City Council President Max Tracy has won the Progressive nomination for the Burlington mayoral race.
Tracy will face incumbent Democratic Mayor Miro Weinberger on the March 2 ballot, along with independent Councilor Ali Dieng of Ward 7.
Tracy received 787 votes, or 55% of the total. His competitor for the nomination, fellow Progressive Councilor Brian Pine, claimed 631 votes.
The 33-year-old is a union organizer with the Vermont Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals and is a University of Vermont graduate. He has served on the council since 2012.
Tracy has an activist political mindset and is favored by new Progressives, a group of young, far left party reformers.
His pitch for urgent and transformational change to address issues related to racial justice, policing and affordable housing resonated with party activists.
Pine had raised over $10,000 in the few weeks leading up to the Progressive Nominating Caucus, compared to Tracy’s $1,666.
He was favored among older, more moderate Progressives in the city. Consensus building has been the hallmark of his 30-year career in Burlington politics.
Pine had previously agreed to throw his support behind Tracy if he were to win the Progressive nomination. He said he would not run as an independent.
The results were released in a tweet from the Vermont Progressive Party just after 10 p.m. Thursday.
In comments after the announcement, Tracy said he was “ecstatic.”
He said voters were energized because he is a clear alternative to Weinberger.
“I was willing to define myself in relation to Miro and I think that there’s a lot of folks who are feeling like they want a new direction for our city,” Tracy said. “By drawing that direct contrast, it validated that feeling that people have, that they really want to see a change in City Hall.”
Tracy said the turnout was the largest the party has seen in a nominating caucus since 2012. By choosing him as their mayoral candidate, Tracy said voters are ready for transformational change.
“I believe that it shows that we need to be a party that is advocating for dramatic changes to address the challenges of our time,” Tracy said. “It will be crucial for us as a party to build on the strategies that we’ve used, but also importantly, be willing to go beyond what we’ve done in the past.”
Pine didn’t want to immediately comment on the outcome of the race except to say he was “disappointed.”
“My reaction is the results are the results and numbers speak for themselves,” he said.
In a release sent out by the Progressive Party announcing the results, Pine said he had congratulated Tracy on his victory and that he would lend his support to his campaign.
Soon after the results were announced, the Burlington Democratic Party came out with a scathing critique of Tracy’s candidacy.
The party’s chair, Adam Roof, said in an emailed statement to VTDigger that Tracy’s nomination represents a shift toward ideological politics.
“Tonight the Progressive Party put forward a nominee for the Mayor’s office who is, at best, badly out of touch. In four nights of debates and caucus speeches, Councilor Tracy barely made mention of the pandemic or recovery. Instead, he repeatedly criticized Mayor Weinberger for valuing expert opinions when grappling with tough public policy challenges,” Roof wrote in an email.
“The Caucus results from tonight are further evidence the Burlington Progressive Party is increasingly becoming the party of dogmatic ideologues, rejecting the pragmatism that once defined it,” he added. “This direction is dangerous in normal times, and even more so the middle of a pandemic.”
No candidates are contesting Weinberger for the Democratic nomination for mayor. The Democratic Nominating Caucus is taking place this Sunday, Dec. 6.
