After a great deal of reflection, I have decided to support Aly Richards for Governor.

As a lifelong independent, I appreciate that Vermont’s primary system still allows me to choose a party ballot and vote. On Tuesday, August 11, I’ll be voting in the Democratic primary because I believe Aly Richards is the candidate best prepared to lead Vermont.

That decision may surprise people who know I have proudly supported Governor Phil Scott in the past. I remain grateful for his service to Vermont, but I also believe we’ve reached a point where Vermont needs different leadership.

Governor Scott is a good man. I was proud to work with him and members of his administration on important initiatives over the years. I appreciated his steady leadership during the COVID pandemic, respected his willingness to stand up to the most troubling actions of the Trump administration, and valued the balance he brought to a Legislature that sometimes moved faster than Vermont’s taxpayers and economy could support.

I also agreed with many of his policy instincts. I opposed expanding programs before we had a sustainable way to pay for them, and I shared his concerns about making it harder to build homes, grow businesses, and sustain our working lands. 

Where my thinking has changed is that I no longer believe market-based solutions and a smaller role for state government are enough to meet the challenges facing rural Vermont. Those tools remain important, but they are no longer sufficient. 

Rural Vermont doesn’t need government to do everything. It needs government to do the things that only government can do – and to do them well. 

Governing is about meeting the challenges in front of us, not the ones behind us.

Today Vermont faces demographic shifts, the evolving economics of rural America, climate change, global instability, and rapid technological changes. Representing rural Vermont has taught me that markets are excellent at creating efficiency and innovation. But rural communities are rarely the most efficient places to invest.

Broadband taught me that lesson. The market had decades to solve universal service, and it never did. Government couldn’t solve it alone either. It took local leadership, state partnership, and private investment working together. That experience convinced me government has an important role wherever markets alone cannot produce the outcomes Vermonters need.

Simply doing less won’t solve these challenges. Repealing regulations where they no longer make sense is important, and I’ve fought for that. But deregulation alone won’t build housing, modernize infrastructure, or strengthen rural healthcare and education. Rural communities also need technical expertise, strategic public investment, and state government that can bring partners together.  

Vermont is fortunate to have three capable candidates for governor. Governor Scott has served our state well, and both Aly Richards and Amanda Janoo have dedicated themselves to public service. After listening carefully to all three, I believe that Aly Richards is the candidate that is best prepared to lead Vermont through the challenges we face over the next two years.

The Washington County debate reinforced that conclusion. Aly demonstrated a practical understanding of how government works, how to manage complex systems, and how to bring people together around difficult problems. 

As an independent, I’m not looking for ideological purity. My constituents need a governor who will be a pragmatic partner, someone who understands that rural communities often need technical expertise, financial partnership, and a state government willing to work alongside local leaders. 

I’ve spent years helping towns navigate state government, where responsibilities for housing, infrastructure, workforce, education, healthcare, agriculture, and economic development are spread across multiple agencies with different funding streams, priorities, and timelines.  Communities don’t experience these as separate programs. They experience them as one interconnected challenge. Aly’s proposal for a Cabinet-level Office of Rural Prosperity stands out to me because it recognizes that reality. It’s a governing approach that focuses less on who owns a program and more on whether government is helping communities succeed. 

I know Aly and I won’t agree on everything. That’s healthy. My job has never been to agree with a governor. It’s to represent my constituents, work across differences, and help solve problems.

Governor Scott has served Vermont well. I believe Aly Richards is the leader Vermont needs next, and I’m proud to support her campaign for governor.

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