aug. 11.
“Obviously it started off as a really long shot bid against a 25-year-plus incumbent, but we’ve had a really good response from people in town — so definitely encouraged by what we’re hearing,” she said.
Deeley, has raised $3,720 while spending $2,936, added that she is also focusing on education policy and believes that Covid-19 has made schools a hot button issue for the present and the foreseeable future.
Lippert, who chairs the House Committee on Health Care, said he is hopeful the people of Hinesburg will send him back to Montpelier in 2021.
“I’ve been reaching out to folks in the village,” Lippert said. “I continue to get a good reception.”
“They have a choice in the primary and again in the fall,” he said. “I’m looking forward to returning to the Statehouse if the voters of Hinesburg choose to have me do that.”
Lippert said the prolonged legislative session in which lawmakers were dealing with the state’s response to the coronavirus until late June hamstrung his reelection campaigning — he has only raised $1,745 but has spent $1,923. He wants to return to the Statehouse to continue work on criminal and racial justice reform.
“These are long-term issues and not something that will be resolved in one bill. But I believe that my experience and my success will help both me and my colleagues address these important issues,” he said.
Lippert helped lead the charge on Vermont’s landmark same-sex civil union legislation in 2000.
Nine years later, as head of the House Judiciary Committee, Lippert again played an integral role in the House passing and eventually overriding Republican Gov. Jim Douglas’ veto of legislation giving full marriage rights to same sex couples.
Chittenden 6-5
When Rep. Mary Sullivan, D-Burlington, decided in April that she would not seek reelection, it was common knowledge that the Chittenden-6-5 district race, in Burlington’s South End, would be competitive.
Then in May, Sullivan’s seatmate, Rep. Johannah “Joey” Donovan, D-Burlington, also announced she would be leaving the Statehouse.
With Sullivan, who has served two stints in Montpelier — from 1991 to 2000, and from 2015 to the present — and Donovan, a 20-year veteran in the Statehouse, both leaving politics, the Chittenden-6-5 race suddenly had two openings.
The number of Democratic primary candidates sits at four. This includes Tiffany Bluemle, who has spent more than 20 years in advocacy work; Scott Pavek, who works at the University of Vermont managing a program that helps low-income Vermonters get financial aid; Gabrielle Stebbins, a senior consultant with the consulting firm Energy Futures Group; Annie Wohland, a 31-year-old part-time online graduate student studying social work; and Jesse Paul Warren, who heads the nonprofit Democracy Creative.
Sullivan, who has endorsed Bluemle and Stebbins, said in an interview that the nature of the large field makes it difficult to predict which way the race is heading, but she thinks both candidates she supports will be strong contenders.
“Without polls it’s hard to say for sure, but I’m thinking both of them will do well,” Sullivan said.
The candidates also debated on Town Meeting Television.
Sullivan added that she was always surprised that she had run uncontested in recent years and that she thinks the competitive nature of the 2020 South End contest is a good thing for the district.
“While that made life easy for me I don’t think it’s good for democracy,” she said of her uncontested runs. “I like to see creative campaigns to get people thinking about the issues and that certainly happened here.”
Bluemle, who has raised $15,456 and spent $9,895, said Covid-19 has made it difficult to accurately gauge how well different candidates are performing.
“It’s very difficult to tell how anything is going because our contact with voters is by definition limited because of the pandemic,” she said.
“All I can tell you is, I’m working really hard. And I think that everybody else in the race is working really hard,” Bluemle, who has a campaign manager and a number of volunteers, added.
Wohland, who touts her advocacy work on raising the state’s minimum wage, said she feels like this 2020 Vermont House contest is a “monumental race.”
“Joey Donovan and Mary Sullivan did an excellent job representing our district for many years, and I feel like their legacy needs to be continued but also not just their legacy. I feel like there needs to be a brand new legacy,” Wohland said.
“I’m the only young woman — I’m 31 years old — running in 6-5, and I feel like I hope that my campaign will honestly inspire other young women to have the courage to run,” she said.
Pavek said the race has been an “amicable” affair and that he is focused on making sure people vote, whether that be by mail or at the polls, between now and Aug.11.
“Ask[ing] people with ballots to use one of their two votes to, among other things, help bring new perspectives to the Statehouse,” Pavek said.
