Emerge Vermont, the state’s premier organization for recruiting and training Democratic women to run for office, announced that applications are now open for two training programs for candidates interested in running for local, legislative, or statewide office in 2026.
Emerge Vermont’s annual Municipal Bootcamp is a one-day, online training happening Saturday, January 3rd, 2026. The program will provide skills and tools to enable participants from across Vermont to run successful campaigns for school boards, selectboards, city councils, and village trustee boards on Town Meeting Day. Registration is now open and the cost is $75 per person.
“Municipal Bootcamp sets candidates up for a winning Town Meeting Day campaign,” said executive director Elaine Haney. “We’ll cover everything candidates need to know to run, from determining votes needed to win to messaging to fundraising to canvassing. We’ll talk about lawn signs, letters to the editor, door knocking, house parties, and many more topics to help candidates build their best campaigns.” Haney, who is also an Essex Junction city councilor who has run multiple campaigns for local office, will lead the training.
For legislative and statewide candidates, the application is open for Emerge Vermont’s Campaign Bootcamp. Campaign Bootcamp is a three-day intensive program designed to provide the essential tools and skills candidates as well as campaign staff will need to run a successful legislative or statewide campaign in 2026. Happening March 27-29, 2026 in the Rutland area, upon completion participants will be ready to enter the August primary race.
Bootcamp tuition is $400 per person plus a $25 nonrefundable application fee. Participants must fill out an application and participate in an interview.
“Campaign Bootcamp gives candidates and their staff a strong edge heading into the primary,” said Haney. “Our trainers are campaign professionals from all over Vermont who are deeply familiar with our state’s political landscape and whose expertise comes from running successful races and supporting candidates from the local through Congressional levels.”
“2026 will be an important election year, but every election is an opportunity to increase the number of women serving in government,” Haney said. “We’re looking forward to continuing our strong track record of training quality candidates to win their races and seeing them go on to perform their public service with distinction.”
Emerge Vermont’s training programs are open to Democratic women and non-binary individuals. Information about both programs is available at Emerge Vermont’s website: https://vt.emergeamerica.org/
About Emerge Vermont
Since its founding in 2013 by former Governor Madeleine Kunin, Emerge Vermont has trained hundreds of Vermont women how to run for office. Currently alums and trainees hold 132 elected and appointed offices throughout the state; 38 serve in the Legislature or statewide office and the US Congress. 96% of all alums running in the 2024 primary won their races, and 81% won their general election races in November 2024.
About Emerge
Emerge Vermont is a state affiliate of Emerge. Now in its 20th year, nationally Emerge has trained more than 7,000 alums and currently has more than 1,200 alums in elected office across the country. Emerge has impacted a total of 45 states, Washington, D.C. and territories and is committed to reaching 100,000 women of the New American Majority, repowering political structures, and fostering a lift as you climb culture for women in politics by 2035.