On Monday, Vermont Daily Chronicle emailed the same questionnaire to candidates in most contested statewide races in next Tuesday’s Democratic and Republican primary. Below are one candidate’s answers to these questions: “If elected, how would you:
Reduce the cost of living?
Promote widespread, affordable home ownership?
Protect the public from crime?
Promote successful schools?
Protect a clean environment?
Protect civil liberties?
In any other way promote the welfare of your constituents?
Christina Nolan, Republican candidate for Senate
Christina Nolan is a born and raised Vermonter, who grew up in a working class family in Westford. She has spent most of her life in Vermont. From 2017-2021, she served as U.S. Attorney for Vermont. In that capacity, she focused her efforts on tackling the opioid crisis and gun violence by increasing the number of federal charges against drug trafficking organizations, convicting Purdue Pharma for illegally marketing oxycodone, and partnering with treatment and prevention communities.
Nolan is also known for charging the EB-5 scandal in the Northeast Kingdom — the largest fraud case in the history of Vermont — and for securing one of the most significant human trafficking convictions in the history of the country. Her work also focused on promoting northern border security and combating domestic violence, among other public safety issues. Before serving as U.S. Attorney, Nolan worked as an Assistant U.S. Attorney at the U.S. Attorney’s Office from 2010 to 2017, prosecuting a range of federal crimes.
Reduce the cost of living? – We reduce cost of living by reducing inflation. Our 40-year record inflation has been caused by excessive government spending. The inflated price of all commodities is a tax on middle and working class Vermonters. As U.S. Senator, I will spend only sensibly, only to the point of helping, and never to the point of hurting. We also need to pursue responsible American energy independence. Energy independence will drive down prices of gas and heating oil, among other commodities.
Promote widespread, affordable home ownership? – Our 40-year record inflation has driven up rent and drastically increased the cost of buying and building homes and purchasing land. Those costs are then passed on to working and middle class families who simply cannot afford them, particularly when they are already paying higher prices in the grocery store and at the pump. We must reduce unnecessary, wasteful, and partisan-agenda driven government spending to drive down rent and home building and purchasing costs. On the state side, the legislature must reform and modernize Act 250 to streamline the process of building good and affordable housing for Vermont workers.
Protect the public from crime? – I am the candidate who has the track record of fighting crime and holding dangerous criminals accountable as U.S. Attorney, Vermont’s top law enforcement officer, and as an Assistant U.S. Attorney. I have the endorsement of the Burlington and South Burlington Police Officers’ Associations. We must support and fund the police and fight, tooth and nail, the federal legislative efforts that have been made to defund them and eliminate their qualified immunity — opening them up to lawsuits against them in their personal capacity that would bankrupt them and drive them out of the profession. We must also ensure that the federal criminal laws are up to date and afford prosecutors the tools they need to hold dangerous criminals accountable.
Further, we must secure our southern border, so that the fentanyl that is taking precious lives in Vermont and across the country stops coming into the U.S. This will involve full support and funding for our Border Patrol agents.
Promote successful schools? – Children should have their childhoods and should never be dragged into partisan agendas while in school. To compete as adults and live their dreams, they need to be allowed to focus on the core subjects, reading, writing, arithmetic, history. School choice, particularly for the economically disadvantaged, is an important component of promoting successful education. We should always encourage parents to be good parents, who are involved in their children’s lives, including their schooling, and we should encourage children to talk to the adults who love and care for them, whether at home or in school.
Protect a clean environment? – I’m an environmentalist and feel blessed to be a born and raised in Vermont and to have lived most of my life in a setting of extraordinary natural beauty. Some of my fondest memories as a child are of visiting the Sandbar and Lake Willoughby. We must treasure the gift that is the Vermont landscape, its mountains, rivers, lakes, and bike paths. I was born in Vermont and have stayed here in no small part because of its gorgeous environment, which we must protect and preserve. I can build seniority in the U.S. Senate and secure resources, funding and investment to protect our environment, such as continued funding for lake clean up. We must also continue to pursue energy independence through an all of the above, environmentally-conscious approach.
Protect civil liberties? – As U.S. Attorney and as Assistant U.S. Attorney, I took an oath to defend the Constitution, and I fought for citizens’ rights, while also promoting public safety. I’ll take the same oath as U.S. Senator. Protection of civil liberties is the foundation of our country and I’ll defend them in all I do, just as I did as U.S. Attorney.
Promote the general welfare of your constituents? – I’m running for U.S. Senate because I love Vermont and the country and I want to advocate for Vermonters in Washington. I’ll lead with a servant’s heart, recognizing every day that I go to work for people, not for a partisan agenda, not to get on TV, not for any other politician — I’ll go to Washington to work for Vermonters, and only for them. I’ll bring the Vermont ethics of common sense, hard work, and independence to Washington. In this historic moment, Vermont must lead the nation out of hard times, and it’s going to take new energy, new perspective and a change in leadership.