By Kolby LaMarche

City Council President Ben Traverse, a Democrat from Ward 5, is seriously considering a challenge to Progressive Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak, according to comments he made earlier this week.

“I care deeply about the future of this community. I wouldn’t volunteer on the City Council if I didn’t care deeply about our city and the future of our community. And I think there are some changes that need to be made,” Traverse told WCAX on Thursday.

He indicated he expects to decide one way or the other in the coming weeks given, of course, if the mayor chooses to run for re-election. 

In a statement, Mulvaney-Stanak responded to Traverse’s interest, saying “I think it’s good for democracy when people are interested in service to the city.” She continued, “I look forward to making my decision on reelection in the fall, but for now, I’m keenly focused on leading Burlington through its current challenges.”

The potential matchup would pit two figures from Burlington’s long-running Democratic-Progressive divide against each other in a city where leaders can’t always agree on key issues like public safety, downtown disorder, housing costs, and the proper role of policing versus social services. 

Traverse, who has led the council since April 2024, has repeatedly clashed with the mayor’s administration over its pace and approach to addressing open drug use, homelessness, and visible disorder, particularly downtown.

Could he win? The answers, obviously, aren’t really clear, but the landscape is this: In 2024, Mulvaney-Stanak secured her victory by a little over 1000 votes against Democrat Joan Shannon, with many of Burlington’s more Progressive wards handing Mulvaney-Stanak tremendous vote totals. 

Shannon, that election, lost due to multiple factors, not least Mulvaney-Stanak’s grassroots energy in 2024, but also Shannon’s own popularity, or lack thereof, round Burlington – other than in her home turf, Ward 5, where she bested Mulvaney-Stanak by just about 100 votes. 

Another pain point for Shannon was her lack of support across the totality of Burlington’s Democratic base. In Ward 6, for example, the Democrat running for council, Becca Brown McKnight, received over 70% of the vote over the Progressive candidate, Will Anderson. 

Compare that to Shannon’s results in the same ward: she received just 54% of the vote, beating Mulvaney-Stanak by just 194 votes. Somehow, 16% of McKnight’s democratic voters didn’t turn around and vote for Shannon.

Traverse doesn’t seem to have quite the personality problem that Shannon had, though detractors nonetheless still exist for Traverse. Mulvaney-Stanak, on the other hand, has created a bit of a personality, and policy, problem amongst voters in the Queen City. 

Given a Traverse-Mulvaney-Stanak match-up, two factors may decide the race. First, has Mulvaney-Stanak’s base shrunk; are there Democrats who voted for her who may not do so now, if yes, how many? For Traverse, can he engage and impress low-propensity voters, like 60 year old independents, on issues like crime and can he snag a portion of the Democratic base who helped Mulvaney-Stanak win in the first place. 

Traverse’s background is rooted in legal work. He and his wife moved to Burlington’s South End more than a decade ago, first renting in the Five Sisters neighborhood before buying a home in Ward 5. 

They are raising three children, with two attending Champlain Elementary and a younger child in preschool. Professionally, Traverse works as an attorney and currently serves as associate general counsel for the University of Vermont Health Network; he previously practiced at Downs Rachlin Martin. 

Before winning a council seat in 2022, he served on the Burlington Housing Board of Review and chaired the Parks and Recreation Commission. He has described his approach as focused on cutting through political divides and collaborating across the spectrum on issues such as public safety and housing.

Mulvaney-Stanak, a Progressive, became Burlington’s first woman and first openly LGBTQ+ mayor. She took office April 1, 2024, succeeding Democrat Miro Weinberger. Mulvaney-Stanak served formerly as a state representative who had also served on the city council earlier in her career. 

Since taking office, Mulvaney-Stanak has pointed to measurable steps on safety, including the Situation Table for crisis response, the now de-funded City Circle restorative program for low-level ordinance violations, collaboration with Gov. Phil Scott on an accountability court, increased foot patrols, and data showing declines in some violent crime categories. 

In June she declared “Burlington is back,” citing improvements downtown and new investments in police and support services. Democrats on the council, including Traverse, have often argued the progress is incomplete and the status quo remains unacceptable for residents and businesses.

That disagreement sharpened in summer 2026 around the Democratic-led “Burlington Forward” resolution. 

Sponsored in significant part by Traverse, the measure called for a more visible public safety presence downtown, stronger accountability for open drug use and trafficking, and greater urgency in addressing disorder. Democratic councilors said the city’s existing approach was not working and needed a reset that combined compassion with clearer enforcement. 

Mulvaney-Stanak’s office criticized the proposal for containing “concerning ideas that move Burlington away from its values,” arguing it largely duplicated existing efforts and risked shifting the city away from inclusive, public-health-informed responses. The resolution advanced through council committees amid public debate; Traverse has said the status quo is not acceptable and that greater urgency is required.

Democrats on the council have held a majority and retained the presidency under Traverse, while Progressives control the mayor’s office. Party-line votes and pointed exchanges over budgets, tax proposals, and safety strategies have been common. Earlier this year, a Progressive councilor unsuccessfully challenged Traverse for the presidency; Democrats held the votes.

For now, the city continues to confront the same core problems that defined the last mayoral race: visible disorder downtown, the opioid crisis, housing affordability, and the capacity of local government to deliver both safety and services. 

Traverse’s decision in the coming weeks, and Mulvaney-Stanak’s own reelection timeline, will determine whether those issues are debated in a competitive Democratic-Progressive mayoral contest or through continued council-administration friction, or both.