Peter Clavelle

See also: 1989 Burlington mayoral election, 1993 Burlington mayoral election, and Peter C. Brownell

Clavelle was elected mayor in 1989 as a Progressive. ^[1] During the 1993 mayoral election he raised almost twice as much money as his Republican opponent Peter C. Brownell although Brownell was able to take the Burlington police union's endorsement from Clavelle. ^{[4] [5]} On March 3 Brownell unexpectedly defeated Clavelle with 5,410 votes to 4,686 votes. Clavelle stated that he lost due to the controversy over his proposal (which was passed) to have the city pay for healthcare benefits for domestic partners of city workers. ^[6]

1995–2006 mayoral terms

See also: 1995 Burlington mayoral election and 2006 Burlington mayoral election

Clavelle returned to the mayor's office two years later in 1995, after defeating Burlington's 39th Mayor Peter Brownell.

The Draft Clavelle for Governor Committee was formed on September 11, 1998, and attempted to gather 1,000 signatures to place Peter Clavelle on the ballot. However, Clavelle announced that he would not run on September 14. ^[7]

In 2004, Clavelle ran for Governor of Vermont as a Democrat against incumbent Governor Jim Douglas and four other candidates. In order to run in the Democratic Party primary, Clavelle had to change party affiliation, as required by state law. ^[8] He received the endorsement of five-term former Democratic Governor Howard Dean, but was defeated, 38% to 59%. ^[9] After Burlington's switch to instant-runoff voting in 2005, Clavelle decided not to run in the 2006 election. ^[10]

Clavelle did not seek re-election to an eighth term as mayor in the 2006 Burlington mayoral election. ^[11] Bob Kiss succeeded Clavelle as mayor in April 2006.

In 2012, Clavelle moved to Albania as a staff member on a USAID-funded local governance Non Governmental Organization called TetraTech. ^[1] He returned to Vermont in 2016. ^[10]

Electoral history

Peter Clavelle electoral history

Peter Clavelle
Clavelle in 2021
38th and 40th Mayor of Burlington
In office April 4, 1989 –April 5, 1993

1989 Burlington, Vermont mayoral election ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Peter Clavelle	5,917	53.76%
	Democratic	Nancy Chioffi	4,624	42.01%
	Green	Sandy L. Baird	370	3.36%
	Tax Revolt Party	Michael Hackett	95	0.86%
Total votes			11,006	100.00%

1991 Burlington, Vermont mayoral election ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Peter Clavelle (incumbent)	5,939	77.84%
	Independent	Haik Bedrosian	838	10.98%
	Independent	Daniel H. Gregory	517	6.78%
	Independent	Michael Hackett	336	4.40%
Total votes			7,630	100.00%

1993 Burlington, Vermont mayoral election ^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Peter Brownell	5,410	53.59%
	Independent	Peter Clavelle (incumbent)	4,686	46.41%
Total votes			10,096	100.00%

1995 Burlington, Vermont mayoral election ^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressive	Peter Clavelle	4,933	43.29%
	Republican	Peter Brownell (incumbent)	4,728	41.49%
	Democratic	Paul Lafayette	1,735	15.23%
Total votes			11,396	100.00%

1997 Burlington, Vermont mayoral election ^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressive	Peter Clavelle (incumbent)	4,491	76.14%
	Independent	Louis Beaudin	413	7.00%
	Independent	Michael R. Brown	398	6.75%
	Write-in		380	6.44%
	Independent	Maja Capps	216	3.66%
Total votes			5,898	100.00%

1999 Burlington, Vermont mayoral election ^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressive	Peter Clavelle (incumbent)	5,829	60.32%
	Republican	Kurt Wright	3,834	39.68%
Total votes			9,663	100.00%

