Kesha Ram Hinsdale
2023 - Present
2025
1
Kesha Ram Hinsdale (Democratic Party) is a member of the Vermont State Senate, representing Chittenden Southeast District. She assumed office on January 4, 2023. Her current term ends on January 8, 2025.
Ram Hinsdale (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Vermont State Senate to represent Chittenden Southeast District. She won in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Biography
Kesha Ram was born in Los Angeles, California.[1] Ram earned bachelor's degrees in natural resource planning and political science from the University of Vermont in 2008 and an M.P.A. from Harvard University Kennedy School of Government in 2018. Her career experience includes working as a public engagement specialist with the City of Burlington community and economic development office, as the legal director of Steps to End Domestic Violence, in Head Start preschool support and consulting. She has served as Co-Chair of the Vermont Attorney General's Immigration Task Force, and as a member of the boards of Emerge Vermont, the Main Street Alliance of Vermont, Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, the Regenerative Food Network, and the Vermont Natural Resources Council.[2][1][3]
Committee assignments
2021-2022
Ram Hinsdale was assigned to the following committees:
- Government Accountability Committee
- Judicial Rules Committee
- Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs Committee
- Senate Government Operations Committee
- Sexual Harassment Panel
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Ram served on the following committees:
| Vermont committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Natural Resources and Energy, Clerk |
2013-2014
In the 2013-2014 legislative session, Ram served on the following committees:
| Vermont committee assignments, 2013 |
|---|
| • Ways and Means |
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Ram served on these committees:
| Vermont committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| • General, Housing and Military Affairs |
| • Legislative Information Technology |
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Ram served on these committees:
| Vermont committee assignments, 2009 |
|---|
| • General, Housing and Military Affairs |
| • Joint Legislative Information Technology |
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2024
See also: Vermont State Senate elections, 2024
General election
General election for Vermont State Senate Chittenden Southeast District (3 seats)
The following candidates ran in the general election for Vermont State Senate Chittenden Southeast District on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Thomas Chittenden (D) | 26.8 | 28,729 | |
| ✔ | Virginia Lyons (D) | 23.2 | 24,922 | |
| ✔ | Kesha Ram Hinsdale (D) | 20.0 | 21,498 | |
| Bruce Roy (R) | 15.0 | 16,080 | ||
 | Rohan St. Marthe (R) | 8.0 | 8,619 | |
| Taylor Craven (Independent) | 6.6 | 7,107 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.3 | 301 | ||
| Total votes: 107,256 | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Vermont State Senate Chittenden Southeast District (3 seats)
Incumbent Virginia Lyons, incumbent Thomas Chittenden, and incumbent Kesha Ram Hinsdale defeated Louis Meyers in the Democratic primary for Vermont State Senate Chittenden Southeast District on August 13, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Virginia Lyons | 30.4 | 6,111 | |
| ✔ | Thomas Chittenden | 28.3 | 5,678 | |
| ✔ | Kesha Ram Hinsdale | 27.1 | 5,440 | |
| Louis Meyers | 13.6 | 2,735 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.5 | 107 | ||
| Total votes: 20,071 | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Vermont State Senate Chittenden Southeast District (3 seats)
Bruce Roy advanced from the Republican primary for Vermont State Senate Chittenden Southeast District on August 13, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Bruce Roy | 92.9 | 1,527 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 7.1 | 116 | ||
| Total votes: 1,643 | ||||
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Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Ram Hinsdale in this election.
