By Kolby LaMarche

Former Burlington City Councilor Ali Dieng has announced his candidacy for the Vermont House of Representatives in the Chittenden-18 district, joining the Democratic primary against Amy Bielawski-Branch, who entered the race earlier this month. 

Incumbent Carol Ode is also seeking re-election in the two-seat district.

Dieng, who represented Ward 7 on the Burlington City Council for several terms, made the announcement. Chittenden-18 includes portions of Wards 4 and 7. The seat became a point of focus earlier this year after the resignation of a previous representative, Bob Hooper. 

Dieng, who arrived in Vermont from Mauritania via Senegal around 2008, has built a career centered on education, family support services, and community organizing, his campaign says. 

He worked for more than a decade in the Burlington School District, including roles in family outreach and as manager of the Parent University program, which assists immigrant and refugee families in navigating local schools. 

He later joined Building Bright Futures as regional manager, coordinating early childhood services across Chittenden, Franklin, and Grand Isle counties. He has also served on the board of the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunities.

His formal education includes studies in international law at the University of Mauritania. In Vermont, he completed the Snelling Center for Government’s Early Childhood Leadership Institute in 2016. Dieng has described his path as one shaped by Vermont’s welcome and his commitment to public service in return.

Dieng first won election to the Ward 7 seat in a 2017 special election, running with Democratic and Progressive support. He defeated a Republican opponent by a substantial margin and became one of the first African immigrants elected to the Burlington City Council. 

He secured re-election in 2018 with nearly 60 percent of the vote. In 2022, he won re-election by a margin of just two votes over a Democratic challenger after a recount and subsequent court review affirmed the result.

During his time on the council, Dieng often positioned himself as an independent voice. 

He chaired the Racial Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Committee and advocated for greater support for neighborhood planning assemblies. He participated in debates over city symbols – like the now-long-gone Burlington mural – public art and safety, and efforts to reflect Burlington’s growing diversity, including its New American communities.

His record included votes that sometimes diverged from Progressive, progressive-Democrat voter majorities. In 2020, he opposed a resolution calling for a 30 percent reduction in the Burlington Police Department through attrition. Dieng argued that significant changes to public safety required more community input and deliberate planning rather than swift action amid national protests following the murder of George Floyd.

On noncitizen voting, Dieng initially voted against a resolution in 2019 and related efforts around 2020, citing the need for broader community discussion and concerns about implementation at the time. As an immigrant who had become a naturalized citizen, he viewed voting as tied to full citizenship and worried about potential risks in registering noncitizens during a period of federal immigration enforcement priorities. 

By 2022, after further conversations with refugee constituents in his ward, he supported advancing the measure. Burlington voters approved expanded local voting rights for certain legal residents in 2023 by a wide margin.

Dieng also engaged in debates over police staffing levels. He opposed increasing the authorized officer cap in one instance, preferring to maintain an existing limit while gathering more data on community needs. He proposed placing related questions before voters directly in some cases.

Dieng once accused colleagues of racial bias in the handling of a proposal to strengthen neighborhood groups after a tied vote, equating some councilors “no” vote as an affront to his racial identity. 

In 2021, Dieng ran for mayor as an Independent, finishing third behind incumbent Democrat Miro Weinberger and Progressive Max Tracy. He emphasized equity, transparency, and unity during that campaign and continues to use the same website design from that campaign. 

Earlier this year, Dieng sought an appointment to the vacant Chittenden-18 seat following the resignation of Rep. Bob Hooper. 

He participated in the Democratic Party process but was not selected by the regional committee. Dieng publicly challenged aspects of the selection, noting the committee’s composition and calling for broader input from Ward 7 residents. He asked Gov. Phil Scott to consider leaving the seat open for the November ballot.

Dieng has pointed to challenges facing Vermont including workforce shortages, housing costs, health care access, education funding, and economic pressures on families. 

His platform priorities, at least as outlined on his campaign site, include sustainable school funding and early childhood education, expanding affordable health care including mental health services, increasing the supply of affordable housing, and workforce development to retain and attract residents.

Dieng has highlighted his professional background in education and early childhood services as preparation for addressing these issues at the state level. 

He has described himself as a candidate focused on practical solutions and bringing people together across differences.

Chittenden-18 voters will choose two representatives in the August 11 Democratic primary, with the general election in November. 

Debates are likely to be held by Town Meeting Day TV. For updates on those, and any other candidates entering the race, stay tuned-in at BDN.