Rebecca Holcombe, former state education secretary and one-time gubernatorial candidate, is running as a Democrat to represent part of the Upper Valley in the Vermont House of Representatives.
She told VTDigger on Tuesday that the Legislature’s unprecedented level of turnover — particularly among leadership in its powerful money committees — and the state’s crisis of affordability prompted her to return to politics.
“I just think it’s the time to show up,” she said. “I think the next biennium will be a challenging one.”
The historic influx of federal cash into the state in the past couple of years was welcome, she said, but it will soon dry up, and Vermont’s core challenges will remain. Holcombe said that, as someone who understands the state budgeting process, she’d have institutional knowledge to offer as Vermont contends with a severe housing crunch and struggles to meet its climate goals.
Holcombe was appointed Vermont’s secretary of education in late 2013 by then-Gov. Peter Shumlin, a Democrat, and stayed on when Gov. Phil Scott took office. She resigned in 2018, apparently after policy differences between the liberal policy wonk and the Republican governor came to a head.
She ran for governor as a Democrat in 2020, but lost to then-Lt. Gov. Dave Zuckerman in the primary. Scott went on to resoundingly defeat Zuckerman in the general election.
Holcombe has remained in the public eye since leaving office — often as a staunch defender of public institutions, and a pointed and vocal critic of the goings-on in Montpelier, particularly where the state’s K-12 voucher system is concerned.
In Vermont’s newly redrawn legislative map, the two-seat district sought by Holcombe includes Norwich, Strafford, Thetford and Sharon. One of the incumbents, Rep. Tim Briglin, D-Thetford, who chaired the House Energy and Technology Committee, announced last week that he was not running for reelection.
Holcombe — whose candidacy was first reported by Seven Days — will have competition in the primary. The other longtime incumbent in the district, Rep. Jim Masland, D-Thetford, has already filed for reelection with the Secretary of State’s Office. Diedre “Dee” Gish, an accountant at the Vermont Land Trust who sits on several local boards, including those of The Sharon Academy and a White River Valley economic development initiative known as BALE, has also thrown her hat in the ring.
In an interview with VTDigger, Gish said she was particularly interested in working on climate change, income inequality, affordable housing and education if sent to Monptelier by the district’s voters.
She said she was asked to identify three core values at a recent training with Emerge Vermont, the nonprofit that trains women who want to run for office as Democrats. She chose compassion, sincerity and community.
“I carry those with me and and I really just want to give back to my communities and represent them to the best of my ability,” she said.
Both Gish and her husband, Kevin Gish, who chairs the Sharon Selectboard, are highly involved in local civic groups. The candidate said they had both appreciated Briglin’s frequent attendance at such meetings.
“We really appreciated his active ear to his communities and I hope to continue with that legacy,” she said.
