John Rodgers for Lieutenant Governor!

Why I am supporting a former Democrat to lead Vermont.

I am endorsing John Rodgers in the Vermont Republican Primary to be Vermont’s next Lieutenant Governor. I do not generally endorse candidates in primaries, because I believe people should be encouraged to run and the Party should avoid internal conflict where possible. Indeed, Greg Thayer asked me earlier in this election cycle to endorse him and I declined for this reason.

By endorsing John Rodgers, I am upsetting more people than Greg Thayer, and I want to explain why. 

If John Rodgers loses the Republican Primary, David Zuckerman will remain Vermont’s (extremely progressive) Lieutenant Governor. 

I do not have anything negative to say about Greg Thayer. We are friends, he has worked very, very hard on his campaign, and I personally align with Greg more than John Rodgers on most issues. But that is why I couldn’t win LG against Dave Zuckerman any more than Greg could, and why despite all his best efforts Greg would do well to gain even 35-40% of a statewide vote for office. Phil Scott is Vermont’s only Republican statewide officeholder.

Also, I believe it is very important to be welcoming to people like John Rodgers – whether candidates or voters – who have become so disenchanted with their own party that they walk away. They need a new political and cultural home, not in the toxic, identity-focused divisions and failed policies of the Far Left, but in the “Big Tent” of a more traditional center ground, where free speech, mutual respect, civil disagreement, and fiscal competence reign. 

Like John Rodgers, I am a walkaway – though for both of us, it is the Democratic Party that has walked away, from fundamental constitutional and societal precepts. And though the road has at times been bumpy, I am grateful to the very many wonderful conservative Vermonters who have warmly encouraged my conversion to unashamed Republican. We conservatives may not always agree on issues, but let us always be a Party that agrees to be civil and respectful of others, not just within our ranks but toward independent voters and even those progressive legislators with whom we disagree. That is an attractive tent – and voters and other Democrat lawmakers are watching how John Rodgers is treated, to ponder whether they too might take shelter here. 

But let’s talk about John Rodgers some more. One need not be an attorney to make the case that John Rodgers was more conservative as a Democrat than Phil Scott has been as a Republican. 

– I strongly supported Phil Scott’s run for Governor in 2016 and stumped for him in the Northeast Kingdom. But when he abandoned our fundamental Second Amendment liberties, I sharply disagreed – and so did John Rodgers. John stood on the State House steps, leading a powerful minority opposition against the move to strip Vermonters of longstanding gun rights because of the actions of a single mentally deranged criminal in faraway Sandy Hook flatland. John even introduced a Vermont State Constitutional Amendment (patterned after Wyoming) that would have protected Vermonters’ gun rights against even federal intrusion.

– In 2016, I defied Vermont state laws that prohibited farmers from selling on-farm slaughtered livestock except as whole animals. John Rodgers was my Senator at that time, and he met with me in a local restaurant to discuss the problems created for Vermont’s itinerant slaughterers and custom processors (many of whom John knew personally) by the State’s restrictions. John was more than just supportive – he was fired up and protective of farmers and Vermont farming traditions. Vermont’s on-farm slaughter activities have been preserved thanks in part to John Rodgers. I am not aware that Phil Scott chimed in a chirp regarding this important agricultural practice. 

– John Rodgers has repeatedly defended Vermont’s culture from slanderous claims of white supremacy and systemic racism, and against overly-pushy out-of-staters who relocate to Vermont and then condemn its people as racist while exploiting its wonderful resources. I have never heard Phil Scott defend Vermont’s police from false charges of racism – John will.

John and I disagree on some issues, always respectfully. But the case I am making is not that I am a more conservative walkaway than John Rodgers, but that John is substantially more conservative than Phil Scott. 

The Lieutenant Governor choices facing Vermonters – both Democrat and Republican – in the 2024 General Election will be between a far-left incumbent David Zuckerman vs. either a right-leaning Greg Thayer or a wisely-walked-away John Rodgers who is substantially more conservative than Governor Phil Scott. Especially after eye-popping “Progressive” property tax hikes were enacted while food prices skyrocketed, Democrats who would never consider voting for Greg will support John over Dave Zuckerman, and Vermont will have two statewide Republican officeholders in 2025.

I have worked many long days on a concrete foundation crew and as a mason’s tender and mason. John Rodger’s profession as a stonemason requires particularly rugged grit, careful planning, and patient implementation. His childhood training on a Glover dairy farm means he knows what it means to work seven days a week for years on end, and that hard work is not always just about money. His life advocating for the rural communities of Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom demonstrates a steady passion for the issues at the forefront of Vermonters’ needs today. Frugality and common sense are rare commodities in Montpelier….

Just like when John Rodgers spoke out bravely against the unconstitutional seizure of Vermont’s state and federal gun rights; just as he listened to farmers when the State went too far in its regulations; and just as he has defended Vermont’s culture when most others were silent, so too will he speak, listen and defend Vermonters when he is their next Lieutenant Governor. 

This is why I am compelled to speak out forcefully for John Rodgers – he has earned my trust and respect, and that of many others, by standing up on important issues despite enormous political flack and at great personal risk. That is an integrity – whether of Democrat or Republican flavor – that is too rare in politics generally, and very much in need in these looming hard times. John Rodgers can defeat David Zuckerman in the General Election, but only after winning the Vermont GOP Primary. 

It is very important to our State that he does. Please vote for John Rodgers for Lieutenant Governor in Vermont’s Republican Primary on August 13.