Warren, who is running as a Progressive Democrat, said that he too is focused on making sure people are voting and that instead of “get out the vote” events he is working on a call for “mail back the vote” action.
“So many people have requested a ballot but the challenge is going to be making sure those people return them,” he said. “So we’re really thinking a lot about that aspect of it.”
When asked about the potential outcome of the race, Warren, who has a campaign manager and a group of 6-7 working on his bid, acknowledged he might not be successful.
“It would be great to win because we can work to advance the policies and issues our campaign has been talking about. But if we don’t win, for me, that’s totally OK because the work just continues as it was before and as it will keep going after the election,” he said.
Chittenden 6-7
With the departure of Rep. Diana Gonzalez, a Progressive, one of the Winooski House seats is open in the 2020 race.
Incumbent Democrat Rep. Hal Colston is seeking re-election. He and Taylor Small, the director of health and wellness at Pride Center of Vermont, and Jordan Matte are vying for the two seats.
Small, who identifies as a transgender woman, has received endorsements from Gonzalez and former Democratic gubernatorial nominee Christine Hallquist while bringing in $9,813 while pumping $5,727 into the race.
National organizations Run for Something and People’s Action, both progressive political organizing groups, have endorsed her. Small said she was recently contacted by Virginia State Rep. Danica Roem, who gained national attention in 2017 as the first openly transgender woman to win a House election in Virginia.
Matte, Small’s opponent, said he’s not frustrated that she’s receiving more attention in this race because of her identity. He thinks it’s “great” that Small is bringing her perspective to this race. Matte, however, still thinks he’ll win because of his name recognition in town and his platform focused on increasing revenue for Winooski.
Matte is the husband of Winooski Mayor Kristine Lott. He said he’s a fourth generation Winooski resident, and his family has deep roots in the town due to their widespread property ownership. “It’s word of mouth here more than anything,” he said.
If he gets to the Statehouse, Matte said he would support legislation to create a legal marketplace for marijuana in an effort to drive tax revenue for the small city.
Chittenden 8-2
With two openings in the Chittenden County Senate delegation, Rep. Dylan Giambatista, D-Essex Junction, decided in January he would throw his hat in the ring, creating an open House seat.
Incumbent Rep. Lori Houghton, D-Essex Junction, is running for reelection. She and newcomers Karen Dolan and Patrick Murray are vying in the Democratic primary for the district’s two seats.
In an interview, Giambatista said he is not endorsing a candidate.
The outgoing House member did say that he remembers how hard it was to recruit candidates when he first decided to run but that this year “the interest is through the roof.”
“We have never seen this level of interest to serve in the state Legislature,” Giambatista said. “We have really strong candidates running in the Village district and all of them would bring great skills to the Statehouse and an expertise that would enrich our legislative process.”
Dolan, who is an Emerge Vermont alum and currently works as a Restorative Justice specialist at the Essex Community Justice Center, has raised $5,385 and spent $3,906 on the race so far. The mother of two said that considering the coronavirus and that this is her first time entering state politics, she feels confident.
Dolan said she has been trying out a variety of different campaigning techniques in the current climate from “cookie chats with the candidate” to postcard mailers and more traditional methods.
“The plan has just been all about variety — trying all different things because this is unknown territory, we don’t know exactly how to campaign during a pandemic,” Dolan said.
“It’s hard to know where exactly things are at but I feel positive about things,” she added. “I’m feeling hopeful for August 11.”
Dolan’s opponent, Murray, swore off fundraising early on in the race.
Murray, who is an Essex selectperson and sits on the board of the Essex Westford School District, said he fully expects Houghton to return to the Statehouse while praising Dolan and himself.
“We have three incredibly worthy candidates,” he said.
Murray added that the campaigns he and Dolan have run are positive and that he feels privileged to be in a tight race while avoiding the mudslinging that is a common part of politics.
“We may live in one of the few places in the country where you can run a competitive race and not have anyone say a bad thing about you,” Murray said. “It’s good to know that I’m not going to wake up in the morning and see some nasty attack ad that’s out there, just based off of nothing more than someone wants the same seat that I’m running for.”
Grace Elletson contributed reporting.
Ed. Note — This story was updated Aug. 4 with new figures for money raised and spent by Rep. Jean O’Sullivan.
