Updated at 3:41 p.m.
Sen. Brian Campion, D-Bennington, does not plan to seek reelection this year.
The chair of the Vermont Senate Education Committee has spent 14 years in the Legislature, first in the House before being elected to the Senate in 2014.
“I’m definitely feeling mixed about it,” said Campion in a Monday afternoon interview. “I’m hoping to continue to serve in Montpelier in some capacity in the future.”
Campion, who is the director of public policy at the Elizabeth Coleman Center for the Advancement of Public Action at Bennington College, said he was interested in working on more projects at the college and spending time with family.
“I do see this as more of a pause,” he said, hypothesizing that he could return to the state capital someday as a legislator, executive branch official or through advocacy work on a particular issue.
Campion cited his work to address PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, a harmful class of chemicals that have affected drinking water in Bennington County, as one of his proudest accomplishments, along with other initiatives around school health and safety.
“I will miss his drive, his passion for the issues, and his friendship and sense of humor when things look dark,” Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Baruth, D/P-Chittenden Central, said in a written statement.
In a session focused on education issues, Campion found himself center stage this year. He led the Senate’s confirmation hearing of Zoie Saunders, Gov. Phil Scott’s contentious pick for education secretary. And as Saunders’ most vocal Democratic supporter in the Senate, Campion faced intense opposition from his colleagues, who ultimately rejected her nomination in a historic vote.
Campion was also an advocate for Vermont’s first-in-the-nation PCB-testing program, which has discovered the toxic substances in schools statewide. Though House lawmakers concerned about insufficient state financial support for the program sought to pause it last year, Campion and Senate colleagues stood firm, citing health concerns. And this year, when the testing pause appeared likely to pass both chambers, it ultimately died in the Senate on the final day of the session.
In Vermont’s bicameral Legislature, the House has in recent years worked to rein in the state’s private schools and their access to public education dollars, while the Senate has taken a more lenient approach. Campion in some ways fits the mold, having last year opposed legislation that would have increased oversight of private schools accepting public money.
This year, the Bennington County Democrat strongly advocated for continuing Vermont’s Community Schools grants, a program that supports an expansive view of the role public schools serve in the lives of students and their families. The Legislature ultimately voted to appropriate $1 million to fund new and ongoing community schools initiatives.
Campion, who is gay, reflected Monday on what initially brought him to Montpelier.
“I first ran because the reps that were representing me voted against gay marriage,” he said.
Once in the Statehouse, Campion said, he enjoyed being in close proximity to colleagues and constituents, even those with whom he didn’t see eye-to-eye.
“You’re gonna disagree, you’re going to get mad at one another, but what’s incredibly interesting about the Legislature, is you have to get up the next day and go to the building and see those folks you might be having conflict with,” Campion said. “That’s what’s so good about it.”
Campion’s decision opens up a fifth seat in the 30-member Vermont Senate. Earlier this year, longtime Democratic Sen. Dick Mazza resigned. Sen. Jane Kitchel, D-Caledonia, Sen. Dick McCormack, D-Windsor, and Sen. Bobby Starr, D-Orleans, are also retiring.