2022
See also: Vermont State Senate elections, 2022
General election
General election for Vermont State Senate Chittenden Southeast District (3 seats)
Incumbent Thomas Chittenden, incumbent Virginia Lyons, and Kesha Ram Hinsdale defeated Dean Rolland and Rohan St. Marthe in the general election for Vermont State Senate Chittenden Southeast District on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Thomas Chittenden (D) | 29.5 | 26,579 | |
| ✔ | Virginia Lyons (D) | 27.8 | 25,068 | |
| ✔ | Kesha Ram Hinsdale (D / Vermont Progressive Party) | 24.8 | 22,335 | |
| Dean Rolland (R) | 9.8 | 8,785 | |
| Rohan St. Marthe (R) | 7.8 | 7,035 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.3 | 243 | ||
| Total votes: 90,045 | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Vermont State Senate Chittenden Southeast District (3 seats)
Incumbent Virginia Lyons, Kesha Ram Hinsdale, and incumbent Thomas Chittenden defeated Lewis Mudge and Steve May in the Democratic primary for Vermont State Senate Chittenden Southeast District on August 9, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Virginia Lyons | 29.4 | 12,501 | |
| ✔ | Kesha Ram Hinsdale | 27.1 | 11,517 | |
| ✔ | Thomas Chittenden | 25.8 | 10,996 | |
| Lewis Mudge | 11.0 | 4,668 | |
| Steve May | 6.6 | 2,801 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 79 | ||
| Total votes: 42,562 | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Ken Scott (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Vermont State Senate Chittenden Southeast District (3 seats)
Incumbent Thomas Chittenden advanced from the Republican primary for Vermont State Senate Chittenden Southeast District on August 9, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Thomas Chittenden (Write-in) | 18.9 | 74 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 81.1 | 317 | ||
| Total votes: 391 | ||||
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2022
See also: United States House of Representatives election in Vermont, 2022
General election
General election for U.S. House Vermont At-large District
The following candidates ran in the general election for U.S. House Vermont At-large District on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Becca Balint (D) | 62.6 | 176,494 | |
| Liam Madden (R) | 27.8 | 78,397 | ||
| Ericka Redic (L) | 4.5 | 12,590 | ||
| Matt Druzba (Independent) | 2.0 | 5,737 | ||
| Luke Talbot (Independent) | 1.6 | 4,428 | |
| Adam Ortiz (Independent) | 1.2 | 3,376 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.4 | 1,004 | ||
| Total votes: 282,026 | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Barbara Nolfi (Vermont Progressive Party)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Vermont At-large District
Becca Balint defeated Molly Gray, Louis Meyers, and Sianay Clifford (Unofficially withdrew) in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Vermont At-large District on August 9, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Becca Balint | 60.5 | 61,025 | |
| Molly Gray | 36.9 | 37,266 | ||
| Louis Meyers | 1.6 | 1,593 | ||
| Sianay Clifford (Unofficially withdrew) | 0.9 | 885 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 145 | ||
| Total votes: 100,914 | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Vermont At-large District
Liam Madden defeated Ericka Redic and Anya Tynio in the Republican primary for U.S. House Vermont At-large District on August 9, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Liam Madden | 40.0 | 10,701 | |
| Ericka Redic | 30.8 | 8,255 | ||
| Anya Tynio | 25.8 | 6,908 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 3.4 | 914 | ||
| Total votes: 26,778 | ||||
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Vermont Progressive Party primary election
Vermont Progressive Party primary for U.S. House Vermont At-large District
Barbara Nolfi advanced from the Vermont Progressive Party primary for U.S. House Vermont At-large District on August 9, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Barbara Nolfi | 82.8 | 439 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 17.2 | 91 | ||
| Total votes: 530 | ||||
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2020
See also: Vermont State Senate elections, 2020
General election
General election for Vermont State Senate Chittenden District (Historical) (6 seats)
The following candidates ran in the general election for Vermont State Senate Chittenden District (Historical) on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Thomas Chittenden (D) | 12.9 | 50,974 | |
| ✔ | Virginia Lyons (D) | 12.3 | 48,602 | |
| ✔ | Kesha Ram Hinsdale (D) | 11.8 | 46,513 | |
| ✔ | Michael Sirotkin (D) | 11.6 | 45,819 | |
| ✔ | Philip Baruth (D / Vermont Progressive Party) | 11.1 | 43,923 | |
| ✔ | Christopher Pearson (Vermont Progressive Party / D) | 8.5 | 33,445 | |
| Susan Bowen (R) | 5.5 | 21,900 | |
| Tom Chastenay (R) | 4.9 | 19,300 | |
| Ericka Redic (R) | 4.8 | 18,945 | ||
| Kumulia Long (R) | 4.8 | 18,763 | |
| Dean Rolland (R) | 4.5 | 17,604 | |
| Kylie Hollingsworth (R) | 4.1 | 16,319 | |
| James Ehlers (Independent) | 3.0 | 11,919 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 631 | ||
| Total votes: 394,657 | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Vermont State Senate Chittenden District (Historical) (6 seats)
The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for Vermont State Senate Chittenden District (Historical) on August 11, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Virginia Lyons | 13.9 | 21,198 | |
| ✔ | Kesha Ram Hinsdale | 13.2 | 20,181 | |
| ✔ | Michael Sirotkin | 10.0 | 15,208 | |
| ✔ | Philip Baruth | 9.6 | 14,677 | |
| ✔ | Thomas Chittenden | 8.9 | 13,556 | |
| ✔ | Christopher Pearson | 7.7 | 11,764 | |
| June Heston | 7.7 | 11,719 | |
| David Scherr | 6.3 | 9,562 | ||
| Dylan Giambatista | 6.1 | 9,331 | ||
| Erhard Mahnke | 5.2 | 7,878 | |
| Adam Roof | 5.1 | 7,785 | |
| Louis Meyers | 3.2 | 4,838 | ||
| Steve May | 2.9 | 4,371 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 271 | ||
| Total votes: 152,339 | ||||
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Watch the Candidate Conversation for this race!
