Vermont Progressive Party Backs 17 Candidates for Town Meeting Day Elections

The Vermont Progressive Party announced this past week that its local affiliates are fielding a slate of over a dozen candidates for office in the state’s upcoming Town Meeting Day elections.

“Town meeting day is coming right up on Tuesday, March 4th, and I am proud to announce that our local town committees have endorsed and are supporting 17 candidates running for school board, city council, and selectboard in communities across our state,” the statement reads.

The party described decisions made by local officials as “some of the most impactful” on daily life, particularly regarding taxes, housing costs, and the quality of green spaces. To that end, the state party held a phone bank earlier this week to generate support for its slate ahead of the election. Candidates endorsed by the party include those running in Brattleboro, Winooski, Addison, and Burlington.

The party also lists an eighteenth candidate in its statement—Bill Hunsinger, running for Ripton Selectboard—who is an alternate member of the Progressive Party State Committee but notes that he has not yet been formally endorsed.

The full list of local candidates as presented in the statement is below:

Brattleboro Selectboard
Oscar Heller
Cristina Shayonye
Isaac Evans-Frantz

Lamoille North School Board
Kyle Nuse

Johnson Selectboard
Adrienne Parker

Addison Central School
Jamie McCallum
Ron Makleff
Jess Venable-Novak

Winooski School Board
Robert Millar

Winooski City Council
Charlie Judge

Burlington City Council
Melo Grant – Central District
Jennifer Monroe Zakaras – South District
Kathy Olwell – East District

Burlington Ward Clerk
Wendy Coe – Ward 2
Jack Sparr – Ward 8

Burlington Inspector of Elections
Ezra Willson – Ward 3
Trish O’Kane – Ward 7

Ripton Selectboard
Bill Hunsinger (VPP leader, not yet endorsed)