Emerge Vermont announced Wednesday that 18 of 24 women who have trained with the organization won their elections to local office during the Town Meeting Day 2023 election cycle. Fifteen of the candidates who ran are alums of the Signature Training program and eight have participated in other campaign trainings offered by Emerge Vermont.
“Across Vermont, women are increasingly stepping up to be better represented in their local governments,” said Elaine Haney, executive director of Emerge Vermont and one of the alums who won election. “Women serving in local office are creating positive change in their communities from Brattleboro to Jeffersonville,” said Haney. “Our mission is to recruit and train more women to run for office and get elected to make our democracy more representative.”
Of the 24 alums and trainees on the Town Meeting Day ballot in communities across Vermont, 18 won their elections, a 75% win rate.
They are:
Tara Arneson, Mt. Mansfield Unified Union School District Board
*Emel Cambel, Barre City Council
Jo Sabel Courtney, Stowe Selectboard
Edee Edwards, Halifax Selectboard
Kate Gehring, West River School District Board
Izzy Gogarty, Middlebury Selectboard
*Edye Graning, Mt. Mansfield Unified Union School District Board
Elaine Haney, Essex Junction City Council
*Alyssa Johnson, Waterbury Selectboard
Hannah King, Burlington City Council
Pelin Kohn, Montpelier City Council
Christy Liddy, Lamoille North Supervisory Union
Seton McIlroy, Woodstock Village Board of Trustees
Elizabeth McLoughlin, Brattleboro Selectboard
*Cecil Reniche-Smith, Brandon Selectboard
*Samn Stockwell, Barre City Council
Laura Taylor, Essex Westford School District
Laura Williams, South Burlington School District Board
*Trained with Emerge Vermont in smaller campaign trainings.
Including the results of the 2023 Town Meeting Day election cycle, there are now 117 Emerge Vermont alums and trainees serving in public office, which is more than half of all women the organization has trained. This includes Congresswoman Becca Balint, Vermont’s first woman and openly LGBTQ+ person elected to Congress; Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas; Attorney General Charity Clark; 42 state legislators; 34 selectboard members, city councilors, and school board members; 3 judicial elected officials; 29 justices of the peace; and 6 various other elected and appointed public officials.
Celebrating the 10th anniversary of its founding in 2013 by former Governor Madeleine Kunin, Emerge Vermont is the state’s premier organization that recruits, trains, and provides a powerful network to Democratic women who want to run for office. Our mission is to increase the number of Democratic women from diverse backgrounds in public office through recruitment, training, and providing a powerful network. Emerge Vermont has trained 174 women; in August it will open its application for the Class of 2024, its 11th cohort. For more information visit www.emergevt.org.