Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman and former Education Secretary Rebecca Holcombe argued over vaccination policy during the first debate between Democratic gubernatorial candidates Monday evening.
While the Zoom debate, hosted by the Windham County Democratic Committee and moderated by committee chair John Hagen, was billed as a discussion of health care, the Covid-19 pandemic and the economy between Zuckerman, Holcombe and political newcomer Patrick Winburn, the former education secretary quickly used her opening statement to target the lieutenant governor and his views on vaccines.
Holcombe said that Zuckerman has disputed the science beyond immunization and called this stance “misguided and dangerous.”
Zuckerman took umbrage with Holcombe’s comments and asked her to stop “distorting” his views on vaccination before pivoting to focus on Republican Gov. Phil Scott.
“Attacking each other in general and especially with this false information and incomplete information is not how we’re going to beat Phil Scott,” Zuckerman said. “All three of us have to come together in unity at the end of this primary to take on the governor.”
Zuckerman added that it is important that a coronavirus vaccine is “universally accessible and free.”
“I will trust the scientists when the vaccine comes out,” he said.
Holcombe returned to the issue in her next turn to speak and asked Zuckerman if he would support requiring a Covid-19 vaccine before children return to school.
Zuckerman said he supports the current vaccine legislation, which requires vaccinations for schoolchildren but allows exemptions for religious and medical reasons.
Holcombe’s line of attack zeroed in on Zuckerman’s 2015 support for the philosophical vaccine exemption. The then-state senator opposed repealing the exemption in a debate on the Senate floor. Nevertheless, that year Vermont became the first state to eliminate an exemption in state law that allowed parents to opt their children out of mandatory vaccinations on philosophical grounds.
In the 2015 debate, Zuckerman said the science of vaccination safety was “disputed,” and lawmakers were “legislating what is put in people’s bodies,” according to a Seven Days report at the time. During that period, Zuckerman also advocated for the labeling of genetically modified organisms in packaged foods.
In 2018, during his successful reelection bid for lieutenant governor, Zuckerman was asked to clarify his stance on vaccines at a candidates’ forum.
“The science behind vaccines is sound, I think vaccines do good for our communities, my daughter is vaccinated, but it’s a question of whether or not government should be forcing that onto individuals, which is different than a scientific question,” Zuckerman said.
Zuckerman said his skepticism has more to do with distrust of the pharmaceutical industry than of vaccines.
The race between the three candidates will be decided in the Democratic primary on Aug. 11.
While much of the debate Monday was dominated by discussion of vaccines, Holcombe, Zuckerman and Winburn agreed on other issues, including the need for universal broadband access and flaws in the forced school district merger law.
“I’m sure he’s a nice guy, but reelecting Gov. Scott will be the same as reelecting Donald Trump,” Winburn, a lawyer from Bennington, said. “Gov. Scott is a Trump Republican.”
During Zuckerman’s closing statement, he made the case that he is the candidate to challenge Scott in the general election, and that he disagrees with the conventional wisdom that the coronavirus pandemic has made the Republican governor a stronger candidate.
“Little known fact: In 2018 I actually got 7,000 more votes than Gov. Scott,” he said. “I am best positioned to take him on and beat him, especially in the Covid-19 crisis.”
In Holcombe’s closing remarks, she agreed with Zuckerman that Democrats must work together to defeat Scott before returning to the topic of vaccination and hinting that Zuckerman’s views make him a liability in a general election.
“This is a serious issue related to electability in the middle of a deadly pandemic,” she said. “Nobody who holds that position is going to defeat Scott in 2020.”
In her first bid for statewide office, Holcombe has repeatedly targeted Zuckerman for his 2015 remarks on vaccines.
In March, Holcombe criticized Zuckerman in a Politico article, calling his stance on vaccinations dangerous, especially during a time when Vermont is in a state of emergency and dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic.
At the time, Zuckerman dismissed the criticism and charged Holcombe with exploiting the crisis to score political points.
Cameron Russell, Holcombe’s campaign manager, told VTDigger at the time that the candidate planned to make vaccination a crucial point of contrast with Zuckerman as the race moved into the summer and fall.
On Wednesday, May 6, the Republican Governors Association released a statement claiming that Vermont Democrats could nominate a “fringe anti-vaxxer” for governor, referring to Zuckerman.
The RGA used Holcombe’s statement in Politico as well as comments from a virtual town hall in April to condemn Zuckerman.
“In the midst of a global pandemic, David Zuckerman’s position on vaccinations isn’t just fringe nonsense – it’s downright dangerous,” said Amelia Chassé Alcivar, RGA communications director, in a statement.
The RGA’s attack fails to mention that in 2018 several Republican nominees for governor espoused vaccine skepticism or that recently ousted Republican governor, Matt Bevin, of Kentucky, publicly said he was against vaccinating his children for the chickenpox.
The messaging from the RGA, which is dedicated to electing and supporting Republican governors across the country, was the latest in as many weeks indicating it has taken an interest in the Vermont gubernatorial race.
On May 1, the organization announced it was airing a digital advertisement highlighting Gov. Phil Scott’s response to the coronavirus.
The ad, which was paid for by the RGA-backed political action committee “A Stronger Vermont,” aired through May 8 on Facebook and Instagram before going inactive.
Scott has not yet announced whether he will seek reelection, even as he faces a primary challenger — Republican John Klar, who is running as an “Agri-publican.”
Earlier this year, Scott had said he would announce his intentions in May — after the end of the legislative session. But now that timeline is out the window as he has turned his attention exclusively to dealing with the state’s response to the coronavirus.
“It’s probably been the last thing on my mind — I got a lot on my plate as you might imagine these days and so that that hasn’t been something that I’ve been considering,” Scott said during a May 1 press briefing.
While Scott, who consistently polls as one of the most popular governors in the country, has yet to announce his intentions in 2020, it is widely expected he will seek reelection and that he will be a formidable opponent for a Democratic challenger.
However, Democrats are doing their best to dent the Republican governor’s armor and have recently targeted Scott’s opposition to expanding mail-in voting for the general election.
Both Holcombe and Zuckerman have called on the governor to immediately approve of Democratic Secretary of State Jim Condos’ plan to ensure that all active voters in the state are sent ballots for the November elections.
And on Wednesday, the Vermont Democratic Party announced it was beginning a five-figure digital ad campaign underscoring Scott’s resistance to the vote-by-mail expansion.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated that Zuckerman proposed banning GMOs in packaged food. He advocated for the labeling of genetically modified organisms in packaged foods.
