All but one of eight Burlington city councilors whose terms expire next year have announced plans to seek reelection on Town Meeting Day.
With only two weeks until his party’s nominating caucus, Councilor Joe Kane (P-Ward 3) has yet to say whether he’s running again. Kane didn’t respond to interview requests from Seven Days, nor has he communicated with party officials about his plans, according to Jane Stromberg, cochair of the Burlington Progressive Party.
Kane is one of eight councilors whose ward seat is up for election on Town Meeting Day in March. The four district seats, which comprise two wards apiece, will be up in 2027.
First elected in a three-way race in 2024, Kane previously served on the council’s powerful Board of Finance. He’s a staunch advocate of the Free Palestine movement and supported an ultimately unsuccessful effort to place an “apartheid-free community” pledge on the Burlington ballot. But he is otherwise quiet on the council, rarely speaking up during meetings and often choosing to attend virtually.
Meantime, all of Kane’s colleagues have decided to give it another go. They include Council President Ben Traverse (D-Ward 5) and councilors Carter Neubieser (P-Ward 1), Gene Bergman (P-Ward 2), Sarah Carpenter (D-Ward 4), Becca Brown McKnight (D-Ward 6), Evan Litwin (D-Ward 7) and Marek Broderick (P-Ward 8).
Progressives will nominate their candidates at a caucus on December 10. The Democrats will caucus sometime in January, party chair Ryan Addario said.
Both Addario and Stromberg said they’ve heard from several potential candidates, including for seats currently held by incumbents. None has publicly declared a bid for office, meaning it’s too soon to tell if any seats will be contested, either at party caucuses or in the March election.
If Kane does step down, his Ward 3 seat would become more vulnerable to a Dem takeover. Once encompassing a large portion of the Prog-friendly Old North End, the ward’s boundaries were redrawn to cover most of downtown. Kane won handily when the new wards went into effect last year, but his Democratic challenger didn’t qualify for the ballot and had to mount a write-in campaign — an uphill battle.
Races in Wards 1 and 8 have historically been competitive and could again be this year, depending on who steps up. Ward 8 in particular has flip-flopped between Prog and Dem control in recent years. It’s also the only area of the city with bipartisan representation. Democratic Councilor Allie Schachter serves in the East District, which comprises Wards 1 and 8, but each individual ward is under Progressive control.
Stromberg, a former Ward 8 councilor, said the party wants to retain Ward 8 but not just for political reasons. Voters there need consistency, she said.
“It would be really, really nice to see a councilor have at least two terms in Ward 8 and really deliver on the campaign promises and goals that were made,” she said. “If you only serve one term, you’re lucky to accomplish a few things.”
Addario said the connections Dems made with voters and would-be candidates during last year’s East District race could bode well for his party on Town Meeting Day. Democrats currently hold seven of 12 seats, giving them a majority on the council that sometimes acts as a foil to Progressive Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak.
“People seem enthusiastic about the work that our sitting Democratic city councilors have been doing,” Addario said. “I think people wanted a check in city hall, and we’re providing that.”
Candidates can also run as independents if they don’t secure a party nomination. Petitions to appear on the ballot are due by 5 p.m. on January 26.
Correction, November 25, 2025: Councilor Joe Kane previously served on the Board of Finance. A previous version of this story contained an error.
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