After months of speculation about whether U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., would retire, Vermont’s chattering classes have quickly turned to a new question: Who is running for lieutenant governor?
The announcement that Vermont’s senior senator would not run for re-election in 2022 has triggered a tectonic shift in Vermont politics. U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., has since declared he will make a run for the U.S. Senate, and two up-and-coming Democrats — state Senate President Pro Tempore Becca Balint, D-Windham, and Lt. Gov. Molly Gray — have said they will run for Welch’s soon-to-be-vacant at-large Congressional seat.
Gray’s run for the House means that her current position is up for grabs. And the lieutenant governor’s job is considered a particularly plum post in Vermont politics. Not because the role is especially powerful; in fact, it is mostly ceremonial — unless the governor dies or resigns from office. The lieutenant governor’s main responsibilities are to preside over the Senate, break the occasional tie vote and help determine which senators serve on and chair committees.
But the post can be an important bully pulpit from which to advance pet issues. And it has served as a useful perch from which to run for higher office. Republican Gov. Phil Scott — like other governors before him — served as lieutenant governor for six years before running for the state’s top job.
“You can bring people together through a variety of ways and you don’t have to make hard, controversial legislative deals,” said Alex MacLean, who served as a top aide to former Gov. Peter Shumlin and is now a Montpelier lobbyist with Leonine Public Affairs. “It puts you in a good position to run for higher office.”
A small handful of current and former officeholders are already openly mulling a run.
“I’m certainly exploring it,” said Rep. Charlie Kimbell, D-Woodstock, a centrist Democrat who ran for House speaker last year. “It provides a great platform to really support and shape the future of Vermont.”
Former state Rep. Kitty Toll, D-Danville, is also exploring a run, she said. Toll served as the House’s chief budget writer — chair of its Appropriations Committee — before opting not to run for reelection in 2020. With billions in one-time federal aid flowing into the state, Toll said, Vermont is “at a crossroads” and could use a lieutenant governor with a keen understanding of public finances to think big-picture about where to invest.
“I would love to have a voice at the state level that reflects on the importance of using that money to really benefit ourselves way into the future,” she said.
Another well-known Northeast Kingdom politico from the other side of the aisle is also eyeing the race. State Sen. Joe Benning, R-Caledonia, said he’s strongly considering a run and calling a “quite long” list of people to get their input.
“Thus far I’ve spoken with well over a dozen people who have all given me encouragement,” he said. “I’m looking for that one person who’s going to say, ‘Benning, you’re nuts,’ and take into consideration whether that’s a valid complaint or not.”
Benning added that he was distressed that the current occupant of the post — Gray — had been so eager to leave just 11 months into her tenure. He’d commit to at least two legislative sessions — or four years — in the job if he won the race (and then re-election), he said.
“I really think there needs to be longevity, especially in a time of Zoom,” Benning said. “Somebody needs to be at that podium that not only understands the rules, knows the players and is capable of moderating the show.”
At least one person who has pursued politics outside the Golden Dome is pondering getting in as well. Steffen Gillom, a prominent racial justice activist from southern Vermont, said he’s been “heavily encouraged” by a broad coalition of people to pursue a run.
“It’s been very moving to me,” said Gillom, who is the president of the Windham County NAACP and a founder of the Bright Leadership Institute, a new organization that trains Vermonters of color about how to run for office.
Some political offices are often considered a “stepping stone,” but Gillom said he’s less interested in “grabbing power in that way,” and more in this job’s ability to spotlight issues and perspectives.
“I think the lieutenant governor’s position is one that can really be utilized towards what it should be — which is a position of true advocacy and true voice to the people and representing that voice also within our government,” he said.
Benning, Toll, Kimbell and Gillom stressed that they still haven’t made up their minds. At this point, the only ones making definitive statements about the race are those ruling out a run entirely. Those include former state Sen. Debbie Ingram, D-Chittenden, who ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor in 2020, as well as former Democratic House Speaker Shap Smith, D-Morristown, who ran for the post in 2016. Sen. Corey Parent, R-Franklin, also said he isn’t interested.
As the Democratic primary for Vermont’s lone U.S. House seat heats up, many have speculated that state Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale, D-Chittenden — who has been openly eyeing the Congressional race but not yet announced a decision — might instead run for lieutenant governor.
Not so, she emphatically said Tuesday. If she runs for higher office this cycle, she said, it’ll be for the U.S. House.
“I have long been known as an advocate for the people,” said Ram Hinsdale, who ran for lieutenant governor in 2016. “And I think the best place for me to continue to advance that advocacy would be in Congress.”
Former Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman, who ran an unsuccessful campaign to unseat Scott in 2020, said he’s in no hurry to reprise his old role.
“If there’s a tremendous outcry for it I would, of course, have to consider that energy,” he said. But for now, he said, he’s focused on spending time with his high school-aged daughter.
“I’m excited to have a little bit of time with her before she potentially spreads her wings and leaves the farm,” he said.
Still others, meanwhile, are noncommittal.
“I’ve made no decisions about any race and will probably have a decision about 2022 in 2022,” Democratic Attorney General TJ Donovan said.
“I am still considering all my options right now,” echoed Brenda Siegel, an anti-poverty activist and 2020 lieutenant gubernatorial candidate who recently made headlines for successfully pressuring the governor to extend emergency housing to homeless people over the winter.
This story has been updated to include word that Steffen Gillom is considering running for lieutenant governor.
