Vermont
After ‘tragic’ election losses, Democrats in the Vermont Senate oust their majority leader – VTDigger
MONTPELIER — Two and a half weeks after Vermont voters eviscerated their supermajority, Senate Democrats convened Saturday to reflect on their election losses and chart a new course ahead of the 2025 legislative session. They voted to retain one top leader — but jettisoned another.
Saturday’s caucus at the Statehouse was the first time Democratic senators-elect had gathered after what Sen. Becca White, D-Windsor, called “an exceptionally difficult, tragic election night.” Republican candidates flipped six Senate seats, ousting three incumbents, and established a new partisan breakdown in the chamber of 17-13 — the narrowest margin Democrats have held in nearly a quarter-century.
Seeing a need to change course, the caucus on Saturday voted out its incumbent majority leader, Sen. Alison Clarkson, D-Windsor, who has held the post for four years. In her place, they elected Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale, D/P-Chittenden Southeast.
All of the votes Saturday were conducted by secret ballot. Democrats elected Ram Hinsdale their new majority leader by a vote of 9-7, with one member abstaining.
In his nominating speech for Ram Hinsdale, Sen. Andrew Perchlik, D/P-Washington, echoed what had already become a common refrain in the room Saturday morning: that on the campaign trail, Vermont Democrats failed at messaging and communicating to voters and combatting criticism from their Republican challengers and Gov. Phil Scott, also a Republican.
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Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale, D-Chittenden Southeast, asks a caucus of Senate Democrats for their vote for majority leader at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Saturday, November 16, 2024. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerPerchlik said of Ram Hinsdale, “I don’t think there is anybody in this room that’s better at communication and messaging.”
He said he would also be “honest” about “the criticism that I heard of Sen. Ram Hinsdale, and one that I’ve had myself, and that is that she’s a bit of an overachiever, and she’s ambitious.”
“I think that maybe there’s positions where you don’t want those characteristics in a person,” Perchlik said. “But I think we’re talking about electing a political leader, for a political caucus, in a political body, working in politics, and we want somebody that is ambitious.”
With her new leadership position, Ram Hinsdale will most likely forfeit her current position as chair of the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs — a post from which she has been able to shape major policies in the chamber. That’s because of a longstanding tradition in the Senate, dating back to 1997, of caucus leaders not chairing policy committees to prevent them from accumulating too much power.
Ram Hinsdale tried to change that tradition on Saturday. In an unusual move, senators voted on a piece of internal guidance that would have allowed caucus leaders to serve as committee chairs, as well. Ram Hinsdale urged her colleagues to vote yes.
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Democratic senators cast their ballots for Senate President Pro Tempore during a caucus at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Saturday, November 16, 2024. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerIn a speech to her colleagues urging their ‘yes’ votes, Ram Hinsdale chalked up the question to “basic math” in the 30-member chamber.
“We have 17 members of our caucus. When you subtract our new members … you land with 14 members of our caucus, and you subtract the rest of the (leadership) positions … you’re left with 11. Eleven Democrats to distribute leadership roles in each position,” Ram Hinsdale said. “There are 11 committees.”
From a “simple mathematical perspective,” she concluded, upholding the 27-year-old tradition would be “putting colleagues from the other side of the aisle further in line for a leadership role overseeing our policy agenda, frankly.”
Clarkson, who made the initial push for the caucus to vote on the matter Saturday, said that, given the 17-13 makeup of the Senate, that’s fair. Already, Sen. Russ Ingalls, R-Essex, chairs the Senate Institutions Committee.
“This is nothing new, and nothing new with these numbers,” Clarkson said. “Given the number of Republicans that have been elected, it makes sense that there will be at least one — we’ve always had at least one Republican chair — and … my guess is there will be a second.”
What’s important to Clarkson, she said, is “empowering our caucus and empowering individual growth. I think it’s essential that we grow our leadership in this caucus.”
Ultimately, senators voted 9-6, with two abstentions, to defeat the proposed change to allow a caucus leader to also serve as a committee chair.
