WINDSOR — Four Democrats are vying in the Aug. 11 primary for two seats representing Windsor, Hartland and West Windsor in the Vermont House.
State Rep. John Bartholomew, D-Hartland, is seeking his sixth term serving the three towns, while former Rep. Paul Belaski, D-Windsor, is hoping to win back the seat he lost in a three-way primary in 2018.
Also in the race are newcomers Jennifer Grant, the town moderator of Hartland, and Elizabeth Burrows, a Brownsville resident who chairs the Mount Ascutney School District Board.
State Rep. Zachariah Ralph, P-Windsor, is not seeking reelection. He endorsed Burrows to succeed him in March.
Bartholomew, a retired National Institutes of Health veterinarian, said his experience working across the aisle and knowledge of Statehouse politics are key at a time when Vermont is struggling to manage fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
State officials have predicted that Vermont could lose more than $300 million in tax revenue because of COVID-19.
“It’s going to be a very difficult year,” Bartholomew said in a phone interview. “I think experience is going to be the key, having people who’ve been there and know the ropes.”
Bartholomew says he’ll push against raising taxes to manage the shortfall, but also made clear that future spending plans must protect Vermont’s most vulnerable populations.
“So many people are underemployed or have lost their jobs and we just don’t know what the state coffers are going to look like,” he said, adding the Legislature will convene again in August when it has better projections.
Bartholomew, who serves on the House Agriculture and Forestry Committee, touted his work crafting several bills protecting animals from cruelty. He supported the creation of a paid family leave plan that was vetoed by Republican Gov. Phil Scott.
Belaski, an architect and former town zoning administrator, also touted his experience in the House, where he served on the Corrections and Institutions for two years.
“I think my training as an architect; listening to needs, desires, financial capacity and dreams (and) then taking that information and trying to synthesize a solution to meet those requirements is a good background,” he said in an email.
If elected, Belaski hopes to focus on several areas, including efforts to create a universal health care system, institute paid family leave and allow for commercial marijuana sales.
He also pledged to work hard within the Legislature’s committees to advance new measures.
“Contrary to some, I’m a firm believer in the wisdom and efficiency of that system. Once assigned to a committee, as a legislator, one concentrates on her/his ‘committee’ issues while keeping peripherally aware and informed on other legislative issues,” he said.
Meanwhile, Grant said her past positions in the nonprofit and business world have helped her become a “creative connector who builds relationships.”
She previously worked as the executive director of Windsor County Mentors, the Springfield Regional Chamber of Commerce, and Maynard House in Hanover.
In an email, Grant said the biggest challenges facing the state are a lack of universal access to health care, environmental threats such as climate change and threats to small businesses.
She also committed to seeking ways to addressing systemic racism and lowering incarceration, having helped to set up New Hampshire’s mental health court and previously serving as an advisor to the Grafton County Drug Court.
“Our state must serve Vermonters of all ages and heritages,” she said.
Burrows describes herself as a “big-picture thinker and a little-picture participant.”
“Prioritizing community, celebrating difference, listening to others, and sticking up for each other are all values that my husband and I instill in our boys, and hopefully are made manifest in this campaign,” she said in an email.
As a former West Windsor School Board member, Burrows testified before the Legislature on Act 46, the state’s school consolidation law, and worked with Ralph on measures to require implicit bias training for school employees.
If elected, she’ll also work to pass a paid family leave program, ensure high-quality child care and begin “untangling the issue of universal healthcare.” Burrows also hopes to end to mass incarceration, the militarization of the police and qualified police immunity.
“I am compelled to bring ends of the community together, promote justice and equity, and make our full-spectrum education system a springboard to excellence and to our state’s future,” she said.
The top two vote-getters in next month’s Democratic primary will go on to face Hartland Republican Wesley Raney, who works at the River Valley Club and also has a firearms instruction business, Green Mountain Armory.
Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.