WHITINGHAM-Educator, fiber artist, and small-business owner Emily Carris Duncan, 41, is running unopposed in the Democratic primary for the Windham-6 House of Representatives seat that will be vacated by Tristan Roberts.
The district includes Whitingham, Wilmington, and Halifax.
Roberts, who did not run for re-election because his future wife is having a baby, will continue post-session Legislative work through the end of his term.
He recruited Carris Duncan to be his successor.
"As I've been getting to know Emily Carris Duncan these last few months, I've seen in her someone who I want to be when I'm at my best," Roberts said.
He described her as "unapologetically herself and unique, and she understands how to tune in to the experience of her whole community, as she does in her fiber art and retreat space."
"I love Emily's energy to step forward and serve, particularly because she expresses such strong concern both about public education and affordability for all Vermonters," Roberts said.
Carris Duncan is a fifth-generation Vermonter. Her family is from the Rutland region.
"My grandmother's family was settled in Rochester," Carris Duncan said. "And her father was the town doctor for many years. And I know my grandfather on my dad's side came to work at a summer camp in Killington. That's when he and my mother met. And then they moved down to Rutland for a business opportunity."
Her father is former Vermont state Sen. Bill Carris.
Carris Duncan grew up in a family dedicated to public service. Her father, besides being a senator, is a businessman. Her mother, also an artist, is a community organizer.
"They taught me a deep commitment to community, the importance of hard work, and education," she said.
Carris Duncan went to college at The New School in New York City and got a master's degree in photography from University for the Creative Arts in England.
She identifies as bisexual. "Generally, I am personality-driven in my attractions to people," she said.
Carris Duncan moved to Whitingham in 2021 with her husband Corey, a musician, after living away from Vermont for many years.
"The story goes that I left the States a number of years ago," she said. "I kind of traveled around. I got a graduate school degree. And I ended up in Philadelphia for about eight years."
But through all of that, "I always came back, because my family is still in Vermont," Carris Duncan said. "And I always wanted to be back in Vermont."
The pandemic was the impetus for returning home.
"We looked for a home everywhere, but during that time the market was very, very up in the air," she said. "By happenstance we ended up in southern Vermont, and it's a really wonderful community. It's very cool."
From her childhood in Rutland, Carris Duncan said she understands the way that many rural communities suffer from a lack of investment.
"This community, from what I've seen, being as rural as it is, gets left out in the cold," she said. "So I want to be able to be a voice for this rural space."
Aside from her work as an artist, Carris Duncan works part-time in the family-owned Ratu's Cannabis Supply store in Wilmington.
From her house, she also teaches art classes and hosts retreats. "They're basically art-based retreats, but I will say there's such a need out there for people just to have space to rest," she said. She's observed that "people really want to come and chill out, enjoy the natural environment, go to the lake, and eat a creemee."
"We also have studios," she added. "We're in the process of building a recording space. We have a textile studio that I rent and work out of, with a loom and lots of sewing machines and things."
If the arts do not seem a suitable background for a political career, Carris Duncan would like to differ.
The arts touch "on a lot of issues," she said, including affordable housing, small business management, community development, and economic development - skill sets that she's used throughout her career.
"The arts are core to a lot of economic development processes," Carris Duncan said. "It creates a very broad perspective that I think can be helpful for creating some sustainable solutions for the community."
In her position paper, Carris Duncan said she wants to support small farms and businesses. She wants to work for sustainable education solutions. She wants to ensure that taxes stay under control, but she still wants to make sure that her district gets the resources it needs.
She understands the need for affordability in housing. She recognizes that wet, icy winters and a high potential for flooding in the summer, among other consequences of global climate change, mean a need to create "a strong climate resilient community."
Carris Duncan is interested in joining either the Education or General & Housing Committees.
"With my education, background, and training as a teacher, and my wholehearted belief in community education, the Education Committee would be a good fit," Carris Duncan said.
"Housing would be another," she continued. "I think is very important to try and find a good balance between development and making it possible for people stay in their homes. I also have an interest in government operations, which holds everything together."
Carris Duncan's campaign has involved mainly going door-to-door in the district, connecting with people. Talking, she said, but mostly listening.
"I've been walking around, meeting folks, and going to some Selectboard meetings," she said. "I've been doing some community meetings over in Halifax and kind of learning what people are concerned about."
From those conversations, "I know that taxes are very high on everybody's list, understandably," she said. "And education is really important as well."
Carris Duncan said she feels welcome in the community, but she remembers the recent saga of Kiah Morris.
The first African American and person of color elected to the Vermont House of Representatives from Bennington County and the second African American woman in Vermont history to be elected to the Legislature, Morris, who served from 2015 to 2018, was so viciously threatened and harassed by racists that she eventually resigned from the House and moved out of Bennington.
"I do know about what happened with Kiah," Carris Duncan said. "I am very aware of what happened. And I'm keeping my eyes open about it."
But "at the same time, I understand that it can't be a deterrent for trying again," she said.
Roberts said that when he first ran for representative two years ago, he learned that any candidate has to feel both worthy of standing up and representing the needs and stories of 4,200 Vermonters - the population of the district - yet also humble in the knowledge that he will never please all 4,200.
"You might at times please none of them and must still vote your conscience," Roberts said. "So I'm excited to vote for Emily as the first self-described queer and BIPOC woman to represent Halifax, Whitingham, and Wilmington in the Legislature, and the first representative from Whitingham in quite a while."
He said that she is well-suited to represent three individual district towns that have diverse needs.
"I see in Emily someone who uses her identity as a tool to express her unique lived experience and her unique needs," Roberts said. "In so doing, I see her contributing to a Legislature that welcomes every single unique Vermonter to do the same."
Carris Duncan said she is "passionate" about improving the lives of the people of Windham-6.
"I want to find solutions within our community to bridge gaps for improving our local quality of life," she said. "I'm excited for the opportunity to roll up my sleeves and get to work advocating for this wonderful community."
This News item by Joyce Marcel was written for The Commons.