Senate President Baruth Won't Seek Reelection

Sen. Phil Baruth, the leader of the Vermont Senate, announced on Friday that he will not seek reelection this November.

“I will be retiring from the Senate when this year winds down,” Baruth told colleagues at the Statehouse from the floor.

The Burlington resident and University of Vermont English professor is in his second biennium serving as the Senate president pro tempore. He’s a Democrat/Progressive who represents the Chittenden-Central district.

Baruth said 20 years of public service, including nearly 16 in the Senate and four on the Burlington School Board, made now the right time for him to step aside. He said he’ll turn 65 in January, “when the majority of you will return to this lovely chamber, which is as it should be.”

“To my mind, at least, there’s only one good thing about turning 65. Only one good thing,” he said. “And that is you don’t need any other reason to lay down some of your work and some of your tools.”

Baruth said he was announcing his decision early so that voters in his district, which is represented by three senators, have sufficient time to choose his replacement. He said he also wanted to give his colleagues time to pick a new leader, which is typically done in November but not officially until the new session begins in January.

He said he would not be endorsing anyone in the Chittenden-Central race, nor anyone to succeed him as president pro tempore.

The district, which includes most of Burlington, as well as Winooski, Essex Junction, and parts of Essex and Colchester, is currently represented by Baruth and Sens. Tanya Vyhovsky (P/D) and Martine Gulick (D).

There are already two other candidates in the race. Earlier this month, Elaine Haney, a longtime public servant from Essex Junction, announced plans to run for one of the seats. She 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 that created a more regional approach.

Haney serves on the Essex Junction City Council.

And in January, Nikhil Goyal, an assistant adjunct professor of sociology at the University of Vermont and author of three books, announced a run in the district. The 30-year-old Burlington resident will seek both the Democratic and Progressive nominations and plans to caucus with Democrats, if elected.

Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale (D-Chittenden-Southeast), who is the majority leader in the 30-member chamber and a likely candidate to replace Baruth, thanked him “for always being such a forthright and ride-or-die and committed leader in this esteemed chamber.”