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Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Baruth, D/P-Chittenden Central, listens during a caucus of Senate Democrats at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Saturday, November 16, 2024. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerDemocrats also opted not to make a change at the top of the Senate’s hierarchy.
Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Baruth, D/P-Chittenden Central, faced no challenger from within the caucus for his nomination to serve a second biennium leading the Senate. As the Democratic caucus’s nominee, Baruth will face a vote by all 30 members of the Senate on the first day of the 2025 legislative session in January.
But even within the caucus, his nomination was not unanimous. Fifteen senators voted ‘yes’ to renominate Baruth to the post, while two abstained. Following the vote, Baruth said that 15-2 is “a number that we should all have in our minds going forward, because if we vote 15-2 on the floor, we lose whatever bill is in front of us.”
With 13 Republicans in the chamber, Baruth noted that two Democrats splitting from the caucus would create a 15-15 tie on the floor. Republican Lt. Gov.-elect John Rodgers would then break such a tie.
“I understand I did not get a unanimous vote, that two people had their reasons,” Baruth said. “Every bill that comes to you, you may have reasons why you might not want to vote for it. But we’re in a situation where the good of the caucus and the bills that you want to pass out of your committee are going to need you to be a little more amenable to other people’s bills. You’re going to have to stretch sometimes.”
Also on Saturday, Democrats elected White the caucus’s new whip, with 14 voting in favor and three abstaining. Perchlik, who had previously held the post, did not seek it again.
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Sen. Ginny Lyons, D-Chittenden Southeast, listens during a caucus of Senate Democrats at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Saturday, November 16, 2024. Lyons was nominated to serve as the third member of the Senate Committee on Committees. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerDemocrats also nominated Sen. Ginny Lyons, D-Chittenden Southeast, to serve as the third member of the powerful, three-member Committee on Committees.
That panel, which also includes the pro tem and lieutenant governor, draws up Senate committee assignments and chairmanships, playing a major role in choreographing the chamber’s policy direction. Sixteen Democratic senators-elect voted in favor of Lyons’ nomination, while one abstained. Lyons will also face a vote on the Senate floor in January before she can claim the title.
She would replace retiring Sen. Jane Kitchel, D-Caledonia, who held the position only briefly after the resignation last year of longtime Sen. Dick Mazza, D-Grand Isle.
After selecting caucus leaders, senators-elect then shared with one another their priorities for the upcoming legislative session. They each rattled off a familiar list of policy goals — chief among them, to reduce Vermonters’ property tax burden and reform the state’s education finance structure.
Baruth told his caucus that he sees the state’s property tax conundrum as a “de facto emergency” — and said he plans to treat it as such from the first day of session. He proposed to clear the agendas of the Senate’s education, finance and appropriations committees at the start of the session, and offer a full week of testimony to the Scott administration to hear solutions from the governor himself.
The idea, Baruth said, would be to reach an agreement between the Republican administration and Democratic majorities at the start of the session, rather than the end. No longer holding a supermajority, legislative Democrats won’t be able to reliably override a veto from Scott — and so “no one is going home without a Phil Scott-approved tax plan,” Baruth said.
“If there is a message in this election, I believe it was that the voters wanted the governor’s ideas moved to the top of the agenda,” Baruth said. “That is literally what I’m suggesting.”
This story, by Report for America corps member Carly Berlin, was produced through a partnership between VTDigger and Vermont Public.
The Vermont Senate passed a bill on Thursday that will delay the implementation of Act 181, a contentious 2024 law that overhauled the state’s land use permitting system.
But that vote followed several rounds of heated debate over rolling back or further postponing land conservation measures, fueled by a Tuesday protest attended by hundreds of rural landowners who called on lawmakers to repeal the law altogether.
The sparring over Act 181 has surfaced a rural-urban divide at the Statehouse. Rural conservatives argue that the law’s benefits flow only to Vermont’s larger cities and towns, and that its conservation rules place an undue burden on private property owners. Democrats have defended the law’s goals to both boost housing in downtowns and villages and increase environmental protections elsewhere, though they’ve heeded calls to pump the brakes.
