“It was an incredibly tough call,” Wright announced on his radio show, WVMT’s “The Morning Drive,” on Thursday. “I don’t make this decision lightly, and I don’t feel great about it, but I think for now, I am out of politics as of the end of March.”
Wright has served the New North End for nearly 25 years as a city councilor, state representative or both. After losing his House seat to Democrat Bob Hooper last fall, Wright vowed he wouldn’t run again for political office. But he said he’d reconsidered in recent months after his council constituents urged him to stay on.
Wright’s new talk radio gig, however, posed a problem. Federal broadcasting rules require that WVMT must afford equal time on-air to both Wright and his challenger, Sarah Carpenter, during a campaign. That wasn’t feasible, so station ownership told Wright he’d have to take a 60-day hiatus from the airwaves. It was too long a break, he told listeners.
“I know I am probably letting down a lot of people who have asked me to run, who asked me to continue to be a voice for them,” Wright said on-air. “But I really think the best thing right now is for me to come in and do my job here every day.”
Carpenter earned the Progressive endorsement for Ward 4 at the party’s caucus Wednesday night at Edmunds Elementary School. She also plans to seek support from Burlington Democrats when the party caucuses in January.
“I believe I can bring some fresh perspective,” Carpenter told Seven Days on Monday. She retired last year after two decades at the helm of the Vermont Housing Finance Agency.
A caller shared the same concern on the air: “We might as well get the hell outta dodge, too,” he told Wright, “because we’re not gonna have a voice anymore.”
Burlington Republican Party chair Kolby LaMarche told Seven Days on Monday that the GOP hasn’t scheduled a caucus. The party’s only potential candidate on the ballot, he said then, was Wright.
On Thursday, Wright thanked his constituents for their years of support.
“I will continue to work for the citizens up until my last meeting,” he said, adding, “It’s been the honor of a lifetime.”
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the last shoe to drop.
thinkin of leaving Burlington.
gonna move to Vermont.
Florida is so far a great place to live after 20 Yrs of Vermont.
Thank you Kurt Wright for your service, and trying to inject some common sense in the city of Burlington.
But you can’t unscramble a scrambled egg, and the progressives are still whisking.
Clearing the way for Dave Hartnett to run!
25 years on city council? I thought Republicans were big on the idea of “term limits” . . .
There should be term limits of 8 years the longest
Councilor Wright, many of us will miss you. Nothing lasts forever, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy the time off.
All those meetings…I could never have done it for 25 years! I wish you well.
“25 years on city council? I thought Republicans were big on the idea of “term limits” . . .”
As opposed to 34 years on the council for Progressive Sharon Bushor??? As opposed to 29 years in Congress for Bernie Sanders??? Are you kidding???
Come on people cut Kurt Wright some slack.
The only thing he ever did was keep voting to raise your taxes so much that you can’t afford your house.
Come on give the guy a break LOL.
All he ever wanted was your hard-earned tax money. In fact, he voted himself a pay raise.
Heck, it’s what made America great – politicians lining their own pockets… Kurt Wright among the best of them.
Can you say ust another goniff?
After 32+ years in Vermont, I left the state. I joyfully returned to my small NY hometown where the political climate is far more tolerant and sensible than Burlington’s (as a white person I am racist by default, resurrecting IRV are but two examples.) I find it alarming that Burlingtonians seem determined to pretty much mirror the state’s legislature and current RINO governor for their City Council: Progressives and Democrats. Vermont is no melting pot. Kurt, I wish you all the best in the days ahead. We both made the right decision.
Oh no! I hope he doesn’t leave his radio show, too! What would the two or three listeners do then?
Yo Oracle –
You have no idea how many people listen to Mr. Wright. He’s on during the morning commute – I’ll bet he has a sizable audience. Try predicting something else?
“There should be term limits of 8 years the longest.”
I sent your message to Bernie. He laughed.
That’s funny. Kurt Wright left.