The communications director for U.S. Rep. Peter Welch’s Senate bid has stepped down — to take the reins in one of the campaigns to replace him in the House.
Becca Balint’s campaign for Vermont’s sole congressional seat is getting a new manager. The Democratic Vermont Senate leader has hired Natalie Silver to take over a little more than two months after Balint declared her candidacy. According to Silver, Josh Rosenbaum, the campaign’s previous manager, has been asked to stay on as deputy campaign manager and organizing director. Balint’s campaign has four full-time staffers, according to Silver.
Silver is a well-known operative in state Democratic politics. Before Welch, she worked for Vermont Attorney General TJ Donovan and former House Speaker Mitzi Johnson, D-South Hero. She also spearheaded the Vermont Has Her Back initiative, which gathered together a who’s-who of Vermont politicos and business leaders to call out the Vermont press corps for sexism in its coverage.
The Democratic primary to replace Welch is widely considered the most competitive and high-stakes statewide race this election cycle. No high-profile Democrats are challenging Welch in the primary in the race to replace outgoing Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. And while Welch is expected to face a formidable Republican opponent in the general election — former U.S. Attorney Christina Nolan — her campaign is still considered a longshot in the deep-blue state.
The Democratic primary for the U.S. House seat, meanwhile, is wide open — and crowded. In addition to Balint, Lt. Gov. Molly Gray and state Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale, D-Chittenden, are vying for the seat. All three are aggressively fundraising and announcing big-name endorsements. Just Monday, Gray announced that former Democratic Gov. Howard Dean was backing her campaign.
“I was needed with Becca more than with Peter. And you know — it’s also a huge opportunity for me to be a campaign manager,” Silver said.
Gray has three full-time staffers, per campaign manager Samantha Sheehan. In addition to Sheehan, who ran Gray’s successful bid for the lieutenant governor’s post in 2020, Spencer Dole, a former House campaign director for the Vermont Democratic Party, has joined the Gray team as field director. Liz Brown is deputy campaign manager.
Ram Hinsdale’s campaign manager, Gowri Buddiga, hails from Virginia, and most recently ran campaigns there for Democratic candidates for the state’s House of Delegates. But there are also staffers with Vermont experience on the campaign. They include Kate Lapp, who previously worked at the Vermont Public Interest Research Group, and Riley Janeway, who managed the state House campaign of Rep. Tiffany Bluemle, D-Burlington. Miles McGuriman, a Vermonter who has worked for the Maine Democrats, Stacey Abrams and U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wa., has also moved back home to organize for Ram Hinsdale.