Details: Vermont is overhauling Act 250. Here’s what the development maps look like so far
On the Senate floor, Republicans contended that new development regulations set forth in Act 181, which bolster protections over sensitive ecosystems, effectively undermine personal property rights. Sen. Steve Heffernan, R-Addison, framed the issue around affordability — wealthy second home-owners can afford more land-use permits, he said, but regular Vermonters can’t.
“We must ask ourselves … are we protecting Vermont’s lands, or pricing Vermonters out of it?” Heffernan said.
Brian Stevenson
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Vermont Public
Democrats, who control the chamber, countered that the new rules are critical for preserving Vermont’s landscape for the good of the broader community.
“Future generations may not have the same ecosystems that we have access to because of development,” said Sen. Becca White, D-Windsor.
The bill in question, S.325, is a set of tweaks to Act 181, which the Legislature passed over Republican Gov. Phil Scott’s objections two years ago.
Act 181 aimed to encourage more homebuilding in already-developed areas of Vermont by removing state level review under Act 250, Vermont’s signature land use law. At the same time, the law beefed up protections for to-be-determined critical natural resources.
The 2024 law mandated a first-of-its-kind mapping effort that will essentially dictate where future development will be subject to Act 250 scrutiny, and where it won’t be, through a tiered land-use classification system.
That mapping process is still underway, and the board overseeing it has asked for more time to complete its work — in part because of feedback from municipal officials and rural residents who objected to early drafts.
S.325 would postpone the implementation of many pieces of Act 181. It would extend temporary housing exemptions, delay the start of a new “road rule” that would require a permit for private road construction over a certain length in much of the state until 2030 and pushes out the beginning of new “Tier 3” rules. These rules would heighten scrutiny over building near headwater streams, habitat connectors and rare natural communities.
Brian Stevenson
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Vermont Public
The fate of Tier 3 garnered the most attention on the Senate floor. Republicans backed an amendment on Wednesday to scrap the tier entirely.
Sen. Russ Ingalls, R-Essex, a cosponsor of the amendment and an organizer of Tuesday’s rally, argued that the entirety of his Northeast Kingdom district would fall into the tier and suggested that a majority of Vermonters currently live in Tier 3 areas.
“We should be able to live like the rest of Vermont does, and not be restricted,” Ingalls said.
Yet the bounds of Tier 3 have not yet been set, and the Land Use Review Board, which is creating its boundaries, has said the tier will only make up a small portion of land in Vermont. The board is also looking to limit what kinds of construction would trigger the need for an Act 250 permit in these zones.
“It may be that a single house, for instance, depending on where it is, doesn’t even matter. It won’t be counted,” said Sen. Seth Bongartz, D-Bennington, one of the architects of Act 181 when he served in the House.
The amendment to roll back Tier 3 ultimately failed in a party-line vote on Wednesday. A separate amendment to further delay its implementation failed on Thursday. Another Republican-backed amendment that was adopted eases state regulations for housing in rural areas that lack local zoning.
“We absolutely hear the concerns from different corners of the state of Vermont and we take those seriously.”
House Speaker Jill Krowinski, D-Burlington
Scott, Act 181’s longest-standing detractor, vetoed the legislation in 2024, arguing that it was a “conservation bill” that did little to boost housing growth in rural areas. The governor said at a Thursday press conference that he thinks the bill to delay its implementation is “moving in the right direction, but we need more.”
Scott was pleased to see protesters this week heeding his message.
“I’ve said this before: this hurts rural Vermont. And now they’re just waking up to the fact that, yes, indeed, it will,” Scott said.
The bill now heads to the House. House Speaker Jill Krowinski, D-Burlington, said she sees the need to delay Act 181 — and that she hears the upswell of pushback against the law from beyond the Statehouse.
“We absolutely hear the concerns from different corners of the state of Vermont and we take those seriously,” Krowinski said.
Brian Stevenson
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Vermont Public
S.325 will land in the House environment committee, helmed by Rep. Amy Sheldon, D-Middlebury, one of Act 181’s initial drafters. Sheldon understands the rationale to postpone pieces of its implementation, she said in a Wednesday interview. But she is not open to rolling back elements of the 2024 law.
