[B]URLINGTON — For Vermont Democrats, spring’s David W. Curtis Leadership Awards Dinner is supposed to be the social event of the season. So why were state legislative leaders missing and everyone else focused on summer and fall?
The 19th annual event, held Saturday night at the Hilton Burlington hotel, drew U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, U.S. Rep. Peter Welch and 400 supporters who traveled from as far away as Bennington and Brattleboro.
But flip open the program and for every boldface name present (Attorney General TJ Donovan, Treasurer Beth Pearce, Secretary of State Jim Condos) there was another scheduled to attend but absent.
Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman? He was working overtime at a rare weekend session in Montpelier.
House Speaker Mitzi Johnson? Same.
Senate Majority Leader Becca Balint? Ditto.
People who paid anywhere between $50 and $250 to dine on chicken and chocolate cake did get to meet all four announced candidates seeking the state’s Democratic gubernatorial nomination and the chance to run against Republican Gov. Phil Scott.
Their shared message: The Aug. 14 primary is just three months away.
Said James Ehlers, executive director of the nonprofit environmental education group Lake Champlain International: “It’s heating up now. With what’s going on in Montpelier, people are looking for options.”
And Christine Hallquist, former CEO of the Vermont Electric Cooperative: “I’m reminding folks it’s not early at all. If you want to beat an incumbent, you have to start now.”
And Brenda Siegel, executive director of the Southern Vermont Dance Festival: “We have to do a little work to get the word out.”
And Ethan Sonneborn, an eighth-grader at Bristol’s Mount Abraham Union Middle School: “I think people are more engaged because of the national environment.”
Although in the case of Sonneborn’s campaign manager, local ties matter, too: “Ethan mentioned he didn’t have much of a staff,” 14-year-old classmate Miles Burgess said of his reason for signing on, “and we’ve been friends for a long time.”
Organizers presented this year’s David W. Curtis Leadership Awards to Don Hooper, a Vermont House representative from 1988-93 and secretary of state from 1993-95, and Ann Braden, founder of the gun violence prevention group GunSense Vermont.
Curtis’ son, Christopher, also announced the annual event would be renamed the David W. Curtis and Philip H. Hoff Leadership Awards Dinner to honor the former governor who died last month and was memorialized earlier Saturday.
“It is our family’s privilege to have that association,” Christopher Curtis said.
Attendees heard from U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., co-chairman of the 79-member Congressional Progressive Caucus. But loudest applause went to Vermont’s congressional delegation.
Said Sanders: “Anyone who thinks victory is inevitable is kidding themselves. There may well be a blue wave, but it will not happen without an enormous amount of work.”
And Welch: “It’s not just bashing (President Donald) Trump. We have to be advocating for things that will make a difference for everyone in this country.”
