BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Vermont’s primary election is just three weeks away and two candidates — Gregory Thayer and John Rodgers — are seeking the Democratic nomination in the race for Vermont lieutenant governor.
Gregory Thayer is an accountant and a former Rutland alderman. He’s a conservative Republican, an ardent supporter of former President Trump, and was at the Capitol on January 6th, although he says he did not go inside.
Thayer says he wants to use the office of lieutenant governor to market Vermont and attract people from other states to come here. He says he’ll also fight rising taxes and government overreach. “I do not believe this current Legislature, the leadership, the Democrat socialist leadership in Montpelier are representing the people,” he said.
Thayer says he would use the office to cut spending in state government and in education, including on school administrators.
He also wants to repeal the payroll, property, and income taxes and replace them with a general consumption tax. “It can make government real efficient. Everybody pays at every level, from purchasing raw materials wholesale, retail services,” he said.
Thayer says he has toured the state, pushing back on equity policies in schools and the teaching of critical race theory, though there is no evidence any Vermont schools are teaching CRT.
John Rodgers is jumping back into politics.
Born and raised on a dairy farm in the Northeast Kingdom, Rodgers previously served in the House and Senate as a moderate Democrat but recently swapped his party affiliation, saying the Democratic Party has moved too far left, leaving him and other moderates behind.
“Out of the four of us running for lieutenant governor, I see myself as the only moderate. Greg is an extremist from the right. The other two are really Progressives that are running as Democrats,” Rodgers said.
The former member of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources says bills at the Statehouse, especially dealing with the environment and energy, are being written by lobbyists and special interests. He says that taxes and fees passed by state lawmakers are increasingly falling on working-class and rural Vermonters. “I think the lieutenant governor’s office is perfect for me to bring working Vermonters voice back into the Statehouse because it’s been lost and isn’t being heard,” he said.
Rodgers adds that property taxes are a top priority and wants Vermont to completely rewrite the education funding formula and find savings by combining supervisory unions and reducing administrative costs.
Both candidates will face off in a WCAX debate next Monday, July 29, from 6:30 to 7:00 p.m.
The primary is on August 13 and more information on voting can be obtained from the Vermont Secretary of State’s website or your local town clerk.