Sheldon believes that some of the arguments raised by opponents of the law are overstated and misguided. She still stands by the core aims of the law, she said, gesturing toward Vermont’s state motto.
“We’re balancing freedom and unity, right? That’s what we do,” Sheldon said.
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Large scale anti-Trump protests are coming to Vermont for a third time, with at least 46 No Kings protests planned across the state for March 28.
This round of No Kings protests might be the biggest so far: organizers anticipate it’ll be “one of the largest single-day nonviolent nationwide protests in U.S. history,” with more than 3,000 events already planned across the country on March 28.
“As President Trump escalates his attempts to control us, it is on us, the people, to show that we will fight to protect one another and our country,” the “No Kings” website says. “If he believes we will roll over and allow him to take our freedoms, he is mistaken. We are coming together again on March 28 because we know we can overcome this repression when we unite.”
In Vermont, protests are being held in all corners of the state, from Bennington to Newport. There are about six protests listed in Burlington, including a march to City Hall, a New North End Honk and Wave and a rally at the intersection of Shelburne Rd and Hannaford Drive.
Here’s what to know ahead of the protests.
What are ‘No Kings’ protests and what does it mean?
In June 2025, large crowds of Vermont residents took part in the first round of “No Kings Day” protests, planned the same day as the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary celebration and the president’s birthday.
Another wave of nationwide “No Kings” protests came several months later in October, in which over seven million Americans joined events in all 50 states, according to the organization. In Burlington, thousands of protesters brought homemade signs protesting Trump, dressed in colorful inflatable costumes, played music and chanted.
Organizers behind the No Kings protests say that it is a “peaceful movement” to push back on President Donald Trump’s policies, including on immigration, foreign policy and the economy.
“With every ICE raid, every escalation abroad, and every abuse of power at home, Americans are rising up in opposition to Trump’s attempt to rule through fear and force. Each day Trump crosses a new red line, and more people are deciding they’ve had enough,” said Ezra Levin, co-executive director of Indivisible, one of the many organizations backing the mass protests.
Others include American Civil Liberties Union, the Human Rights Campaign, MoveOn and 50501.
No Kings protests near me: See events, rallies in Vermont
As of 2 p.m. on March 26, there were 46 No Kings events planned in Rhode Island for March 28. Some towns and cities are holding multiple events.
Here’s a list of events in Burlington:
- Burlington New North End Honk and Wave: 11a.m. – 12:30 p.m., 1127 North Ave, Burlington
- “Invite your friends and neighbors and meet up at 11 a.m. at 1127 North Avenue along the sidewalks at the entrances of the Ethan Allen Shopping Plaza (home to Hannaford Supermarket and many other shops). Bring your signs, banners, noise makers, and American flags,” the listing reads. “This joyous, non-violent honk and wave action will wrap up at 12:30 p.m. Following the Honk and Wave, participants are welcome to proceed to City Hall Park to join the conclusion of the North End and South End marches.”
- Patchen Road Overpass: 11 a.m. – 1 p.m., Patchen Road & Landfill Road, South Burlington
- “We’ll be unfurling our huge NO KINGS banners on the overpass as 4,000 – 5,000 vehicles per hours pass below on Interstate 89. Bring a sign, bring an American flag, and bring a friend,” reads the listing. It says to register and to follow the guidance of safety marshals, and encourages attendees to carpool as “parking is tight.”
- Burlington South End March: 11 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., Calahan Park, 45 Locust St, Burlington
- “We’ll be marching from Calahan Park to City Hall Park,” says the event description. “If you don’t want to march or are unable please join us at City Hall park at 12:30 p.m. for singing, chanting and more.”
- South Burlington: 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., Intersection of Shelburne Rd and Hannaford Dr in South Burlington, 1001 Shelburne Rd, South Burlington, VT
- “Join Champlain Valley Indivisible at the intersection of Shelburne Rd and Hannaford Drive in South Burlington to stand up and speak out against this administration’s unjust and cruel acts of violence,” the event listing says, adding that those interested should register.
