Charity Clark, who has served as chief of staff of the Vermont Attorney General’s Office since 2018, is stepping down from her role while “seriously considering” a run for attorney general.
Clark’s resignation comes just days after incumbent Attorney General TJ Donovan announced that he is vacating his role as the state’s top prosecutor. Clark, who has worked in top roles with the Attorney General’s Office since 2014, is widely seen as a potential candidate to succeed Donovan.
Clark told VTDigger in a phone interview Monday that she plans to make an official announcement “in the coming days.”
“Look, I have had a front seat these past few years. I know the office. I know the leadership that’s needed. I know the issues that Vermonters are facing. I’ve lived and breathed this every day of the week,” she said. “Those are the things I’m going to be thinking about over these next few days as I analyze my decision.”
Clark has served as Donovan’s chief of staff since 2018. Before that, she served as assistant attorney general under former-Attorney General Bill Sorrell from 2014 to 2018.
After Donovan announced his resignation last Thursday, Clark told VTDigger that she was interested in the top job and was “very motivated by the fact that there has never been a woman attorney general of Vermont.” On Monday, she also emphasized her qualifications.
“The important thing, in my view, is that of the names that have been mentioned, I am clearly the most qualified,” she said. “I’ve worked in the Attorney General’s Office, this is my eighth year… To me, that’s the most important thing. And I do, of course, recognize that we have never had a woman attorney general.”
As of Monday, the only contender to officially jump into the race is Washington County State’s Attorney Rory Thibault, a Democrat.
— Sarah Mearhoff
