Elaine Haney, a longtime public servant from the City of Essex Junction, announced on Monday her campaign for state Senate.
Haney is running as a Democrat for one of three seats in Chittenden County’s Central District, which includes most of Burlington, as well as Winooski, Essex Junction, and parts of Essex and Colchester.
At a well-attended launch event at Boxcar Bakery, Haney portrayed herself as a pragmatic politician who can break through the “partisan gridlock” that has seized Montpelier at times. She also drew on lessons learned from years participating in the unique sport of Roller Derby, where she went by the name Darkness Visible.
“You don’t win by being timid,” Haney said. “You win by knowing the rules and pushing through them. You win by staying in the game, especially when things get rough. That lesson matters right now, because right now, our country is taking hits, and so is Vermont.”
Haney has spent years on local governing boards and was a central figure in the long and contentious debate over whether to merge Essex and Essex Junction, which ultimately ended with the municipalities’ separation in 2022. She now sits on Essex Junction’s city council.
Haney also spent more than four years as executive director of Emerge Vermont, the organization that has been credited with greatly increasing the number of Democratic women serving in elected office. The organization shut down at the end of last year amid a nationwide restructuring into a regional approach.
If elected, Haney said she would focus on making Vermont more affordable. She also vowed to stand firm in the face of federal pressures that include President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown.
“Vermont is not stronger by doing authoritarian dirty work and Vermont is not going to be hidden or safe by hoping the storm passes,” Haney said. “Hope is not a strategy. A strategy is standing our ground and knowing who we are.”
The Chittenden Central-District is currently represented by Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Baruth (D/P), Sen. Tanya Vyhovsky (P/D) and Sen. Martine Gulick (D).
Haney becomes the district’s second formally declared candidate, joining Nikhil Goyal, an assistant adjunct professor of sociology at the University of Vermont.
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