- Burlington March to City Hall: 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., 1 S Prospect St., Burlington
- Burlington Old North End March: 11 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., Roosevelt Park, 57 Oak St., Burlington
- “We’ll be marching from Roosevelt park to City Hall Park,” the listing says. “If you don’t want to march or are unable please join us at City Hall park at 12:30 p.m. for singing, chanting and more.”
Here’s a list of all the towns in Vermont holding protests so far, plus when, where and other helpful information listed on the event pages or provided in press releases:
- Bellow Falls
- Bennington
- Bradford
- Brandon
- Brattleboro
- Burlington
- Charlotte
- Chester
- Essex Junction
- Fair Haven
- Fairfax
- Hardwick
- Hartford
- Huntington
- Jericho
- Manchester
- Middlebury
- Milton
- Milton
- Montpelier
- Morrisville
- Newbury
- Newport
- Northfield
- Randolph
- Randolph
- Richmond
- Rutland
- Saint Johnsbury
- Shelburne
- South Burlington
- South Burlington
- St. Albans
- Wallingford
- Waterbury
- Westfield
- Williston
- Wilmington
- Windsor
- Winooski
- Wolcott
- Woodstock
More events may be planned. You can check the map on the No Kings website to see if your town is holding a protest.
What time are No Kings events?
“No Kings” protests in Vermont start at various times on March 28, with some events planned at 10 a.m. and others planned throughout the afternoon, according to the online map of events.
Contributing: Paris Barraza
An international ambassador for tennis from South Burlington and a three-sport captain at Burlington High School and the University of Vermont more than 100 years ago are the final members for the 2026 Vermont Sports Hall of Fame banquet, the organization announced in a news release on Thursday, March 26.
Jake Agna, the former legendary tennis coach at South Burlington High School, is the 2026 David Hakins inductee, which honors an individual or a group or organization for exceptional promotion of sports, athletics and recreation in the state. Fenwick Watkins, a pioneer and exceptional athlete and coach who helped break color barriers in sports in the early 1900s, has been named the hall’s historic inductee.
Agna and Watkins join 10 other members previously announced this year who will officially be enshrined during a celebration banquet at the Delta Marriott Burlington Hotel on 1117 Williston Road in South Burlington on Saturday, April 25.
The dinner begins with a reception at 5:30 p.m. followed by the induction ceremony. To purchase tickets to the 2026 event, visit the VSHOF website at vermontsportshall.com. The cost is $95 per plate with part of the proceeds going to Prevent Child Abuse Vermont, the longtime designated charity for VSHOF.
Over 38 years coaching girls tennis at South Burlington, Agana compiled a 489-95 record with eight perfect seasons, 16 Division I titles and 13 runner-up trophies before stepping down prior to the 2023 season.
Agna is also founded Kids on the Ball in 2000, which is designed to teach children life lessons such as relationships and respect by learning the game of tennis. He has led 31 trips to Cuba to help expand the sport. His tennis programs reach out to over 200 kids each day in school and after school programs.
Agna’s work to help resurface 10 courts and renovation of the National Tennis Center in Cuba in 2017 was recognized by the Tennis Channel.
Watkins was a three-sport star in football, basketball, baseball at Burlington before graduating in 1905. At UVM, he is believed to be the first Black captain of a non-historical Black college or university sport and was captain for all three sports at both BHS and UVM, according to VSHOF.
After UVM, Watkins went on to become a high school and college head coach in North Dakota at Concordia College (football) and what is now known as North Dakota State (baseball and football). He died in 1943.
The previous winners for the Hakins award are: Barry Stone (2024); Thomas Dunkley (2023); Ted Ryan (2022); Cochran’s Ski Area, Mickey & Ginny Cochran (2020); Mal Boright (2019); Helmut Lenes (2017); Ernie Farrar (2015); Tom Curley (2014) and Ray Pecor (2013).
The previous historic winners include: Leo Papineau, St. Michael’s College, athlete, coach and official (2025); Clarence Demar, South Hero, distance running, (2017); Fred Harris, Brattleboro, outdoors/ski jumping, (2015); James Taylor, Windsor, outdoors, (2014); and Charles Adams, Newport, National Hockey League, (2013).
Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter: @aabrami5.
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