Democrats Line Up Behind Progressive Party Candidate in Vermont

The Progressive Party of Vermont looks well positioned to win the office of Lt. Governor this November. The party’s nominee, Dean Corren, will face off against Republican incumbent Phil Scott and Liberty Union candidate Marina Brown. No Democrat filed to seek the office and over the weekend, the Democratic State Committee voted 31-4 to endorse Corren. He was also recently endorsed by the state’s sitting Democratic Governor.

Corren served four terms as a Progressive Party member in the Vermont state house from 1993 to 2000 and was a member and chair of the Burlington Electric Commission, which governs the state’s largest public electric utility. The Progressive’s campaign qualified for $200,000 in public funding, while the incumbent has raised about $133,000 to date.

In recent decades, the Progressive Party of Vermont has been the most successful single-state alternative party in the nation. The Progressives have held seats in the Vermont legislature without interruption since 1991. The party currently control 5 seats in the State House and 3 seats in the 30-member Vermont State Senate.

The Burlington City Council is made up of 7 Democrats, 5 Progressives, 1 Republican and 1 independent.

In fact, Burlington’s longest serving mayor was Peter Clavelle, a Progressive Party member who served seven terms between 1989 and 2006. Clavelle was followed by Progressive state representative Bob Kiss, who was elected to the office of mayor in 2006 and re-elected in 2009.

To learn more about the Vermont Progressive Party, click here. To visit Dean Corren’s campaign website, click here.