Mulvaney-Stanak wins Burlington mayor’s race
BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) - Progressive Emma Mulvaney-Stanak has won the race for Burlington mayor, becoming the first woman elected to the post in the city’s history, and putting Progressives back in charge after more than a decade.
Mulvaney-Stanak defeated Democrat Joan Shannon by nearly 1,000 votes on a count of 7,612-6,696, winning 51% of the vote to Shannon’s 45%.
Mulvaney-Stanak benefited from strong turnout and big margins in the traditional Progressive wards.
Progressives will now be back in power after 12 years of Democrat Miro Weinberger.
It was standing room only at Zero Gravity Tuesday night, where Mulvaney-Stanak celebrated her historic win. There was chanting and cheering as Burlington’s new mayor-elect greeted her supporters for the first time.
“I did not see a leader like me when I was growing up in Central Vermont, I did not see a woman, I did not see a mom who has young kids, I did not see a queer leader. And it took years and that matters because we need to know, our young people, our adults need to know, everyone needs to know that representation matters,” she said.
Mulvaney-Stanak’s win is the first time a Progressive mayor will lead the city since Bob Kiss served from 20062012.
Mulvaney-Stanak says she wants to create greater community safety, get help to those who need it most and hold people accountable who are creating harm in the city.
“I have a vision of Burlington where everyone truly feels safe and is actually safe in our city. I have a vision that includes a community safety system that is comprehensive and knows exactly what will get to the root causes of making sure we have a safe community that includes police but goes beyond police,” she said.
Democrat Joan Shannon lost the race after running on promising to hold those accountable who break the law in the city of Burlington, specifically around drug use, while also pledging to support all forms of public safety.
“You go into these races hoping to win with all of the optimism that you can muster and also being prepared to lose. We always know that in Burlington we’ve had tough races for years, so it’s disappointing,” Shannon said.
The Burlington school budget and tax increase vote passed along with a charter change extending Burlington Electric’s borrowing amount.
On Wednesday, we will have more analysis of the race and what’s next.
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