by Russell Flannery

Paul Clifford took the plunge into policymaking at the Vermont legislature in Montpelier three years ago after decades of local-government roles in Rutland. Clifford’s earliest inspiration to join the body was John Bloomer,  a state legislator in the 1980s and 1990s who he met through the city’s Republican politics and who he campaigned for. At age 64, Clifford won his first House of Representative seat in November 2022.

Disappointment followed. The same year as Clifford’s election triumph, Vermont’s Democrat and Progressive parties won a “supermajority” of legislative seats big enough to override a veto by Governor Phil Scott, a Republican. A toxic chasm in Montpelier between minority Republicans and the dominant Democrat-Progressives over taxes and energy, along with what he felt were limited opportunities for discussion, were “frustrating” and worse than he expected, Clifford said in an interview.  The Rutlander joined more than 30 House incumbents who last year decided not to run for re-election in November. 

Instead, Clifford’s focus today is back home in Rutland, where he has been distributing election posters and turning up at city events to hear public opinion as part of a new run for his old seat in elections for the city’s Board of Aldermen on March 4.  “It’s easier to influence outcomes” at the local level, Clifford said.  

“People cannot sustain continued tax increases, especially in the light of an upcoming city-wide reappraisal” of real estate valuations that could lead to yet higher taxes, according to a Clifford campaign statement this month.  “Overspending, housing and crime” are on his priority list, it said. 

The election math isn’t easy.  Twelve candidates are competing for the six seats up for grabs this year on the 11-member body. Board of Alderman incumbents running again this year are Alex Adams, Bill Gillam, John McCann, Kiana McClure and Carrie Savage.  Besides Clifford, the pack of non-incumbents in the race are Dave Allaire, Jeffrey Bruce, Larry Cupoli, Tom Donahue, Curt Esposito and Gina Grove. Five current board members —  Sharon Davis, Henry Heck, Matt Whitcomb and Anna Tadio and Michael Talbott – have a two-year term that ends in 2026.

Clifford, beyond policy positions and familiar, aims to stand out in the race just by “working at it” – regularly getting out and talking to voters.   Speaking at a snack table with this writer inside a Stewart’s Shop on Route 4, Clifford diverted his attention mid-conversation to nearby table of waving  fans.  Outside afterwards, he stopped to chat with another state legislator at a gas pump. 

The results from the U.S. presidential race and Vermont’s last legislative elections in November also give him hope. “Democrats Lost More Seats in Vermont Than Any Other State,” the New York Times noted in a post-election analysis. Among the losers was Democratic Party bigwig – William Notte, a fellow Rutlander who was defeated after voting for tax increases, a pay raise for legislators, and a controversial Clean Energy Law — all measures Clifford opposed.   The House of Representative seat that Clifford gave up was won by Republican Christopher Howland, who beat Democrat Anna Tadio. 

The Democratic-Progressive supermajority lost in part because of high state taxes, and troubled education and healthcare systems.  Vermont ranks No. 43 out of 50 on a 2025 State Tax Competitiveness Index by the Tax Foundation; the Green Mountain State was near the bottom – No. 49, only worse than Maine – in property tax competitiveness. Rutland has struggled with a shrinking population and downtown real estate vacancies, among other economic challenges. 

Born and raised in Rutland, Clifford graduated from Mount St. Joseph Academy in 1977.  Earlier in his career, he worked at FW Webb as a waterworks sales representative, according to his official biography; he also has held seats on Rutland’s Board of Alderman and Rutland Town Selectboard. Clifford has also been a public works commissioner and highway foreman for the Rutland Department of Public Works. The married father of three and former high-school basketball coach current works part-time at G.L. Lyons Associates, a distributor of water and waste water products. 

During his two-year tenure in Montpelier, Clifford held a seat on the House Committee on Environment and Energy, and much of his ire with the state body is focused on energy policy.  The  Affordable Heat Act, which passed the legislature in 2023 over a Scott veto, required the state’s Public Utility Commission to evaluate a clean heat standard by this year that would lead to lower greenhouse gas emissions. The Commission said this month, however, the act’s approach wasn’t well-suited for Vermont. Clifford believes it would hurt small businesses that sell heating oil, and profit big, politically connected electric utilities. 

In addition to last year’s big increase in state property taxes approved by the legislature, Clifford said he was also frustrated by a sense that some “supermajority” members were interested in turning the legislature into a full-time job, up from its current 3-4 months.  “There’s no need to have a legislature in Vermont from January to June,” he said. “You could be done in three months.”

Criticism of taxes increases, energy costs and the state’s housing shortage benefitted Republican candidates in Vermont’s election in November.  It won’t take long to see if it’s the same in March. 

The author, a former long-time editor at Forbes, graduated from Mt. St. Joseph in Rutland and lives in Rutland.