At around 9:30 PM, Shannon took the stage, visibly shocked, and conceded.

by Kolby LaMarche

Last week, on Town Meeting Day, long-time Burlington Democrat Councilor Joan Shannon suffered a devastating defeat in her bid to become mayor. 

That evening, at Halvorson’s Cafe in downtown Burlington, Democratic candidates, aides, and supporters gathered, eagerly awaiting the results. 

As results did start to come in, however, the once hopeful atmosphere of Shannon’s “all hands on deck” campaign began to fade.

It was clear to many, just after the release of results in a couple of Burlington’s wards, that something was going terribly wrong for Shannon. 

After the last numbers finally came in from Ward 5, Shannon’s home turf which she only narrowly won, the race was over. 

Progressive Emma-Mulvaney Stanak had won. After 12 years of a Democrat mayor, Burlington voted for a change, not a continuation.

At around 9:30 PM, Shannon took the stage, visibly shocked, and conceded. 

Public Safety

As I have written about previously, in the summer of 2020, Progressives in Burlington made a set of catastrophic decisions. In 2020 and 2021, Progressives had to defend those choices. And in 2022, Progressives, joined by other Democrats, had to defend progressive State’s Attorney Sarah George against primary challenger Ted Kenney. 

I worked the front lines of that campaign and continuously saw Progressives staunchly denying the existence of rising crime, especially violent crime, running around declaring “It’s not real.” 

This denial persisted despite real evidence, and the lived experience of victims, demonstrating their narrative wasn’t true. 

In 2023, things changed. Progressives began acknowledging the existence of a crime and public safety crisis. Progressives like Central District Councilor Melo Grant who, throughout her campaign, stood out to me as a Progressive somewhat seeing the truth on increases in crime. 

Councilor Grant’s tactic, acknowledging the uptick, was to then conveniently advocate for policy approaches such as safe injection sites. 

Come 2024, this is the Progressive narrative on public safety, or as they urge you to say: community safety. 

Seizing the opportunity presented by the mayoral election, Progressives, like Mayor-elect Stanak, advocated for initiatives already on their agenda, framing them as essential responses to the crisis they once vehemently denied. This made it possible for many voters, conscious about crime, to stomach a vote for Progressives.    

This calculated pivot showed us the adaptability and political acumen of Progressives, and is, in my opinion, a piece of the story of Shannon’s defeat. 

Policy vs Personality 

By far, on crime, Shannon has the record. Of not only acknowledging it, but actively fighting on the council against it, and supporting Ted Kenney’s campaign. 

Nonetheless, Shannon has taken on a deeply divisive political persona. 

Over the years, I have told people, and Joan herself, that I think she should run for mayor. But embedded within that thought then, and again now, is the challenge of perception. Could she really win city-wide? 

While her record on crime may have been a focal point of her candidacy to many, that alone couldn’t absolve her of the widespread disdain she had garnered as the most conservative councilor. 

Throughout the entire mayoral campaign, Shannon faced a flurry of very public criticisms, including a massive stickering campaign. 

Many of the stickers and online hype criticizing Shannon were instigated by an Instagram account, @lets_talk_abt_joan. The account would go on to publish 23 posts, most with hundreds of likes, and a follower count double that of Shannon’s

Stickers included “Joan loves your landlord” “Joan doesn’t tip service workers” or “Republicans love Joan Shannon”. 

During her concession speech, Shannon would thank those “pulling down stickers”, adding “keep it up.” 

Unfortunately for Shannon, it wasn’t just Progressives who had issues with her personality.

In Ward 6, for example, the Democrat running for council, Becca Brown McKnight, received over 70% of the vote over the Progressive candidate, Will Anderson. 

Compare that to Shannon’s results in the same ward and you begin to spot a problem. She received just 54% of the vote, beating Mulvaney-Stanak by just 194 votes. Somehow, 16% of McKnight’s democratic voters didn’t turn around and vote for Shannon.

Democrats, themselves, were also key to Shannon’s defeat.  

Doors and Money

As I have written about before, this mayoral race has been the most expensive in city history. According to reports submitted on March 1st, Joan Shannon nearly raised $155k, compared to Emma Mulvaney-Stanak’s $107k. By the time we receive the next batch of disclosure, I assume those numbers will be higher. 

Shannon has, no doubt, raised a lot of money, from Burlington’s wealthy to the political class, and those just getting involved in the process. Like her former caucus challenger, outgoing Councilor Karen Paul, Shannon has spent tens of thousands on ads, signs, mailers, and events. But with all that money, they both couldn’t get it. 

It was, indeed, the Progressive’s expert ground game that completely cemented this political tidal wave. The Progressives data, voter outreach, and organizing were simply too great – and cheaper. 

In a match-up, Shannon spent $23.12 on each of her voters, with Stanak spending about $10 less, at $14.08 per vote. 

Shannon’s campaign manager and Ward 8 Councilor, Hannah King, faced a similar dilemma. King, whom Burning Sky has previously written about, not only failed to deliver her boss a victory but was also ousted, with voters choosing Progressive Marek Broderick instead. 

According to March 1st disclosure, King raised a little over $8k, with her winning opponent only raising $4,275. Once again, money wouldn’t win the election. 

Though she lost in her bid to become mayor, Joan Shannon will remain the South District city councilor and will regularly be interacting with an incoming Stanak administration.

While this may have been a very large hiccup in the political career of Shannon, it certainly isn’t the end.

While Democrats lost the mayorship, they retained their council majority. Now, as the councils most senior Democrat, Shannon will either have to maintain full-speed ahead, perhaps opting to run for council president, or hand over the keys to someone else.

Burning Sky is dedicated to providing critique and commentary on the issues of the day from an unapologetic perspective, fueling change in the heart of Vermont. Authored by Kolby LaMarche every Saturday.