Could Vermont Elect its First Congresswoman?

MONTPELIER, Vt. — Vermont is the only state in the U.S. that has never elected a woman to Congress. However, the odds favor voters sending a woman to represent the Green Mountain State in 2022 as six of the eight candidates vying to represent the state are women.

In preparation for the August 9 primary, politicians of all political stripes in Vermont launched into campaign mode last fall when Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., announced he wouldn’t seek re-election. The current senator has held his seat since first running for Senate in 1975.

Vermonters “have a bit of a bottleneck at the top levels. So when a senator or representative stays in their seat, there isn’t much opportunity for people to move up,” explained Elaine Haney, director of Emerge Vermont,  an organization dedicated to electing Democratic women, pointing out Vermont has only three federal elected officials..

The three men representing Vermont currently have a combined 93 years of experience in Congress, having held all of their respective positions since at least 2007.

In 2006 former congressman, now Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., ran for the vacated Senate seat. Now with Leahy’s retirement Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., is eyeing the same path to the Senate.

Overall, the three men are very popular in the state. Sanders won his most recent reelection in 2018 by more than a 2-3 margin. His term is up in 2024. Leahy and Welch also won their last elections with more than 60% of the vote.

In 2021 the Green Mountain State ended its more than 20-year drought of women elected to top state-wide offices by electing Lt. Gov. Molly Gray — who is now running for Congress. 

At the state level about 40% of the Vermont legislature is made up of women, which helped create the pipeline of talent for the current election, Haney said in a phone interview. 

Democrats across the state have four candidates to choose from in the upcoming primary for U.S. House : Gray, state Sen. Becca Balint, Sianay Chase Clifford and the only male for the Democrats, Louis Meyers. 

Two of the three vying for the Republican spot — Ericka Bundy Redic and Anya Tynio — are women. Liam Madden is the only man in the Republican field.

Barbara Nolfi is running for the seat as a Progressive. 

On the Senate side, former U.S. Attorney for Vermont Christina Nolan is running on the Republican ticket against Gerald Malloy and Myers Mermel.

Niki Thran is on the Democratic ballot against Welch and Isaac Evans-Frantz.

Martha Abbott is running as a Progressive, Mark Coester is running as the American Independent Party candidate, Christopher Helali as the Communist Party candidate, Brock Pierce and Kerry Rehab as independents.

Ericka Bundy Redic, one of the Republicans running for the House seat,  said she is running because “diversity of thought is as important as other kinds of diversity.” 

She’s focused on the budget, having worked as an accountant and auditor, and represents “conservative values” such as smaller government, she said in a phone interview.

Of the Democrats, both Gray and Balint are alumni of Emerge Vermont, and have been instrumental in helping shape current legislation that protects families and women across the state, Haney said. 

Balint, who won the coveted endorsement from Sanders, was one of the original sponsors of legislation to codify abortion access in the state’s constitution. The constitutional amendment has been voted on twice, and now heads to the ballot this November.

“Those are the kinds of important decisions and legislation our alums are crafting,” Haney said.

This year 49 Emerge Vermont alumni are on the ballot for different races across the state, Haney said. And of the total 174 alumni of the nearly 10-year-old program, 94 have run for office and 68 have won, she said.

“It’s about building a deep bench of Democratic women so in more races there will be this great choice of candidates,” Haney said.

“It’s good for voters to have those choices and it’s good for little girls to see women running and competing against each other,” Haney said.

Madeline can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @ByMaddieHughes