Vermont Progressive Party

VERMONT PROGRESSIVE PARTY. Although Vermonter Bernie Sanders never joined the party, his name became tightly linked to its history. The Vermont Progressive Party had its beginning in his 1981 campaign for mayor of the state’s largest city, Burlington. The Progressive Coalition that helped Sanders win re-election expanded its reach to run candidates for the state legislature. Mostly, these candidates represented districts in Chittenden County, Vermont’s most populous county on the shore of Lake Champlain, where Burlington is located.

By 2000, the Progressive coalition had become a statewide party, and in the elections that year the Vermont Progressive Party was granted Major Party status after adding to its seats in the state legislature. In 2002, Anthony Pollina ran as the Progressive Party’s candidate for governor, harnessing 25 percent of the vote. The party added to its electoral gains throughout the 2000s, with its candidates winning seats in both legislative houses in each election. In 2016, Progressive State Senator David Zuckerman won the election for lieutenant governor. He ran an unsuccessful campaign for governor in 2020, losing to the incumbent, the moderate Republican Phil Scott.

The politics of the Vermont Progressive Party was social democratic. The party advocated a single-payer universal health care, marriage equality, and tax laws designed to diminish wealth inequality. Its political strength in the state forced other politicians to address these issues and moved some to support the Progressive stance on several major issues. At the same time, the party’s less radical elements accommodated, especially on economic issues, to the liberal-wing of the Vermont Democratic Party. As a consequence, rank-and-file demands such as a greater redistribution of Vermont’s wealth via tax laws were pushed aside.

The alliance with the Democrats created fusion candidates in numerous statewide campaigns. Although this accommodation helped both parties maintain a combined majority in both houses of the state legislature, it also pulled the Progressive Party rightward. Ultimately, many Progressives switched to the Democratic Party. This fusion continued at the top of the ticket in the 2020 elections, but not in the campaigns for Burlington City Council. The ideological differences between the Democrats and the Progressives over the city’s police department, the favoritism shown to developers and financiers in city projects, and other issues led to a parting of ways between the two parties and to the victory of the Progressives in the 2019 city council races.

Bouricious, Terry. “Lessons of the Vermont Progressive Party.” Empowering Progressive Third Parties in the United States: Defeating Duopoly, Advancing Democracy. Edited by Martin, Jonathan H. Oxfordshire and Philadelphia, PA. Routledge, 2015.

Quigley, Aidan.January 15, 2019, et al. “Burlington's Progressive Party Showing Signs of an Identity Shift.” VTDigger, 15 Jan. 2019.

The Vermont Progressive Party: Date accessed, January 06, 2021: https://ballotpedia.org/Vermont_Progressive_Party