HARTFORD — Two-term state Rep. Becca White, D-Hartford, has announced her intention to seek one of three Senate seats from Windsor County. White, 27, said the litany of issues Vermont faces coming out of the pandemic calls for someone with her experience and skill set.
“It’s laid bare so many of the challenges we face,” White said.
The three Senate seats are held by incumbents in her own party — Richard McCormack, Alice Nitka and Alison Clarkson — and White acknowledged that Vermont often has a “wait your turn mentality,” when it comes to Democratic politics.
“We’re at a place where I can no longer wait my turn,” she said. “We have urgent problems.”
Disparities in housing, transportation, child care and access to health care demand action, she said.
“When I talk to constituents and people throughout the county, housing affordability is the No. 1 issue I hear,” White said, pointing out that rental costs, an unaffordable housing market, and the inability to improve or maintain a home are pressing issues.
“It’s all wrapped up in our quality of life,” she said. “We have a shortage of housing that’s creating extremely detrimental impacts for people, for business, and for the future of the county. It’s probably the scariest and most impactful issue I hear from Vermonters.”
White said she has first-hand experience to guide her.
“I grew up with the financial crises and the housing bubble,” White said. “Our home was foreclosed on in Wilder. I have a deep empathy for any Vermonter who is struggling with housing. It makes me approachable in a way that’s important to have in elected office.”
Like many young Vermonters, White said she has struggled to stay in Vermont and build a life.
“What’s unique to my candidacy is I have the lived experience of someone who had grown up here, wants to stay here,” she said. “And, I was fortunate enough to have access to affordable housing and buy a home.”
She said her youth is asset and gives a different perspective.
“There are more landlords (in the General Assembly) than there are renters,” White said. “And more folks who are retired than not.”
White said the House and the Senate have prioritized housing, it’s just that the problems are not easy.
“I don’t think there are any silver bullets to solving this crisis,” she said. “It’s a national crisis.”
But that doesn’t mean White isn’t ready to try.
“I’m a radical optimist,” she said. “I think we have a lot of hope going forward rather than despair. The pandemic gave us a pause moment where we had to sit with our challenges politically and personally. There’s such an opportunity, I want to make sure there’s a seat at the table for younger Vermonters and women and enthusiastic supporters of Windsor County.”
It’s her life circumstances she thinks will really resonate with many of the county’s residents.
“I bring to the table being a young woman, growing up in Windsor County and growing up in a family that was living paycheck to paycheck and dealing with the financial hardship that comes with that,” White said. “I was fortunate to get social network programs. At every point my life had a downturn, there was a social safety net to make sure I was able to thrive.”
White said that as she went to college and began life as a young adult, she didn’t know how much many of her peers had similar childhoods.
“I thought I was the only one,” White said.
White’s experience began when she was elected to the Hartford Selectboard at 20 years of age. She served four years before she was elected to the Vermont House of Representatives where she is finishing her second two-year term serving the Windsor 4-2 District..
“Serving two terms on the Selectboard helped me to understand what effective local government looks like, but also opened my eyes to the complexity of issues that could only be solved at the state level,” White said in a news release.
In addition to her current residence in Hartford, White has lived in White River Junction, Wilder and Quechee.
She has been married to her husband, Dylan Kreis, since 2018.
White said she has great respect for incumbents, all Democrats, a veteran group of solons.
McCormack has served two stints in the Senate, first from 1989 to 2003, and then again from 2006 to present for a total of 30 years.
Nitka has served in the Senate since 2007, but was a member of the House from 1999 to 2006, and Clarkson has 14 years in the House and has been in the Senate the past six years.
McCormack said he never talks about running for reelection until after the session has ended.
“I’m elected every two years for a two-year term and my present term runs out next January,” McCormack said. “I have no special entitlement to remain in office. I have to earn reelection every two years.”
Beyond that, he said White has every right to run for a Senate seat.
“May the best candidate win,” he said.
Nitka could not be reached for comment Monday evening.
Clarkson said it was too early to talk about November and was focused on her work in the Senate.
“It’s early days and our heads are very much in the session,” Clarkson said.
But, she said they all know each other well, and said “It will be a robust primary.”
“We do a lot of work with Becca,” Clarkson said. “We all have a lot of respect for each other.”
White expressed the same sentiment.
“I respect the institutional knowledge and work that has been done by all three of the sitting senators,” White said. “What I bring to the table is the next generation of leadership. It’s time we have a bench that’s ready to take up the mantle of responsibility. That includes younger Vermonters, women and historically marginalized groups.”
White has named Ethan Lawrence as her campaign manager.
Darren Marcy can be reached at dmarcy@vnews.com or 802-291-4992.