This commentary is by Kolby LaMarche, a Champlain College student who is the former chair of the Burlington Republican Party and the former field and digital media coordinator for the Scott Milne for Vermont campaign for lieutenant governor.
Effective on Feb. 18, I resigned from my position as chair of the Burlington Republican Party. I have been involved in the party since 2016, and in many ways I have grown up in the local party organization. In my time as a committee member and now as chair, I have worked to uphold the values and ideals which drew me to the Vermont Republican Party in the first place: personal liberty, equal justice, and enfranchisement of oppressed peoples.
While I am proud of the work I and others have done, this important progress has been persistently and actively undermined by extreme elements of the party leadership, both at the state and local level. As a result of their fixation on loyalty to narcissistic national leaders and their adoption of a politics of personal revenge, I am disappointed to conclude that it is no longer productive for me to serve the remainder of my term as chair.
The Vermont Republican Party has always fought to preserve the best of our traditions while also having the courage to solve contemporary problems with a clear-eyed and measured approach. This is one of the reasons why we have consistently elected a Republican governor, despite being in the minority in the Statehouse. Our electoral success is tied to — and contingent on — our integrity and principled leadership.
The unfortunate truth is that the Vermont Republican Party has now been hijacked by far-right extremists who have attached themselves (and thereby the party) to a dangerous crusade against the basic foundations of American democracy. Rather than doing the hard and necessary work of improving Vermonters’ lives and engaging constructively to move our state forward, they would rather embrace the easy answers of bigotry, divisiveness and destruction. They have undermined our institutions and have abandoned the decency and respect which have allowed our democracy to function for centuries.
At some point, we all must ask ourselves whether we can continue to sacrifice our principles and morals by embracing unbridled populism and division. If Vermont Republicans wish to be seen as the party of values, as they so long have been, then they must recognize the moral imperatives of the moment and abandon the racism, recklessness and radicalism that have driven us to become a party so unrecognizable to many of its proudest and longest-serving members.
I urge all my fellow Vermonters to ask themselves what they stand for. What does it truly mean to be a Vermont Republican today? When I look at the current state party platform, I see a host of noble, achievable policy goals. However, current leadership is acting in exact opposition to our principles, and are sacrificing our electoral viability in the process:
We are supposed to stand for small, efficient government — not for cutting services at the expense of the underprivileged while dealing handouts to the wealthiest among us.
We should stand for local political decision making — not be held hostage to the whims of extreme national figures like our former president.
We should work to make Vermont affordable for everyone, not just for those with the resources and privilege to buy their way in, with a particular focus on meeting the needs of the most vulnerable among us.
We should advocate for a balanced budget, not undermine our funding system by slashing revenues and expecting working families to pick up the tab.
We should be proud to stand for racial equity, not fan the flames of civil unrest by spewing racist dog whistles and supporting the elements of white supremacy found within Vermont communities.
We should work to conserve our precious environment by taking meaningful, sensible action to fight climate change, rather than selling our grandchildren’s future to the highest-bidding corporate interests.
We should stand for individual freedoms by working to ensure those freedoms for all citizens, not to undermine civil rights through voter suppression and the use of violent, discriminatory policing.
Since it is abundantly clear that current party leadership is determined to destroy the party’s integrity and electoral future for their own personal gain, I see no way for me to stay true to my own principles while remaining within the party. That is why, with great sadness, I am also announcing my departure from the Vermont Republican Party.
While I am disappointed to be placed in this position, I look forward to finding productive and rewarding opportunities to make a difference in my community, my state and my country. I will continue to promote pragmatic, productive policy goals and agendas that can be both electorally viable and helpful to the working families of Vermont.
I encourage all of us to take advantage of this transitional moment in our state and nation to reexamine our own values and to make sure that the way we engage in the political process truly reflects our principles and aspirations for progress.