2001 Burlington, Vermont mayoral election ^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressive	Peter Clavelle (incumbent)	3,426	55.18%
	Republican	Kevin Curley	2,664	42.91%
	Independent	Haik Bedrosian	84	1.35%
	Independent	John Pius Hogan	35	0.56%
Total votes			6,209	100.00%

2003 Burlington, Vermont mayoral election ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressive	Peter Clavelle (incumbent)	9,270	63.69%
	Write-in		2,660	18.28%
	Republican	Michael R. Brown	2,624	18.03%
Total votes			14,554	100.00%

2004 Vermont gubernatorial election ^{[20] [21]}

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Peter Clavelle	23,218	94.65%
	Write-in		1,313	5.35%
Total votes			24,531	100.00%
General election
	Republican	Jim Douglas (incumbent)	181,540	58.70%
	Democratic	Peter Clavelle	117,327	47.94%
	Marijuana	Cris Ericson	4,221	1.37%
	Independent	Patricia Hejny	2,431	0.79%
	Libertarian	Hardy Machia	2,263	0.73%
	Liberty Union	Peter Diamondstone	1,298	0.42%
	Write-in		205	0.07%
Total votes			309,285	100.00%

See also

• 2004 Vermont gubernatorial election
• List of elected socialist mayors in the United States

References

1. Kelley, Kevin J. (February 29, 2012). "A Former Mayor's New Direction". 7dvt.com.
2. "Our Campaigns – Candidate – Peter Clavelle". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
3. "Peter Clavelle: Former mayor is back in the trenches". The Burlington Free Press. February 26, 1995. p. 40. Archived from the original on December 8, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Clavelle holds fund-raising edge in mayor's race". The Burlington Free Press. February 23, 1993. p. 4. Archived from the original on December 1, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Burlington's police union backs Brownell". The Burlington Free Press. February 23, 1993. p. 16. Archived from the original on December 1, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Brownell Wins". The Burlington Free Press. March 3, 1993. p. 1. Archived from the original on December 1, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Clavelle rejects run for governor". The Burlington Free Press . September 15, 1998. p. 4B. Archived from the original on January 7, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
8. Baruth, Philip (March 16, 2008). "The VDB Sit-Down With Anthony Pollina". Vermont Daily Briefing . Archived from the original on October 6, 2008. Retrieved April 12, 2009.
9. "VT Elections Database » Search Elections". VT Elections Database. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
10. Kelley, Kevin J. (May 25, 2016). "He's Back: Peter Clavelle on Bernie, the Mall and Life in Albania". Seven Days. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
11. Freyne, Peter (September 7, 2005). "Bye, Bye Mayor Moonie!". Seven Days. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
12. "1989 Burlington, VT Mayor". Our Campaigns. Retrieved May 16, 2025.
13. "1991 Burlington, VT Mayor". Our Campaigns. Retrieved May 16, 2025.
14. "1993 Burlington, VT Mayor". Our Campaigns. Retrieved May 16, 2025.
15. "1995 Burlington, VT Mayor". Our Campaigns. Retrieved May 16, 2025.
16. "1997 Burlington, VT Mayor". Our Campaigns. Retrieved May 16, 2025.
17. "1999 Burlington, VT Mayor". Our Campaigns. Retrieved May 16, 2025.
18. "2001 Burlington, VT Mayor". Our Campaigns. Retrieved May 16, 2025.
19. "2003 Burlington, VT Mayor". Our Campaigns. Retrieved May 19, 2025.
20. "2004 VT Governor - Primary". Our Campaigns. Retrieved May 19, 2025.
21. "2004 VT Governor". Our Campaigns. Retrieved May 19, 2025.

Political offices
Preceded by Bernie Sanders	Mayor of Burlington 1989–1993	Succeeded by Peter C. Brownell
Preceded by Peter C. Brownell	Mayor of Burlington 1995–2006	Succeeded by Bob Kiss
Party political offices
Preceded by Doug Racine	Democratic nominee for Governor of Vermont 2004	Succeeded by Scudder Parker