Democrats in Bolton, Huntington, Waterbury and Buel's Gore are assembling a committee to seek out and recommend candidates to fill a vacancy in the Vermont Statehouse. Democratic Rep. Rebecca Ellis resigned her post earlier this month to take the job of senior counsel for government affairs at the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation.
According to the August edition of the municipal newsletter The Bolton Gazette, Democrats in the Washington-Chittenden House District are now working on forming the committee. The Bolton Gazette noted Waterbury Democratic Town Committee Chair Liz Schlegel says the selection process calls for forming a district committee to "solicit and review applicants for the nomination, make recommendations for the final contenders, an lastly to send a list of no more than three names to the governor."
Gov. Peter Shumlin is responsible for appointing a candidate to fill the vacant seat for the year remaining in Ellis' term. His office says he will make that appointment before the start of the next legislative session in January.
The Bolton Gazette gave the following tentative timeline for the district committee:
- Convene to form the District Committee in the next two weeks
- Call for applications: deadline second week of September
- Re-convene, make selections, send names to Gov. Shumlin in late September.
Democrats in the Washington-Chittenden District should contact their town office if interested in serving on the selection committee.
Washington-Chittenden is a two-member House district. Democrat Thomas Stevens is the other district representative.
