BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Vermont’s primary election is just three weeks away and two candidates — Peter Duval of Underhill and Esther Charlestin of Middlebury — are seeking the Democratic nomination in the race for Vermont governor. Both candidates are relatively new to Vermont’s statewide political scene and have different priorities and approaches to how they would lead.
Originally from Essex, Peter Duval attended the University of Vermont and McGill University, where he studied computer science. He says protecting the environment is his top issue.
Duval played a key role in blocking the Circumferential Highway from being built and served on the Underhill Selectboard before being recalled by the voters in 2021.
“We need to be able to demonstrate that a democracy can respond to the climate crisis,” Duval said.
He says if elected, he would work to cut the number of cars on the road and would close the McNeil and Ryegate biomass power plants. While he’s running in the Democratic primary, he is seeking write-in votes from all parties as a fusion candidate. “I’m running to implement the wishes that have been expressed by the citizens and the Legislature to have progress on the climate and biodiversity issues,” he said.
Esther Charlestin worked in higher education for a decade before moving to Vermont, where she served on the Middlebury Selectboard. She currently owns a small business.
Charlestin says she would invest in climate change resiliency, removing regulatory barriers for housing, and bolstering education by pushing for a new tax on the state’s top earners. She says it’s a desire to leave a better world for her kids that inspired her run for the state’s top job.
“When I think about the housing crisis, climate change, and how we’re being proactive. When I think about education and where that is right now, I didn’t think sitting back would be okay,” she said. Charlestin says her work in education and facilitating hard conversations will help cool the temperature in Montpelier and find common ground on thorny issues like school finance reform and property taxes. “Making space for everyone to be heard and making a space where we come to a compromise.
Whoever wins the August 13 primary would face Republican Governor Phil Scott at the polls in November.
Both candidates will face off for a WCAX debate next Thursday, August 1, from 6:30 to 7:00 p.m.