BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Emma Mulvaney-Stanak, the first woman elected mayor in Burlington’s history Tuesday, is now preparing to move forward serving the Queen City. Mulvaney-Stanak defeated Democrat Joan Shannon by nearly 1,000 votes, winning 51% of the vote to Shannon’s 45%. That means Progressives will be back in power after 12 years.
In a race many thought would be extremely close, Mulvaney-Stanak won by six percentage points. She attributes high turnout and having strong support from people even in the most staunchly Democratic wards.
“I am actually, frankly not surprised that I’ve won because I am not only a really hard worker, I’m a really hard campaigner. I have done political campaigns pretty much my entire professional career,” Mulvaney-Stanak said Tuesday night.
She picked up votes across party lines, even hundreds of those who voted for a Democratic councilor, checked Mulvaney-Stanak’s name on the ballot.
“That is exactly how I intend to lead as mayor, is to continue to build that coalition of folks across the political spectrum, because that’s desperately what Burlington needs right now to tackle all the serious challenges facing our city,” Mulvaney-Stanak said.
She says being a mom of young kids set her apart, along with her commitment to traditional Progressive values, which include helping those people struggling in the community. “Remembering that the people who are ultimately suffering in our streets are Vermonters, they’re our neighbors. They deserve respect and a dignified approach to help them meet their basic needs. And time and time again, people really said that was one of the core pieces that they felt was the biggest distinction between the top candidates,” Mulvaney-Stanak said.
The mayor-elect had a volunteer corps of 300 people strong who were spreading her message across the city to long-time and new voters. Former GOP Burlington City Council President Kurt Wright — who endorsed Joan Shannon — says those volunteers helped push Mulvaney-Stanak over the finish line. That, and the fact that voters may have viewed Shannon as too similar to the Weinberger administration. “Miro had been mayor for a long time and after a long time, there becomes this fatigue. And I think people felt that Joan was a close ally of the mayors and that may have had a little bit to do with it,” he said.
Long-time Progressive Gene Bergman, who has worked with Shannon on the city council, says Mulvaney-Stanak brought a hopefulness to the race that Shannon did not. especially around the current public safety crisis downtown. “I think it just reflected that there is a majority who share our values. They might not agree with every policy thing that we put together. They might not agree with the way some of us look or talk, but it is but the values of compassion and equity and justice, I think are are still the predominant values of the city,” he said.
Mulvaney-Stanak will be sworn in next month at the city’s Organization Day.
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