Will face Progressive Mulvaney-Stanak in March election
By Ted Cohen
Long-term city councilor Joan Shannon swept the Democrat party caucus voting Sunday, December 10 to capture her party’s nomination for mayor in Vermont’s largest city. She will face Progressive Emma Mulvaney-Stanak at the city elections in March.
Shannon received 1,689 votes, easily defeating fellow councilor Karen Paul, who received 1,173 votes.
A third candidate, newcomer CD Mattison, brought up the rear with 471 votes.
The voting was held largely online and brought a record turnout for the party caucus, an official said.
In the March city elections, Shannon will face Mulvaney-Stanak, who was nominated by city Progressives earlier this month.
Shannon made a cornerstone of her campaign her vote, two years ago, against reducing the size of the Burlington Police Department, separating herself from Paul who voted to cut the department’s roster.
The city’s burgeoning crime problem became a central focus of the mayoral primary.
During the campaign, Shannon was able to secure the endorsements of both the Burlington Police Union and also the working firefighters’ unit.
She has been a city councilor for 20 years, with Paul being next in seniority with 15 years. Shannon moved to Burlington as a college student. She is a working real-estate agent and lives in the southern district of the city near the lakefront. She is married with one child, a daughter.
Mattison hoped to be able to bring in new blood to the contest but fell far behind in the voting.
Incumbent Mayor Miro Weinberger chose not to seek reelection after 12 years in office.
Weinberger has been challenged by a growing crime and illicit-drug problem, especially in the city’s downtown shopping district.
Ted Cohen, a Burlington native, is a freelance writer. He is a longtime journalist, having begun his radio and then newspaper career locally after graduating from the University of Vermont.
Contribute to Vermont Daily Chronicle via Stripe.com – quick, easy, confidential
Discover more from Vermont Daily Chronicle
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Categories: Burlington, politics
The Freemasonry dumpster fire called Burlington will continue to burn brightly. Mason’s you say?
Add up the total votes of the 3 candidates. They love the 3’s.
KarenPaulBTV.com has been pulled down In the wake of her defeat, suggesting she won’t be running as an independent.
By Ted Cohen
The unsuccessful contender for the Democrat mayoral nomination in Vermont’s largest city appears to have called it quits.
From all indications, city council President Karen Paul has thrown in the towel and will not be running as an independent.
To wit, Paul took down her website Monday, a day after being heavily trounced Dec. 10 by opponent Councilor Joan Shannon.
Although Paul’s Facebook-candidacy website remained online as of Monday December 11th, her website – KarenPaulBTV.com – was dark.
Paul is the second-most senior councilor, in her 15th year as an elected official in Burlington, her hometown.
In the primary voting, Shannon, in her 20th year on the council, received 1,689 votes – more than 50% of the vote in her contest against Paul, who tallied 1173 votes.
A third candidate, CD Mattison, garnered 471 votes. Mattison has yet to say whether she will mount an independent candidacy in the wake of her poor showing in the Democrat primary.
If Shannon had received less than 50% of the vote in the initial count, the balloting would have gone to a second tally, according to the terms of ranked-choice voting now used by Burlington.
Unless Republicans or independents put up a candidate for the March elections, Shannon will be going head-to-head with Emma Mulvaney-Stanak.
Mulvaney-Stanak was nominated by city progresses earlier this month to carry that party’s banner forward in the mayoral race.
thanks Ted
The business owners and responsible citizens with skin in the game have breathed a sigh of relief that there is a decent candidate in the race, but there is still the main election to determine if the city as a whole will go hard left and descend into the financial and social abyss of progressive rule. The sad fact still stands that the majority of Burlington voters now are renters, deadbeats, junkies, hard-left ideologues, students or a combination thereof, and will simply vote for whomever promises them the most free stuff and outrageous policies.
burlington needs more than joan shannon to fix this cesspool burlington has become in the last 20 years. Businesses are leaving, shoppers and diners aren’t returning and the influx of homeless who have zero intention of becoming productive citizens. Bye-bye burlington.