Karen Lueders, a Democrat from Lincoln and a lawyer who has served on several nonprofit boards in Addison County, will fill the vacant House seat left by Democrat Mari Cordes.
Gov. Phil Scott announced Lueders’ appointment in a press release on Friday.
“With many years of public service, I believe she will be an effective legislator and represent her constituents well,” Scott said in the release.
The district, composed of Lincoln, Bristol, Starksboro, and Monkton, was previously represented by Cordes, who resigned her seat earlier this year, spurred by personal and political factors to move to Canada.
At the time, Cordes told VTDigger she had feared for her safety since President Donald Trump’s first presidential term. A member of the LGBTQ+ community, she said that in her past six years as a representative, she had received two death threats.
The governor has authority to appoint replacements to fill legislative vacancies and traditionally selects a replacement from the same party as the outgoing representative.
Lueders serves on the board of Addison Housing Works, an affordable housing nonprofit in the county, and previously served on the boards of Addison County Home Health and Hospice as well as Habitat for Humanity, according to the release. She is slated to serve the rest of Cordes’ two-year term.
Lueders did not immediately respond to phone calls seeking comment Friday afternoon.
“I am grateful to the Governor for the opportunity to represent Addison-4 in the Vermont House of Representatives,” she said in the release. “I look forward to working with my colleagues in the House to find solutions for the complex concerns that affect our communities across the state.”
Lueders’ son, Tim Lueders-Dumont, is executive director of the Vermont Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs.
