[B]URLINGTON — The four Democratic gubernatorial candidates on Vermont’s Aug. 14 primary ballot can sound like a broken record as they repeat their shared call for progressive policies to unseat Republican incumbent Phil Scott.
“We all substantively have the same principles,” James Ehlers said Thursday night at the start of a Burlington Channel 17 forum with fellow aspirants Christine Hallquist, Brenda Siegel and Ethan Sonneborn.
Then the four welcomed a new face: Sen. John Rodgers, D-Orleans County, a fifth wheel who proved squeaky in his first public appearance as a gubernatorial candidate.
Unlike the quartet of Democrats whose names appear on the ballot, Rodgers is running a write-in campaign with little time or money to communicate his interest, let alone his issues. But as witnessed during the forum available on YouTube, the Glover contractor nonetheless is making some noise.
Rodgers is the only Democratic gubernatorial candidate who disagrees with calls for further regulation of firearms following the Legislature’s spring adoption of a set of new gun-control measures.
“No good has every come from taking rights from good people,” he said. “I’m a strong Second Amendment proponent. All we did is turn law-abiding citizens into criminals.”
Rodgers is the only Democratic gubernatorial candidate who disagrees with calls to attract more young workers from other places to boost Vermont’s population.
“One of the biggest threats facing the Earth is too many people on the planet today — it’s driving climate change, it’s driving the pollution of our air, water and soil,” he said. “My idea is to try to grow from within.”
And Rodgers is the only Democratic gubernatorial candidate who disagrees with calls to elect someone outside of state government circles.
“I have a record of working across party lines,” he said of his eight years in the Vermont House and six years in the Senate. “Because of my background, I think I do have a better chance in November. The problem is, with this unconventional write-in campaign, I probably have less of a chance in the primary because my name isn’t actually on the ticket.”
The four candidates on the ballot all countered that their life experience was enough to be governor.
Ehlers noted he started his career as a U.S. Navy officer before working the past two decades as executive director of the nonprofit environmental education group Lake Champlain International.
“Leadership is about values and it’s about principles and it’s about leading through example,” he said.
Hallquist cited her resume as chief executive officer of the Vermont Electric Cooperative.
“Vermont needs more than just a nice-guy governor,” she said. “We need a bold and courageous leader.”
Siegel, a teacher and self-described “low-income single mom,” pointed to her work as founder and volunteer executive director of Brattleboro’s Southern Vermont Dance Festival.
“We need to redefine leadership,” she said. “We need to see new voices.”
Sonneborn, a soon-to-be ninth-grader at Bristol’s Mount Abraham Union High School, said his youth made him the clearest alternative to the status quo.
“I am obviously very different than the other four candidates at this table,” he said.
Candidates agreed on the need for the state to improve how it provides and pays for education and health care, although their statements were heavier on platitudes than specific plans.
They also agreed the state should tax and regulate marijuana and fight opioid addiction, with Rodgers going so far as to call for the decriminalization of all drugs, as in Portugal, to focus on treatment.
“After 40 years of failure,” he said, “we’ve got to do something bold.”
