Having lost six seats to Republicans last week, Vermont’s weakened Senate Democratic caucus is poised to switch up some of its leaders ahead of the 2025 legislative session — but there are no signs this week of a mutiny afoot.
Senate Democrats are scheduled to convene Saturday morning to elect two members to key caucus leadership positions: majority leader and whip.
They are also expected to vote on their picks for two major roles in the chamber: Senate president pro tempore, and the quietly influential role of the “third member” of the Committee on Committees. Those two posts require a vote from the full, 30-member chamber in January.
The caucus meeting will mark the first gathering of Senate Democrats, now in reduced numbers, after they lost six of their 23 seats to Republicans on Election Day.
As of Thursday afternoon, it appeared that at least one caucus leadership position, the role of whip, would see a new occupant, and that the incumbent majority leader faced a challenge. But Democrats seemed ready to remain loyal to their top brass in the president pro tempore’s office, Sen. Phil Baruth, D/P-Chittenden Central.
Sen. Andrew Perchlik, D/P-Washington, the Democrats’ current whip, said on Thursday that he does not plan on seeking reelection to that role.
With longtime Sen. Jane Kitchel, D-Caledonia, retiring this year, the Senate’s powerful appropriations committee will need a new chair, and Perchlik is widely understood to be next in line for the key budget-writing role.
Multiple senators told VTDigger on Thursday that Sen. Becca White, D-Windsor, is the only candidate in the running to replace Perchlik as whip. White did not return VTDigger’s request for comment Thursday.
Incumbent Senate Majority Leader Alison Clarkson, D-Windsor, is seeking reelection to the leadership role she has held for four years. But she’s facing a challenge from Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale, D/P-Chittenden Southeast, as Seven Days first reported on Wednesday.
On Thursday, Ram Hinsdale told VTDigger that she decided to throw her hat in the ring after seeing last week’s down-ballot election results, which obliterated Democrats’ two-thirds supermajorities in both the House and Senate.
“This really has to do with what we’ve been hearing from Vermonters, and the level of cohesion it’s going to take to try to deliver what Vermonters are asking us for,” Ram Hinsdale said of her decision to run for the leadership post. “Even before Election Day, I think it was clear to many of us that Vermonters are socially liberal and financially hurting, and they really need us to hear that and to focus on meeting their most basic needs.”
Clarkson said that she agreed that Vermonters sent a message at the voting booth last week, and that Democrats need to listen — “but I don’t think we need to throw the baby out with the bathwater.”
“Everybody likes to blame somebody, but … I wish we would restrain from blaming each other. We did the best job we could possibly have done,” Clarkson said of Democrats’ electoral losses. “We could certainly have done a better job messaging, in lay terms, our values. There is no question.”
Clarkson, who hails from southern Vermont, also noted that if Ram Hinsdale were to win the majority leader post, that would further concentrate Chittenden County’s representation within legislative leadership ranks.
As of Thursday afternoon, both Clarkson and Ram Hinsdale appeared determined to remain in the race. Perchlik suggested that could change by Saturday morning, after the two senators have called their colleagues and counted their votes.
“I would hope that people can be honest with the two candidates and say how they’re voting, so that the vote is kind of clear,” Perchlik said.
But even a handful of undecided senators, if they don’t make up their minds by Saturday, could call the race into question, forcing a floor debate for the position, Perchlik said. That could be a good thing for the caucus, he said — or bad.
“It could be healthy and it could be helpful, but it could end up becoming more divisive,” Perchlik said. “It could cause a rift in the caucus where you kind of get into two teams or two sides, and then that carries into the session.”
Senate Democrats on Saturday are also scheduled to nominate their choices for the chamber’s top position, president pro tempore, and the “third member” of the Committee on Committees. Comprised of the president pro tempore, lieutenant governor and one other member, the panel assigns senators to committees and chairmanships — and therefore, largely directs the political priorities of the chamber.
The confirmations for those two vital positions will be subject to a vote by the full, 30-member chamber in January, when the Legislature reconvenes for the 2025 session. And the Senate Republican caucus — now 13 members strong — could challenge Democrats’ nominees to the roles.
As of Thursday afternoon, it appeared that no senator from within the Democratic caucus planned to run against the current pro tem, Baruth, at Saturday’s meeting. Baruth has served one two-year biennium in the role, and his chief of staff, Ashley Moore, told VTDigger on Thursday he plans to run again. She also said that she was not aware of any Democratic challengers for the seat.
As for the role of third member, longtime Sen. Ginny Lyons, D-Chittenden Southeast, confirmed she is running for the seat. As of Thursday afternoon, the caucus appeared ready to rally around her, according to conversations with numerous senators and Lyons herself.
“I think it’s really important that we have someone like me with experience, who understands the Senate process and how we function, and the balance that we’ll need on our committees,” Lyons said Thursday. “It’s a new era right now, with 13 Republicans and 17 Democrats. It will be very important to ensure that we have folks on the committees who can work together and can be productive.”
Initially, Lyons wasn’t the only senator interested in the role.
Sen. Thomas Chittenden, D-Chittenden Southeast, confirmed on Thursday that he, too, had been eyeing the assignment. A moderate Democrat, he said he would have brought “balance” to the Committee on Committees.
But when his seatmate Lyons called dibs, he said he backed down.
“I fully support Ginny Lyons,” Chittenden said Thursday. “She has seniority, she’s reasonable, she’s a steady hand at the tiller, and I think she’ll be great as a third member.”
But challenges from the GOP, both for the roles of pro tem and third member, could materialize before January. According to Sen. Russ Ingalls, R-Essex, the new Senate Republican caucus has yet to meet to elect its caucus leaders and potentially nominate its own picks for the roles.
Now 13 members strong, the Republican caucus would need only to flip three Democrats to vote against either Baruth or Lyons. (In the case of a 15-15 vote, the tie-breaker would most likely be Progressive/Democrat Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman, who most likely will still be presiding over the chamber on the first day of session, Jan. 8, according to Senate Secretary John Bloomer. Zuckerman lost his reelection bid to Republican challenger John Rodgers last week, but with neither candidate having secured a more-than-50% majority, legislators are scheduled to convene for a joint session on Jan. 9 — one day after the pro tem and third member votes — to install a lieutenant governor.)
“Those scenarios have yet to play out. I can’t say that I’ve had any of those discussions,” Ingalls said. “But boy, wouldn’t that be an awful lot of fun?”
Read the story on VTDigger here: After sweeping electoral losses, Senate Democrats are scheduled to elect their leaders this weekend.