HARTFORD — Two Democrats running for a Hartford-area seat in the Vermont House are focusing on issues facing rural communities, everything from agriculture and affordable housing to finding incentives to keep Vermonters in the state.
During the primary next Tuesday, voters will choose between Havah Armstrong Walther, 45, of West Hartford, and Heather Surprenant, 29, of Barnard, in the race for the Windsor 4-1 district, which includes Barnard, Pomfret, West Hartford and part of Quechee. Outgoing state Rep. Randall Szott, D-Barnard, announced his decision not to seek another term in May, citing personal reasons.
He’s also thrown his support behind Surprenant, a political newcomer and farmer who owns and runs an organic farm in Barnard. A Randolph native who went to Smith College, Surprenant said that being a farmer — and seeing problems with food insecurity — has influenced her decision to run.
“Everybody should have access to healthy, local food,” Surprenant said. She added that farmers running small farms have a deeper understanding of local issues like food insecurity. “Small-scale, sustainable farms are the ones that are going to make a difference in their communities and understand the needs (of local residents).”
And having that connection to local, rural communities is important for Surprenant, especially because many Vermonters in those communities feel “disillusioned” and left out of state politics, she said.
“The rural community feels like it’s missing that representative,” Surprenant said. “I’m hoping I can be that bridge.”
Walther, who works as a disabilities advocate for a program in the Vermont court system and has the backing of state Rep. Becca White, D-Hartford, is also bringing her work experience to the race.
As a former education advocate and parent of an 8- and 15-year-old, Walther said she has long supported investing in schools, but in the midst of COVID-19, many children are not getting access to food and mental health services at home, and many parents are finding it hard to provide an adequate level of education.
“The way we go forward with school is going to be brand new. … How do we balance getting kids to school so families can work?” she said, adding that she would like to seek input from parents and “creative program designers” to find a solution to schooling in a pandemic.
Walther, who ran and lost for Hartford Selectboard in 2017, owns a property management business and serves on two community workgroups, focusing on affordable housing and homelessness. They’re issues she says will be crucial to Vermonters over the coming year as many second-homeowners look to make their residence in the state more permanent. She hopes to encourage affordable development projects.
“Affordable, reliable, permanent housing is one of the mystery keys that … could explode our ability to sustain ourselves and grow,” Walther said.
Surprenant said she has also seen a wealth divide that makes it hard for many local residents to get by in the Hartford area.
“The tax rate that’s set for these towns is a pretty standard rate … many constituents say it’s so expensive to live there,” she said.
She said she wants to implement “income-based” policies that make Vermont more affordable for lower-income residents and suggested “restructuring the current tax system with a sliding scale that considers the second-homeowners in a different tax bracket.”
Both Walther and Surprenant also touched on ways to keep Vermonters in the state.
Walther said native Vermonters often leave the area at a younger age — what she calls “urban flight” — in search of more accessible living in metropolitan areas. By focusing on things like increasing cell and internet service in Vermont and better maintaining roads and rural infrastructure, Walther said the state could be attractive to those young Vermonters.
“Vermont is in a place where it could potentially be growing the size of its population,” she said.
Surprenant agreed that young Vermonters leaving the area has a negative impact on the state.
“There’s this mass exodus of Vermonters heading out and not really returning home. That’s a huge amount of talent and creativity that’s lost,” she said, adding that she would like to see a focus on creativity — a livelier arts and culture scene — mass transit, and affordability to keep residents around. “If they want to keep young people around here, why not put one in office?”
Whoever wins the Democratic primary on Tuesday will face Hartford Republican Mark Donka, 63, in November. A Woodstock police officer and former Selectboard member in Hartford who has run and lost against U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., in the past, Donka is focused on making the state more affordable by lowering taxes.
The rest of Hartford, including White River Junction and Wilder, is in the two-seat Windsor 4-2 district. White and fellow state Rep. Kevin Christie, both of White River Junction, are unopposed in the Democratic primary.
Alice Flanders, an engineer, is running as a Republican, and Nicholas Bramlage is on the Progressive ballot in that district.
Anna Merriman can be reached at amerriman@vnews.com or 603-727-3216.