Updated at 11:43 p.m.
BURLINGTON — The Democratic Party maintained its plurality on the Burlington City Council on Tuesday, according to unofficial results from the city clerk’s office. Democrats won four contests, and they will continue to control six of the council’s 12 seats.
Progressives picked up another seat, bringing their total to five. Independent Mark Barlow, who was not up for reelection this year but has previously been endorsed by the Democrats, is the council’s 12th member.
Democrats, however, will have to contend with a Progressive mayor — Emma Mulvaney-Stanak beat Democratic Councilor Joan Shannon Tuesday night.
The election spurred the most turnover the council has seen in years, bringing five new faces to the council.
Four of the eight races featured no incumbent following decisions from councilors Zoraya Hightower, P-Ward 1, Joe Magee, P-Ward 3, Ali Dieng, I-Ward 7, and outgoing council president Karen Paul, D-Ward 6, not to seek reelection.
Speaking to a crowd of Democratic candidates and supporters at Halvorson’s Upstreet Cafe on Church Street after results were published, Adam Roof, chair of the city’s Democratic Party, called the council elections a highlight of the night — even as the party’s mayoral nominee lost her headline race.
“This is an important message that Burlingtonians sent tonight,” Roof said. “While we didn't win everywhere, we still do maintain a majority on the city council.”
Before the full results were in but with Progressives on track to pick up the mayor’s seat and an additional council seat, Josh Wronski, the Vermont Progressive Party’s executive director, told VTDigger, "I think it's pretty clear the voters of Burlington are delivering a historic win for the Progressive movement in our city and we're ready to go forward and turn that into policy.”
Democrats previously held a plurality, with six members to the Progressives’ four, and independents holding two seats. Before that, Progressives won control of the council in 2020 until a pair of resignations allowed the Democrats to flip seats in 2022 and 2023.
New members will take their seats at the start of April.
The full results of the council races are as follows:
- Ward 1: Progressive Carter Neubieser beat Democrat Geoff Hand, winning 832 votes to Hand’s 669. Progressive Zoraya Hightower did not seek reelection.
- Ward 2: Running unopposed, incumbent Progressive Gene Bergman won a fifth (nonconsecutive) term as councilor, with 1,520 votes.
- Ward 3: Progressive Joe Kane beat out Democrat Malik Mines, who ran as a write-in candidate, and Republican Christopher-Aaron Felker. Kane received 1,078 votes to Mines’s 305 and Felker’s 229. Progressive Joe Magee did not seek reelection
- Ward 4: Incumbent Democrat Sarah Carpenter easily won a third term with 1,746 votes, beating Progressive Dan Castrigano, who received 600.
- Ward 5: Incumbent Democrat Ben Traverse won a second term with 1,523 votes, beating Lena Greenberg, an independent who received the Progressive endorsement and earned 759 votes.
- Ward 6: Democrat Becca Brown McKnight beat Progressive Will Anderson, 1,276 votes to 519. Brown McKnight will replace outgoing council president Karen Paul, who made an unsuccessful bid for mayor in the Democratic primary.
- Ward 7: Democrat Evan Litwin comfortably beat Progressive Lee Morrigan, winning 1475 votes to Morrigan’s 718. Independent Ali Dieng did not seek reelection.
- Ward 8: Progressive Marek Broderick unseated incumbent Democrat Hannah King, winning 485 votes to King’s 360.
In addition to Barlow, Shannon, who represents the South District, Progressive Melo Grant in the Central District and Democrat Timothy Doherty in the East District were not up for reelection Tuesday.
Burlington voters on Tuesday also approved a three-cent increase to the city’s public safety tax, with 10,181 voting in favor and 4,032 opposed. The tax pays for about a third of the city’s police and fire department budgets.
Shaun Robinson contributed reporting.
Correction: An initial version of this story misspelled Ali Dieng's surname