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Vermont State Senate Chittenden District (Historical) (6 seats)
Tom Chastenay and Ericka Redic advanced from the Republican primary for Vermont State Senate Chittenden District (Historical) on August 11, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Tom Chastenay | 48.8 | 6,725 |
| ✔ | Ericka Redic | 42.2 | 5,810 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 9.0 | 1,247 | ||
| Total votes: 13,782 | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Jean Sirois (R)
2016
Ram filed to run as a Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor of Vermont in 2016. She competed with state Sen. David Zuckerman and state Rep. Shap Smith in the August 9 Democratic primary.[4]
David Zuckerman defeated Shap Smith and Kesha Ram in the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor.
| Democratic primary for lieutenant governor, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 David Zuckerman |
42.70% | 31,027 |
| Shap Smith | 36.56% | 26,569 |
| Kesha Ram | 16.70% | 12,133 |
| Write-in votes | 4.04% | 2,936 |
| Total Votes (275 of 275 Precincts Reporting) | 72,665 | |
| Source: Vermont Secretary of State | ||
Issues
Ram's campaign website included the following positions:[5]
- Increased investment in early childhood learning programs
- Advocating for free tuition in public universities
- Affordable homeownership initiatives
- Universal broadband access
- Greater focus on the needs of senior citizens
- Supporting renewable energy
- Equal rights and equal opportunity
Campaign finance
| Kesha Ram Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| First quarter | March 15, 2016 | $0 | $102,901.62 | $(37,363.86) | $ | ||||
| Second quarter | July 15, 2016 | $ | $97,902.39 | $(53,616.82) | $ | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $200,804.01 | $(90,980.68) | ||||||||
2014
Elections for the Vermont House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election took place on August 26, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was June 12, 2014. Chittenden-6-4 has two state representatives. Incumbent Kesha Ram was unopposed in the Democratic primary. Incumbent Christopher Pearson ran as a Vermont Progressive Party candidate.[6][7][8][9]Both incumbents were unopposed in the general election.[10]
2012
Ram won re-election in the 2012 election for Vermont House of Representatives Chittenden 6-4. Ram was unopposed in the August 28 Democratic primary and was unopposed in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[11]
2010
Ram won re-election to the Chittenden 3-4 District in 2010. She ran against Peg Boyle Single (D), Diane Gottlieb (P), and Christopher Pearson (P) in the general election on November 2, 2010.[11]
| Vermont House of Representatives, Chittenden 3-4 General Election (2010) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| Kesha Ram (D)
|
1,345 | |||
| Christopher Pearson (Vermont Progressive Party)
|
1,002 | |||
| Peg Boyle Single (D) | 720 | |||
| Diane Gottlieb (Vermont Progressive Party) | 196 | |||
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Kesha Ram Hinsdale did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
2022
Kesha Ram Hinsdale did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2022
Kesha Ram Hinsdale did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2020
Kesha Ram Hinsdale did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Vermont scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the Vermont State Legislature was in session from January 4 to May 12.
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2022
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show]. |
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In 2022, the Vermont State Legislature was in session from January 4 to May 12.
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2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the Vermont State Legislature was in session from January 6 to May 21.
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2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the Vermont General Assembly was in session from January 4 through May 18. There was also a veto session June 21.
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2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the Vermont General Assembly was in session from January 5 through May 6.
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2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
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In 2015, the Vermont General Assembly was in session from January 7 through May 16.
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2014
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
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In 2014, the Vermont General Assembly was in session from January 7 to May 10.
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2013
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
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In 2013, the Vermont General Assembly was in session from January 9 to May 14.
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2012
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2012, click [show]. |
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In 2012, the Vermont General Assembly was in session from January 3 to May 5.
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2011
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2011, click [show]. |
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In 2011, the Vermont General Assembly was in session from January 5 through mid May.
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Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Ram has a partner, Oliver LaFarge.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Vermont State Senate Chittenden Southeast District |
Officeholder Vermont State Senate Chittenden Southeast District |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Vermont General Assembly, "Senator Kesha Ram," accessed April 28, 2021
- ↑ Vermont General Assembly, "Senator Kesha Ram Hinsdale," accessed February 27, 2023
- ↑ Facebook, "Kesha Ram," accessed April 28, 2021
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs named2016election - ↑ Kesha for lieutenant governor, "Issues," accessed July 28, 2016
- ↑ Vermont Secretary of State, "2014 Primary Election Candidate Listing," accessed June 19, 2014
- ↑ Vermont Secretary of State, "2014 Independent Candidates and Minor Party Candidates Nominated by Party Committee," accessed June 19, 2014
- ↑ Vermont Secretary of State, "2014 Major Party Nomination Candidate Listing," accessed June 19, 2014
- ↑ Vermont Secretary of State, "2014 Candidate Listing," June 13, 2014
- ↑ Vermont Secretary of State, "2014 General Election Candidate Listing," accessed October 11, 2014
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Vermont Secretary of State, "Election Results Search," accessed April 23, 2014
