Vermonters Should Vote for John Rodgers for Lieutenant Governor

For many of us, the Lieutenant Governor race is the only place our vote will make a difference this Fall. Unfortunately, it is our only seriously contested statewide race; we know who is going to get Vermont’s three presidential electoral votes; and, in too many districts there aren’t even local contests (although the contested districts certainly deserve voter scrutiny).

Like Phil Scott, John Rodgers is a reasonable moderate Republican. Unlike Phil, John was a Democrat when he was in the Vermont legislature. “The Democratic Party, when I first entered politics in 2003, looked after working class and poor people,” Rodgers said. “And they don’t do that anymore.”

Many of us who usually vote Republican feel that our national party has also moved away from us, especially at the Presidential level. In the Republican primary this summer Rogers ran against Gregory Thayer, who, according to VTDigger, said “…that he was ‘proud’ to have attended the Stop the Steal rally in Washington, D.C., that preceded the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. He has maintained that he did not, however, enter the capitol building during the riot”.  Rodgers said: “I would never vote for Trump.” Rogers won the Republican primary and helped set the future of both parties in Vermont with 56% of the vote.

Did people who usually vote in the Democratic primary crossover and vote for Rodgers? Almost certainly. Is that a bad thing? Hell, no! I hope those crossovers will stay Republican and, along with Scott and Rogers, help rebuild a two-party system in Vermont. Notably, although more moderate people ran in some of the local Democratic primaries, they did not succeed in unseating even the most extreme progressives. Hopefully their supporters will vote for Rodgers and for moderate candidates in those local races which are contested.

Rodgers’ website says: “John will strongly advocate for policies that will stem unsustainable government spending and fight against the unnecessary increases in property taxes, home heating costs, electricity rates, transportation fees, and health insurance premiums. 

“John is deeply committed to the working Vermonters who work too hard for too little in a state that costs too much to live in. Vermonters deserve to be able to afford to live in Vermont and Governor Scott needs an ally in Montpelier….

“Rodgers believes strongly in an individual’s bodily autonomy and personal and property rights for all Vermonters.”

A vote for Rodgers is not only a vote for some sanity in Montpelier; it is also a vote against the extreme partisans on both sides of the aisle who serve us so poorly.