By Rep. Rob North

No one worked harder than me during the past session to bridge the partisan gap by bringing the 50 new legislators in 2024 (Democrats and Republicans) together in the House of Representatives.

Ask any freshman democrat like Rep. Shawn Sweeney (Shelburne, above), Bram Kleppner (Burlington), Candice White (Waitsfield), Chris Morrow (Weston), Abbey Duke (Burlington), and they’ll tell you.  I’ve always believed in and promoted collaboration across diverse opinions to bring the best ideas forward. I ran on balancing Vermont, working across the aisle, and working together to solve Vermont’s problems. And I did.

Unfortunately, my initial anticipation of collaboration wore off over time. I began to feel bad for my fellow freshman Democrat legislators who were regularly and strongly coerced into voting along with their party on each bill coming to the floor. They couldn’t vote for their constituents or according to their conscience.

It was sad and completely the opposite of what I would hear in my own weekly House Republican caucus meetings after a lively debate: “While the majority of us may vote a certain way, each of you vote your conscience and for your constituents.”

More and more people who have considered themselves Democrats, and voted accordingly for a long time, have begun to see the light and decided to change affiliations.  Increasingly, Democrats that I meet on the campaign trail tell me that they have come to the same conclusion: They didn’t leave their party. Their party left them.

A great example of that is our current Lieutenant Governor John Rodgers. John served 8 years in the House and 8 years in the Senate, all as a moderate Democrat. He left his party of history, was elected Lt. Gov. as a Republican, and has served his state well as a moderate.

You can come meet John personally at a fundraiser event Monday, August 31st at 5:00 PM at Woodnotch Farms, Addison. Click HERE for more details on how to attend.

Unfortunately, not everyone believes in strength through diversity or that a bi-partisan legislature is the pinnacle of Democracy. Lori Houghton, the leader of the House Democrat party, believes that Vermonters simply need to be better educated.

When asked by WVMT host Kurt Wright what she learned from the 2024 election in which the Republicans gained 19 seats in the House removing the supermajority that had saddled Vermonters with an average 14% property tax hike, Act 181 property rights restrictions, 20% Increase DMV fees, and a $10B Global Warming Solutions Act, Houghton replied, “Vermonters didn’t understand that what we passed will help them.”

And just this past week, without expressing any interest in earning support from the House Republican Caucus or having completed the November election with a Democrat majority or even her own victory, she announced last week that she expects to be the next Speaker of the House in 2027.

For an eye-opening description of this partisan nature of the Vermont legislature and what we’re doing to solve the problems it has caused, I encourage you to make time to listen to the two radio interviews I had this past week at the links below. I describe the exact situation and, most importantly, how we can continue to bring balance to the legislature and collaborate to solve Vermonters’ real problems.

Listen to The Morning Drive on WVMT by clicking HERE. Scroll down to my picture and click play.

Listen to Chronicle Conversations on WVMT by clicking HERE. Scroll down to “Chronicle Conversations 08.26.26” and click play. Scroll ahead to the 21:00 minute mark to go directly to my interview.

For more details about the “Vermont Promise” I mention in the interview that describes the Republican’s plan when granted a majority in the Senate, click HERE and click the “Vermont Promise” button at the top of the page.