“I believe we need to truly meet the moment and think about how, particularly the Democratic Party, works to align around the most marginalized and unheard voices.”Īs a self-described “HinJew,” Ram Hinsdale occupies somewhat rarefied political territory in Vermont, which, as the second-whitest state in the nation, has long been defined by a lack of diversity, even as recent census data showed that its minority population is on the rise. “This is a critical moment in our nation’s history,” Ram Hinsdale, who lives in the Burlington area of northwestern Vermont, told JI. While she is still actively mulling what it means for her personally, not to mention the state and the country, the Vermont lawmaker suggested that the insight has helped underscore what she regards as a key tenet of her campaign. If elected, Ram Hinsdale would likely enter the House as the first Jew of color, a possibility that, for the most part, has so far flown under the radar.įor her part, Ram Hinsdale said she only recently made the discovery during discussions with Jewish organizations in the state and nationally, including J Street, the left-leaning Israel advocacy group. Rounding out the list is another unprecedented achievement that, in something of an unexpected inversion, would represent what no other state in the country seems to have done before at the congressional level, according to a variety of Jewish leaders, professors and activists who were consulted by JI. Should Ram Hinsdale prevail in the upcoming general election, the Chittenden County legislator would not only become Vermont’s first congresswoman but also the first member of a racial minority ever to hold the state’s lone House seat. Peter Welch (D-VT) in the Democratic primary this August, Vermont stands poised to send a woman to Congress for the first time in history. With three female candidates now competing to succeed Rep. The 35-year-old state lawmaker of Jewish and Indian descent wants to upend the status quo in historic fashion as she seeks to dismantle what for generations has been an unbroken chain of congressmen who have exerted their dominance over federal politics in the Green Mountain State.ĭespite its reputation as a national standard-bearer of progressive politics, Vermont is the only state in the country never to have elected a woman to Congress, much to the dismay of local political activists who have regarded the distinction as a historical blemish in urgent need of being corrected.

“I hope to be able to advance the experience of immigrants in the United States, of Black and brown people in the United States,” Ram Hinsdale said in a recent interview with Jewish Insider, “but first we have to undo a lot of the damage that people like Stephen Miller have caused.” The two occasionally butted heads when they crossed paths as students at Santa Monica High School in the early 2000s, just as Miller was honing his reputation as a young conservative provocateur eager to puncture such long-standing liberal precepts as multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion - all of which are core to Ram Hinsdale’s newly launched campaign for Vermont’s at-large House seat.

It seems almost comically overdetermined that Kesha Ram Hinsdale, a progressive state senator and former assemblywoman in Vermont, is now mounting a bid for Congress that in many ways embodies the fears of her old high school classmate, the former Trump administration advisor Stephen Miller.

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