With just days until Vermont lawmakers return to Montpelier for the start of the 2025 legislative session, Dover independent Rep. Laura Sibilia’s bid to oust House Speaker Jill Krowinski and become the chamber’s next leader appears to have found momentum.
Twenty-one Democratic, Progressive and independent lawmakers, including Sibilia, told VTDigger this week that they plan to support her over Krowinski or are likely to do so. If nearly every Republican did the same — which is far from certain — Sibilia could prevail against Krowinski, a Burlington Democrat who has been the speaker since 2021.
Most of the 21 non-Republican legislators said they’ve made up their mind to vote for Sibilia when the House convenes on Jan. 8, while several said that they were “leaning” or “leaning strongly” toward voting for her. Some House Democrats have already publicly professed their support for Sibilia’s campaign, pointing to the results of November’s election as a mandate for top-down change.
As it stands, Sibilia would need at least 75 votes — a majority of the 149 House members set to take office Jan. 8 — to win the speaker’s gavel. There are 150 seats in the House, but Castleton Republican Chris Brown resigned from his newly won position last month. Republican Gov. Phil Scott hasn’t yet appointed Brown’s replacement.
Votes from at least 21 Democratic, Progressive and independent members could give Sibilia a path to victory — albeit a narrow one — given that 55 Republicans are entering the House next week. She and her allies hope Republicans wouldn’t back a Democrat to lead the chamber, but GOP leaders have not signalled their intentions — and at least one Republican member has already declared her support for Krowinski in recent days.
“Our numbers tell us that if the Republicans join their Democratic, independent and Progressive colleagues who are voting for change, I’m going to win,” Sibilia said, adding that she has been “having a lot of positive conversations” with GOP members.
That so many members outside the Republican caucus plan to support Sibilia’s bid suggests her support is broader than has been previously reported — and could potentially lead to a close outcome. It also underscores how the GOP caucus, even without a majority of House seats, could well determine the next speaker in what would be an early flex of its increased power.
Poultney Rep. Pattie McCoy, the House Republican leader, did not respond to requests for comment about the party’s deliberations over how its members might vote — and whether they would do so as a bloc. Gov. Scott is not getting involved in the race on either candidate’s behalf, according to Amanda Wheeler, a spokesperson for his office.
In an interview Friday, Krowinski said that she believes she has enough support — from representatives of all political stripes — to win reelection next week, pointing to her experience “having counted many difficult votes in my time” serving in the Legislature.
“I’m continuing to work hard to earn everyone’s vote, and I feel, still, confident that I do have the votes on Wednesday,” she said.
Most of the lawmakers VTDigger spoke to did so on the condition of anonymity, fearing political consequences for being known to have voted against an incumbent speaker. The Jan. 8 vote will be conducted by secret ballot, meaning each lawmaker’s vote would only be public if they chose to share it with their constituents or the press.
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Asked about some members’ concerns of facing retribution, Krowinski said, “I think if you look at my track record as speaker, you’ll see that that’s not a way that I lead.”
She added, “if people change their minds, that’s fine. What is important to me is that when people give their word that they keep it — and that’s how we have worked together as a caucus and as a chamber since I’ve been speaker.”
Some members have been open about their support for Sibilia in recent weeks.
Rep. Jed Lipsky, I-Stowe, told VTDigger that he was planning to vote for Sibilia because he thought the chamber could not afford to install the same House leadership after losing 18 seats in the 2024 elections, including ones held by chairs of two key committees.
“I think voters demanded change in November,” Lipsky said this week.
He added, “I think we need to work as a broader body — as one that considers all membership — in making more collaborative policies. I think that’s something that Laura has preached, or believed in — and I think she will follow through on that.”
Sibilia, who has served in the House since 2015, has argued she is well-positioned to build consensus in the chamber as an independent. She has said she would improve communication between members from different parties, as well as with voters, including through weekly public updates sent out from her office.
Sibilia has been fundraising for her campaign and hired a chief of staff — former Rep. Lucy Rogers, D-Waterville. Sibilia said she has also brought on two University of Vermont students to serve as campaign consultants.
Krowinski, as the incumbent speaker, has two staffers funded by the state — chief of staff Conor Kennedy and aide Molly Moore.
Some discontent over Krowinski’s leadership was already on display at a House Democratic caucus meeting last month. While the caucus ultimately voted to support Krowinski, that result came only after several Democrats urged the caucus to back Sibilia for the role.
Rep. John O’Brien, D-Tunbridge, attempted to nominate Sibilia to be the party’s choice for speaker — but members later approved a measure to allow only Democrats to be nominated by the party for leadership positions. The vote was 60-18, suggesting substantial support for Krowinski.
Cambridge Democrat Rep. Lucy Boyden also urged colleagues to back Sibilia at last month’s caucus meeting. And public support has come in recent weeks from Rep. Jay Hooper, D-Randolph, and Rep. Anne Donahue, a longtime Northfield Republican who won reelection in November as an independent.
At least one House Republican — Fairfax Rep. Ashley Bartley — has since publicly urged support for Krowinski, writing in an email to colleagues last week that Krowinski had “a commitment to honesty and collaboration.”
In an interview, Bartley emphasized “the amount of times that I did not agree with leadership last year,” but added, “I was vocal about that, and I sat down with the speaker, and she was nothing but fair with me.”
Bartley added that she disagreed with Sibilia’s vocal support for a clean heat standard, a controversial policy intended to reduce emissions that come from heating and cooling buildings in Vermont.
Sibilia said this week that she understands the concerns held by critics of the clean heat standard after reviewing the most recent information from state regulators about its likely costs to implement as originally designed. She added that she does not expect it to move forward in that form.
Like Sibilia, Krowinski said she was committed to bolstering communication, too, including giving members more resources to explain legislative decisions to their constituents. She also said that, if she is elected again as speaker, she expects to appoint more Republicans to serve as either chair or vice chair of House committees.
She pointed specifically to soliciting as much feedback as possible on ideas for reforming the state’s education funding system, an issue that legislators across party lines have identified as a top priority this year.
“We’re going to be coordinating more press events and more local community events to talk about where we’re going, and to get feedback,” she said. “It’s going to be a huge communication strategy, and plan, moving forward this session on this issue.”
Read the story on VTDigger here: A significant number of legislators tell VTDigger they back Laura Sibilia’s bid for speaker of the Vermont House.