Meet the major party candidates seeking to represent the Chittenden district in the Vermont Senate

Riley Board
Burlington Free Press

Vying for the six Chittenden County state Senate seats this year are 15 major party candidates — 13 Democrats and two Republicans. 

While both Republicans are assured of slots on their party's ticket, the Democratic field will be winnowed down to six candidates in the Aug. 11 primary. 

Four incumbents are running again for their seats, while the other two incumbents, Sen. Debbie Ingram of Williston, a Democrat, and Sen. President Pro Tempore Tim Ashe of Burlington, a Democrat/Progressive, are stepping aside.

Ashe is seeking the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor.

Here are all of the candidates who filled to run for positions in the largest state Senate district. 

Democrat

Sen. Phil Baruth at the Statehouse in Montpelier in 2018. Baruth is running as an incumbent for the Vermont State Senate in the Chittenden District.

Name: Phil Baruth

Residence: Burlington

About: Baruth has been a member of the Vermont Senate since 2010. He currently serves as the chairman of the Senate Committee on Education, and was previously the majority leader of the Senate. Baruth is a professor of English at the University of Vermont.

Website: facebook.com/baruthsenate/

Thomas Chittenden is running for State Senate in the 2020 election.

Name: Thomas Chittenden

Residence: South Burlington 

About: Chittenden currently serves as a member of the South Burlington City Council, a position he has held for three terms. He is a senior lecturer at the University of Vermont Grossman School of Business and he serves on the Green Mountain Transit board.

Website: thomaschittenden.com

Rep. Dylan Giambatista, D-Essex Junction, listens as Gov. Phil Scott delivers his budget address to the Legislature at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Tuesday, January 23, 2018.

Name: Dylan Giambatista 

Residence: Essex

About: Giambatista has represented Essex Junction as a state representative since 2017 and serves on the House Education Committee. He is also a member of the Vermont State Colleges Board of Trustees. He previously worked as chief of staff for former Speaker of the House Shap Smith. 

Website: vtdylan.com

June Heston is a candidate for State Senate in Chittenden County.

Name: June D. Heston

Residence: Richmond

About: Heston was the CEO of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Vermont for 10 years and worked in higher education administration at three Vermont colleges. She also served as a member of the Richmond Selectboard. Heston was the CEO of the Vermont Family Network, and the executive director of Burton's Chill Foundation. 

Website: juneheston4vt.com

Sen. Virginia Lyons, center, participates in a panel discussion titled, “Are Corporations People? Citizens Respond to Citizens United,” while fellow panelists Anthony Iarrapino, left, and John Bonifaz, right, look on at Saint Michael’s College in Colcheter, Vt., on Feb. 27, 2012.

Name: Virginia "Ginny" Lyons

Residence: Williston

About: A state senator since 2001, Lyons is the chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Health and Wellness and a member of the Senate Institutions Committee. Before her election, Lyons was a professor of biological sciences for more than 30 years. 

Website: senatorginnylyons.com

The main hall of the Vermont Statehouse in Montpelier on Jan. 29, 2020.

Name: Erhard Mahnke

Residence: Burlington

About: Mahnke served on the Burlington City Council for four years and was council president for one. He has been the coordinator for the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition since 1997 and was a member of former Gov. Peter Shumlin’s Advisory Council on Pathways from Poverty.

Website: erhardforsenate.com

A 2018 campaign sign for State Senate candidate Steve May.

Name: Steve May

Residence: Richmond

About: May is a clinical social worker and nonprofit founder. He previously served on the Richmond Selectboard and as the vice president of the Champlain Valley Central Labor Council. He ran for the Vermont House of Representatives in 2016 and for the state Senate in 2018. 

Website: steveforvt.com

Louis Meyers, candidate for state Senate from Chittenden County.

Name: Louis Meyers

Residence: South Burlington

About: Meyers has been a physician for 25 years and works at Rutland Regional Medical Center. He has also worked in the past as a social worker and probation officer. Meyers ran for the Vermont Senate in 2016. 

Website: louismeyers.com

State Sen. Christopher Pearson, P/D-Chittenden.

Name: Christopher Pearson

Residence: Burlington

About: Pearson was appointed to fill a vacancy in the Vermont House of Representatives in 2006 and went on to serve three more terms in the House before being elected to the Senate in 2017. Pearson runs his own consulting firm specializing in nonprofit communication and project management. 

Website: senatorpearson.com

Kesha Ram is running for Vermont State Senate in Chittenden County.

Name: Kesha Ram 

Residence: Burlington

About: Ram served in the Vermont House of Representatives from 2009 to 2016. She ran for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor in 2016, coming in third. She lists three employers on her financial disclosure filing: the Center for Whole Communities in Burlington, where she is a senior fellow; Creative Discourse in Essex Junction; and the Prospect Guesthouse in Burlington. She had previously worked as the civic engagement specialist for the City of Burlington and as the legal advocacy director for the organization Steps to End Domestic Violence. 

Website: kesharam.com

Adam Roof is running for State Senate. He previously served as Burlington Ward 8 City Councilor.

Name: Adam Roof 

Residence: Burlington

About: Roof is a former member of the Burlington City Council, which he was elected to in 2015 as an independent. Roof runs a nonprofit called BTV Ignite, which focuses on small businesses and technological innovation. 

Website: adamroof.com

Vermont Assistant Attorney General David Scherr is now running for the state senate.

Name: David Scherr

Residence: Burlington

About: Scherr currently serves as an assistant attorney general at the Vermont Attorney General's Office. Before that role, he worked as a public defender in Burlington. 

Website: davidscherr.org

Sen. Michael Sirotkin, D-Chittenden, on Feb. 6, 2014, at the Statehouse in Montpelier.

Name: Michael Sirotkin 

Residence: South Burlington

About: Sirotkin has served in the Vermont Senate since 2014, and he is the chairman of the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs. Before assuming office, Sirotkin worked in law. 

Website: sirotkinforsenate.com

Republican 

Name: Tom Chastenay

Residence: Milton

About: Chastenay is the owner of Chastenay Plumbing & Heating in South Burlington. This is his first time running for public office. 

The Vermont Statehouse in Montpelier on Jan. 29, 2020.

Name: Ericka Redic

Residence: Burlington 

About: Redic owns a financial consulting business called I Love Your Money. Redic ran for the Burlington City Council North District seat in 2019. She has served on the board of the Vermont Victim/Survivor of Crime Council and worked with the organizations Women Helping Battered Women, Women’s Rape Crisis Center and Vermont Freedom to Marry.

Website: erickaredic.com