Dem Backs out of Burlington Mayor's Race
Just one week after officially throwing his hat into the ring in hopes of challenging Progressive Mayor Bob Kiss in March, Democratic City Councilor Ed Adrian is backing out of the race.
Kiss, who has not officially announced his reelection bid, is up for his second three-year term in March. To date, Adrian and fellow Democratic city councilor Andy Montroll were the only Dems to announce their intention to challenge Kiss. An independent, Dan Smith, has been wooing both Dems and Republicans (along with some stray Progs), since the summer.
Republican lawmaker, and city council president, Kurt Wright has not yet ruled out a bid for mayor.
In a Sunday night email to supporters, Adrian wrote:
The thrust of my platform was to make Burlington a 21st Century city that would encourage families of all types to stay and move into Burlington.
Thanks to all of you who have reached out to me in the interceding time period. However, it has become evident to me that if I put 100% of my efforts into helping the families of Burlington, I will not be giving my young family the attention it deserves. This decision has not been made lightly, however it has been made that much easier in that I am confident that the only other announced Democrat in the race, Andy Montroll will be striving towards many of the same goals that I planned to work on. I will be working vigorously on Andy’s campaign and hope you will join me in that pursuit.
It is also evident to me that were I to start down a similar path in the future, there are a number of bridges I need to build, as well as, some that I need to work on repairing. Over the months and years to come, it is my intention to reach out to those who share similar ideological interests, even if our partisan allegiances differ.
There's been some interesting back-and-forth between Adrian and Rep. Dave Zuckerman post-election. Haik Bedrosian over at BurlingtonPol has a good rundown in his post "Chittenden 3-4 Aftermath Bitter" including links to a dialogue in the comments section on Seven Days' blog What's Good.
Democrats will caucus Dec. 3 at 6:30 PM at Champlain Elementary School on Pine Street.
With the path cleared, it appears as if Montroll will be the Dem's choice. In 2006, Montroll challenged State Sen. Hinda Miller, and lost after a raucus caucus at Burlington High School.
