Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman says Molly Gray should be the next occupant of his office. His wife, Rachel Nevitt, doesn’t seem to agree.
Nevitt, who along with Zuckerman co-owns the Full Moon Farm in Hinesburg, posted a blistering critique of Gray, a first-time candidate who handily won the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor, on Facebook Tuesday evening.
“On Friday, My husband banged the gavel of the Vt State Senate for the last time,” Nevitt wrote in the post on her personal page. “It is phenomenally sad to think that all of his hard work and dedication to the people of Vermont over the last 20+ years could be ‘replaced’ by a lying, manipulative, self-serving power-hungry individual who has only ever bothered to vote in ONE election…and no, that was not the critical election of Hillary Clinton vs. Donald Trump.”
In response to questions about the Facebook posts, Nevitt accused VTDigger of sexism, for using a wife’s words against her husband, and she said it was “creepy” to report on social media posts she had “shared only with friends.”
“So I’m not really sure why a woman’s thoughts are being used against her husband. Again, like I said, I think it’s totally sexist of you guys,” Nevitt said.
“People want to talk about the issues. They don’t want to talk about gossip,” she added. “And I think it’s beneath your newspaper to get all gossipy when real issues need to be talked about.”
Nevitt’s post appeared to be deleted as of Wednesday morning. She declined to discuss why, or whether, she took it down.
In contrast to a Republican ticket that has been in lockstep from the start, there has been a distinct lack of coordination between the Democratic candidates for governor and lieutenant governor throughout the 2020 campaign season.
Asked about Nevitt’s comments, Gray said in an emailed statement: “I have enormous respect for our Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman and appreciation for his long career of service to Vermont. I look forward to continuing to work with him to elevate the issues most urgently facing Vermonters.”
Zuckerman said in an emailed statement that Gray “should be the next Lieutenant Governor of our state” and added he is working to elect Democrats up and down the ticket.
“Rachel is her own person and can post to her friends her thoughts about this election,” he added in the statement. “It is unacceptable in the 21st century that you are asking me about my partner’s thoughts. If you want to know what my wife thinks about a candidate you should talk to her.”
Both Gray and Milne have sought to highlight endorsements that show their cross-party appeal, as a recent VPR/Vermont PBS poll recently showed the race is a statistical tie.
Zuckerman gave up his seat as lieutenant governor in order to run for the state’s top office. He won the Democratic primary nomination in August over former education secretary Rebecca Holcome, as well as the Progressive nomination. Though Zuckerman is one of the Democrats’ brightest political stars, his chances are slim this year against Gov. Phil Scott. A recent poll showed the governor with a 2-1 lead among eligible voters.
Zuckerman has spoken publicly about Nevitt’s struggles with Lyme Disease and the effect it has had on their marriage and family farm business. She attended Gov. Peter Shumlin’s signing of a bill in 2014 allowing doctors more latitude in treating the condition.
During his time as lieutenant governor, Zuckerman suggested to Scott that they work together and tap their large donors to create a research position at the University of Vermont Medical Center to study diseases related to Lyme and other tick-borne illnesses.
In an interview, Zuckerman reiterated his support for Gray, and said of Nevitt’s post “they’re my spouse’s remarks, not mine with respect to the relationship that we (Zuckerman and Gray) have developed in the last eight or nine months, as the campaigns have gotten underway.”
Zuckerman conceded that this year’s Democratic ticket has not joined forces in the same way he did with Sue Minter, the 2016 Democratic candidate for governor, or Christine Hallquist, the 2018 candidate. He attributed the change in part to the many changes in campaigning amid a pandemic.
Zuckerman added that the 2020 campaigns had planned to meet for a honk and wave in Bennington this past weekend, but the Gray campaign changed locations without explanation. He said it would have been their first coordinated campaign event.
“I’m not going to start to project, why it has or hasn’t happened,” he said of a prospective joint event. “My campaign has regularly reached out and sought opportunities for cooperation. And, you know, sometimes scheduling has been difficult. But, you know, the whole campaign world, this cycle is quite a bit different. And that’s added complexity.”
Gray and Zuckerman both attended the pro-forma Democratic “unity rally” after the August primary, but have only met on a couple Democratic Party zoom calls since then, Zuckerman said.
Samantha Sheehan, Gray’s campaign manager, responded to questions about the lack of coordination with team Zuckerman in a one-sentence emailed statement.
“Like David, our campaign is focused on talking directly with Vermonters about the most critical issues facing our state, the stakes are too high to be distracted from that priority,” Sheehan wrote.
During a VPR/Vermont PBS debate recorded Tuesday morning, Milne pressed Gray on whom she planned to vote for in the governor’s race. After initially saying that she would support the “Democratic ticket” from Joe Biden down, she later said “yes” when asked point-blank if she would vote for Zuckerman.
Milne, by contrast, has premised his entire campaign around Scott’s popularity, and how in tune the two would be working in Montpelier. Scott has skipped even the formalities of working with Zuckerman during their four years in Vermont’s top two political offices.
Nevitt’s criticism of Gray didn’t end with the post itself. In an exchange with other commenters on the post, she wrote: “Did you listen to the VPR debate tonight? Holy Shit, she’s slimy!”
Responding to another comment, Nevitt wrote: “That and the fact she called him today, lied to him (Zuckerman) about what she said in the debate, and then hung up on him in a hissy fit…. All this from the candidate that claims she will be the great unifier.”
Zuckerman said Gray called him to check in Tuesday once the day’s debates were over, after he had sent an “encouraging text” in the morning. “We both had things to get to and it was definitely a short call,” he said, adding that it did not end abruptly or mid-sentence “in the way it was portrayed.”
Asked if he felt Gray was dishonest, as his wife alleged, Zuckerman said “voters, and people out there have to interpret each of us for who we are and what we’ve done over our lifetimes and how we explain what we do and don’t do. I think she brings a lot to the table. She’s also new to this level of campaign and scrutiny. And as you know, learning some lessons along the way.”
Nevitt said it shouldn’t matter if her views aligned with her husband’s. Asked if she thought her views on Gray were shared by others in Progressive/Democratic circles, she said “I don’t think I’m alone in the fact that I am a woman who … somehow the woman and her thoughts are property of her husband. Somehow … the woman’s comments can cast a shadow of some sort on their partner as if I am an object of his possession, or that he is in charge of me. Don’t you find this incredibly sexist?”
She continued, “Who decided that this wasn’t sexist, it was you and who else decided to go ahead with this story line? Were there women involved?”
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly characterized Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman’s comments about a phone call with Molly Gray on Tuesday. He said it was brief but did not end mid-sentence, as it had been portrayed by his wife.
