While state Rep. Emma Mulvaney-Stanak secured the Progressive nomination for mayor of Burlington earlier this week without a whiff of competition, her three declared opponents are engaged in a hotly contested battle to win the Democratic nomination.
The race, which comes at what many see as a crucial moment for the city, has led candidates to go to unusual lengths to secure support ahead of the party’s largely virtual caucus on Sunday. The Democratic nominee will then face off against Mulvaney-Stanak and potentially others on Town Meeting Day in March to succeed Mayor Miro Weinberger, who is stepping down after a dozen years.
Karen Paul, president of the Burlington City Council, has bought television ads, a highly unusual move for a local Vermont race, particularly ahead of a general election. According to required Federal Communications Commission filings from Dec. 7, her campaign spent around $1,900 at two stations in the Burlington market. Fellow councilor Joan Shannon managed to secure early endorsements from police and fire unions. Tech consultant CD Mattison, meanwhile, is making a push to recruit new caucus participants to support her candidacy.
“I actually consider this the most important, critical mayor’s race that I’ve ever seen,” said Kurt Wright, a former city council president who unsuccessfully ran for mayor several times as a Republican. In his view, increased public engagement in the race is the result of widespread concerns over public safety and a sense that, “if the city doesn’t get a handle on this,” the problems will only compound in the future.
Collectively, at least, the candidates appear to have succeeded in capturing voters’ attention.
As of Thursday, according to Burlington Democratic Party chair Adam Roof, over 2,500 people had registered for the caucus, a number he said could reach 3,000 by Sunday, putting the party on pace for a record turnout. During the last open mayoral race in 2012, the Democratic caucus turnout was around 1,300.
“Burlington is alive right now,” said Andrew Champagne, assistant treasurer for the Burlington Democrats and a fixture in the city party. He said enthusiasm for the race shows that people share a “great love” for the city, which he said has taken some “knocks” but is getting back up.
The Democratic Party’s nominating caucus will take place at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday and is a virtual event, though there is an in-person option at Edmunds Middle School for people who need special accommodations.
In the lead-up, candidates have been working to rack up endorsements. At a Wednesday press conference, Shannon announced that she’d won the support of the Burlington Police Officers’ Association and the Burlington Firefighters Association. Kyle Blake, president of the firefighters’ union, said the group doesn’t usually endorse a candidate before the caucus, but it made an exception this year because of Shannon’s public safety priorities. “We felt it’s important that the residents know this,” Blake said.
Paul began her campaign with a number of high-profile endorsements, including from former governors Howard Dean and Madeleine Kunin, as well as Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Baruth, D/P-Chittenden Central.
Mattison has been endorsed by former state Rep. Mary Sullivan and August First founder Jodi Whalen, among others. She has focused, however, on trying to attract new voters to the caucus, with portions of her campaign advertisements featuring a step-by-step guide to caucus registration.
While largely emphasizing the same issues — above all, public safety — each candidate is attempting to make the case that they’re best suited to address those issues as the city’s chief executive.
Mattison, who identifies as a Black, biracial woman and part of the LGBTQ+ community, has said she is running “not as a longtime politician endorsed by other longtime politicians, but as one of you rooted in the real experiences and challenges we face every day.” She works as a tech consultant and has served on nonprofit boards, including Outright Vermont.
As evidence of her leadership experience, Mattison has pointed to work she did with Burton Snowboards on a website project, saying she led a large team with different backgrounds and skills to come to the end result.
“That’s the kind of culture shift that I think we need in Burlington right now,” she said. “We have a lot of contention on the city council. We have a lot of competing voices. We have people who have their own agendas.”
Paul, a certified public accountant who has been on the city council for around 15 years and has served as its president since 2022, has made the case that her leadership in that role sets her apart from the field.
She has said that when she was elected to serve as president, she inherited a council “that was fraught with contentiousness.”
“And today I have cultivated working relationships and real genuine esteem for each of my colleagues across the political spectrum,” Paul said.
During a Democratic candidate forum on Dec. 3, Paul said she was “the only mayoral candidate who has proven that she is a bridge builder. My ability to bring people together is exactly what is needed at this contentious time.”
Shannon, a real estate agent, has represented the South End on the council for 20 years, including a three-year stint as president starting in 2013.
“I’ve certainly been working with the city staff and Burlington for a long time,” Shannon said in an interview late last month. “I understand how the city works. I don’t think that that’s really a difference between at least myself and Karen. We have very similar experience.”
Shannon went on to say that she saw the mayor’s role as “providing the leadership and the vision for the city and I have been willing to share my vision for the city” not just as a candidate for mayor, but throughout her time on the council. “I’ve been willing to stand up and call something out when I see something going wrong,” she said. “And I’ve been willing to take the political hits for that.” Recently, Shannon has been outspoken on public safety issues during council meetings.
All three candidates will have one more chance to sway caucus voters: They will deliver speeches to the virtual crowd before voting begins Sunday afternoon.
Democrats are also expected to pick their candidates for city council during the caucus.
Geoff Hand is running in Ward 1; Malik Mines in Ward 3; and Sarah Carpenter and Ben Traverse are seeking reelection in Wards 4 and 5, respectively. Two people are seeking the nomination for Paul’s Ward 6 seat, which she is relinquishing to run for mayor — Becca Brown McNight and Romeo von Hermann. There are also two people vying for the party’s nomination for the Ward 7 seat being vacated by independent Ali Dieng — Evan Litwin and Lee Morrigan, the latter of whom secured the Progressive endorsement on Monday. Hannah King will run again in Ward 8.
