MIDDLEBURY — Candidates running for the two Addison-I seats, the Vermont House district that represents Middlebury, have been invited to take part in a forum on Tuesday, Sept. 23, at Middlebury’s Town Hall Theater. The forum will begin at 7 p.m. and run to about 8:30 p.m., allowing time for the audience to ask questions of the candidates and time to visit with the candidates after the forum.
Democrat Betty Nuovo; Democrat Amy Sheldon, who is also supported by the Progressive Party; and Independent candidates Calvin McEathron and Thomas Hughes are vying for Middlebury’s two seats. Nuovo is running for her 15th two-year term, having first been elected in 1980. Paul Ralston, who had served in the House for two terms, chose not to run for a third term.
The format will have moderator Angelo Lynn, publisher of the Addison Independent, posing questions to the candidates for the first portion of the forum, then opening the questioning to members of the audience. Each candidate will also have a few minutes to make an opening statement and a closing statement. Time after the forum will be made available for residents to visit with the candidates.
Nuovo, 80, was trained as an attorney and is currently Addison County’s longest serving legislator. She serves on the House Natural Resources and Energy Committee.
Hughes, 58, is a historian who manages the Crown Point State Historic site just across the Lake Champlain Bridge in New York. He respectfully declined to participate in the forum, saying his campaign is “very low-key,” but emphasized he remains a candidate in the race to provide a broader choice for voters.
Sheldon, 47, was a candidate in 2010 for the state senate, but lost in the primary. Sheldon is a natural resource planner and is self-employed by her East Middlebury firm, Landslide Natural Resource Planning. Previously, she was the first executive director of the Middlebury Area Land Trust when it was founded 25 years ago. She is an alternate board member to the District 9 Environmental Commission.
McEathron, 20, completed his sophomore year at Middlebury College last spring and is taking this semester off to run his campaign. He says he has been spending time this summer and fall visiting voters in their homes, often via bicycle. A native of East Montpelier, he says he intends to major in political science and pursue a career in public service.
A similar candidates forum in Bristol is scheduled for Oct. 22 at Holley Hall. The four candidates for the Addison-4 district — Bristol, Monkton, Starksboro and Lincoln — are invited to take part.
Profile stories of each candidate were previously published in the Addison Independent and can be found online here. The forum is sponsored by the Addison Independent as a public service.