Sam Douglass, the now-former state senator from Orleans County, submitted his official resignation Wednesday following countrywide backlash to leaked, hateful comments he and others made in a national Young Republicans group chat.
Douglass’ letter of resignation mirrored a statement he released last week apologizing for the “offense” his comments caused and describing nasty messages he’d received since news of his involvement first broke.
Gov. Phil Scott will appoint a replacement for Douglass, though the timeline for that process is unknown.
Douglass did not respond to a request for comment.
A Politico story last week revealed remarks Young Republican leaders, including Douglass and his wife, Brianna Douglass, made in a Telegram group chat. According to the report, Douglass said that an Indian woman wasn’t actually Indian, “She just didn’t bathe often.” The story quoted Brianna characterizing Jews as dishonest.
The Politico exposé included members of the Young Republicans chat referring to rape as “epic” and expressing “love” for Hitler, in addition to a slew of other racist and homophobic comments.
Douglass faced immediate calls for his resignation from across the political spectrum that only escalated in the days that followed.
Amid that cacophony, an online fundraiser purportedly created by Douglass is seeking to raise $30,000 to support his family. On the webpage, Douglass wrote that he was “targeted by a coordinated media and political barrage that purposefully took my words out of context and colluded to remove me from all my positions, fire us both from our jobs, and slander our reputation.”
Jennifer Stratton, the CEO of Lamoille County Mental Health Services, where Douglass was previously employed, confirmed that he no longer works at the organization.
As of Monday, Douglass remained chair of the Orleans County Republican Committee, which will help develop a list of potential Senate replacements to submit to the governor.
On Thursday, Anya Tynio, the committee’s vice chair, declined to comment on whether Douglass remained in his leadership position. She said the county Republican committee planned to hold a meeting Oct. 30, and she said she’d share a statement at that time.
