The outcome of a contested race for speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives will remain shrouded in mystery until lawmakers kick off the 2025 legislative session early next month.
Democratic lawmakers Saturday declined to hold a vote that would have measured support for incumbent candidate Jill Krowinski, a Democrat from Burlington who’s served in the speaker’s post for four years.
Krowinski faces an unusual challenge for the position from Rep. Laura Sibilia, a five-term Independent from Dover who says she'll deliver the tripartisan collaboration needed to solve Vermont's toughest challenges.
“We’ve become the party that raised property taxes by 14%. We’ve become the party that’s synonymous with unaffordability. We need new leadership at the top.”Tunbridge Rep. John O'Brien
The official election for speaker won’t come until Jan. 8, when all 150 members of the House cast secret-ballot votes on the chamber floor. But Democrats could have ended the suspense at their annual pre-session caucus Saturday in the Statehouse, where both Krowinski and Sibilia were nominated by supporters.
Democrats will have 88 seats in the chamber next year. Had at least 76 of them cast ballots for Krowinski, the outcome of the Jan. 8 vote would have likely been sealed. Instead, 60 Democrats voted to reject Sibilia’s nomination, effectively forestalling a nonbinding vote that would have shed light on the status of the contest.
The fact that she was nominated for speaker by Democrats — and that 18 of them voted not to reject her nomination — speaks to the growing support she has in their caucus, according to Sibilia.
“I do think that that vote… demonstrates that there is not a single kind of monolith of thoughts within the caucus, that there are divergent opinions on how to proceed,” she said.
Tunbridge Rep. John O’Brien was one of two House Democrats to speak in favor of Sibilia on Saturday. He noted that 19 incumbent Democrats lost their elections last month.
“Why?” O’Brien said. “Because, as one losing Democrat told me, ‘We had nothing to run on.’”
O’Brien said the historic losses suffered by the party mean “this is not the time for, ‘back to the old drawing board.’”
“We’ve become the party that raised property taxes by 14%. We’ve become the party that’s synonymous with unaffordability,” he said. “We need new leadership at the top.”
Krowinski has served in House leadership positions for the last eight years. Waterbury Rep. Theresa Wood, the Democratic chair of the House Committee on Human Services, said Krowinski has a track record of rebuilding support after tough election losses.
“Laura Sibilia is not a Democrat. She’s not one of us. She’s not a member of our team."Randolph Rep. Larry Satcowitz
She said Krowinski has also melded her Democratic values with the deft pragmatism needed to pass landmark policy, such as the 2023 child care bill that received tripartisan support — even after Republican Gov. Phil Scott vetoed the legislation.
“Jill’s not flamboyant. She doesn’t scream and shout and throw her hands around,” Wood said. “But what I do know is that if we stand today, and on Jan. 8, with a thoughtful, deliberate, calm and compassionate leadership we have in Rep. Jill Krowinski, Vermont will be a better place when we all adjourn in May.”
The question of whether Krowinski has enough votes within her own party to remain speaker, however, was put off Saturday when Democrats objected to even considering Sibilia as their party’s nominee.
“Laura Sibilia is not a Democrat. She’s not one of us. She’s not a member of our team,” said Randolph Rep. Larry Satcowitz. “It seems crazy to think that we could nominate — even consider for nomination — someone who is not a member of our team.”
Putney Rep. Mike Mrowicki agreed, and said the Democratic Party needs to adopt the same strategic approach of a labor union.
“What happens in a union happens because of the strength of the union,” he said. “And what happens in the Democratic Party happens because of the strength of our union, our solidarity.”
Montpelier Rep. Conor Casey said he has every intention of voting for Krowinski in January.
“I think it’d be preposterous to have somebody who’s not a Democrat be speaker of the House,” he said.
But Casey said a straw vote on the two candidates Saturday would have provided needed clarity on the direction the race is headed in.
“We can settle this right now, and know what votes are on the table here and give the candidates an opportunity between now and Jan. 8 to speak to people that they need to. So we can determine this right now. I don’t see the value in waiting for it," he said.
Essex Junction Rep. Karen Dolan, who was voted in as the new House whip Saturday, said she hasn’t counted votes yet to see whether Krowinski will have enough support to remain in her post.
“This will be something that we’ll be looking into. It’ll be about talking to each of the members and seeing,” Dolan said. “We believe in the Democratic candidate, so we’re going to talk to everybody and make sure the votes are there.”
Sibilia declined to say how many Democrats have committed to voting for her on Jan. 8. She said she has enough Democratic support, however, to require Krowinski to win at least some votes from outside her caucus in order to stay on as speaker.
“We have enough that the path to winning in January for either candidate is going to be through multiparty coalitions,” she said.
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