HARTFORD — Two political newcomers are challenging two incumbents in a race for seats in a Vermont House district representing White River Junction, Wilder and part of Quechee.
And a Barnard Democrat and a Hartford Republican are vying for an open seat in another district representing West Hartford, the rest of Quechee, Barnard and Pomfret in Montpelier.
Democratic Reps. Kevin Christie, who has represented the Windsor 4-2 district for 10 years and Becca White, who is seeking a second term, are both running for re-election.
They are being challenged by Republican Alice Flanders, a retired Navy engineer and former teacher, and Progressive candidate Nicholas Bramlage, who runs a martial arts and fitness center in Lebanon.
For the 70-year-old Christie, a key reason for running for reelection is to combat issues of racial inequality in Vermont.
“I think it’s pretty evident that there are concerns and issues around systemic racism,” he said. “That particular work as far as mitigating that systemic problem takes a lot of introspective-type work.”
Christie, a longtime White River Junction resident and chair of the Vermont Human Rights Commission, said that to address issues of racial inequality officials must focus on larger issues like voting rights, housing disparities, education and health care.
He also said he supports solutions to combat climate change and wants to move toward solar power and electric vehicles, but that he understands it’s a difficult task for some Vermonters.
“We, as representatives, have to be cognizant and understanding and look at how we can assist especially our marginalized Vermonters in being able to participate in reducing Vermont’s carbon footprint,” he said.
That’s an issue that’s close to White’s heart, as well. She was one of the sponsors of HB 688, also called the Global Warming Solutions Act, which was passed by the Legislature this year.
It was vetoed by Republican Gov. Phil Scott, but the House overrode his decision last month.
As a young Vermonter, the 26-year-old White said she’s part of a demographic that will deal with the effects of climate change for a long time.
“What concerns me is the conversations we’re having now don’t take into account the ramifications of doing nothing,” she said.
White, who said a focus on transportation is key to combating climate change, serves on the House Committee on Transportation.
She is currently working on a Transportation Demand Management project, a concept that seeks to reduce single-person, single-vehicle trips.
White also says she hopes to focus on issues of income inequality in Vermont during the next legislative session.
“We have a progressive tax structure in Vermont, but it’s not revolutionary,” she said. “It’s not bold enough to address the income inequality that people are experiencing.”
White also supports paid family and medical leave, saying that after the COVID-19 pandemic, many Vermonters “now know what it means to have to choose your health over a paycheck.”
White and Christie, along with other representatives, co-sponsored a bill in January that would institute a statewide paid family and medical leave program.
However, the bill was vetoed by Scott, who said he was interested in one that would not force employees or businesses to foot the bill for paid family leave.
Flanders, a 65-year-old White River Junction resident, said she’s running partly because she thinks “a lot of culture and society is on the wrong track.”
Flanders said she takes issues with the Black Lives Matter movement and does not think Vermont has an issue with systemic racism.
“Now that all this Black Lives Matter has come up … it is required that you think of me as a Black person,” she said. “It’s like discrimination has reappeared artificially.”
Flanders said if elected, she is interested in addressing the state’s education system, adding that there has been a recent decline in standardized test scores in Vermont.
However, she is not supportive of free education, saying she would like to teach students at a young age how to push themselves to succeed in school.
“If it’s free to everybody, it means nothing to anybody,” she said. “The world will reward those that work hard.”
When it comes to climate change, Flanders said she would like to move toward solar energy and reducing plastic waste, though she said she does not believe humans are the primary cause of climate change.
Bramlage, a 39-year-old White River Junction resident, said combating climate change is one of his biggest priorities and that he would like to reduce plastic use and urge drivers to switch to electric cars.
Bramlage moved up to Vermont from Mississippi seven years ago and runs Infinity Martial Fitness in Lebanon.
He also serves on the board for the New Hampshire Academy of Science, which supports scientific research by high school and middle school students around the state, he said.
One of the key ways to address climate change is by pushing up the deadlines for transitioning to clean energy; Vermont should transition within the next five years, rather than the next 10, he said.
“We need to be making drastic changes at a local, state and federal level now,” he said, adding that “all materials need to be sustainably sourced.”
That includes looking into building infrastructure, like roads, out of recycled materials, he said.
Bramlage, who also said he supports issues like paid family leave, combating racial inequity and legalizing marijuana, added that one of his key concerns is ensuring Vermonters have access to free higher education.
He supports a free, online state college system, something he says is even more feasible now that many people have gone through online education due to COVID-19.
In the next district over, representing West Hartford, Barnard, Pomfret and part of Quechee.
Heather Surprenant, an organic farmer, is running as a Democrat and Progressive party candidate opposite Republican Mark Donka, a former Hartford Selectboard member who works as police officer in Woodstock.
Surprenant said climate change is one of the key issues concerning her and other young Vermont farmers, especially now, following one of the driest summers in years.
She supports a bill, proposed in January, which would create a fund to help further climate initiatives.
Surprenant said she would like farmers to transition to more sustainable practices but in order for that to happen, they will need tax incentives from the state.
“We have to make sure that we’re supporting farmers through these transitions. They’re going to need monetary help,” she said.
She also talked about the importance of instituting statewide paid family leave, but added that the money for a program like that should come from federal funding, not the employees themselves.
And, like others in her neighboring district, Surprenant said she also wants to address issues of systemic racism in Vermont, adding that it needs to start with early schooling.
“How are we going to incorporate race-based education within our school system?” she said. “Incorporating and teaching about diversity is essential.”
Donka, a 63-year-old Hartford resident who lost a bid for Congress against U.S. Rep. Peter Welch in 2014, said he is running for the House seat because he’s unhappy with the political direction the state has taken, especially when it comes to increased property taxes and the burden he says those taxes place on the working class.
His concern about the financial burdens Vermonters face extends to the issue of implementing statewide paid family and medical leave, which he said could financially harm small businesses that are forced to pay when their employees take leave.
He also said he doesn’t support using federal funds to pay for a statewide program because it puts the burden on the taxpayer.
“Everybody always talks about federal money but where does the federal government get their money from? The only way they get money is by taking it from the people through taxes,” Donka said.
He said he’s in support of finding ways to combat the state’s drug crisis, through a multiple-pronged approach that includes education and treatment.
“Treatment is one of those things we don’t have available,” Donka said, adding that people suffering from addictions need immediate access to care.
Anna Merriman can be reached at amerriman@vnews.com or 603-727-3216.