By Michael Bielawski

The two GOP candidates for Vermont’s Lieutenant Governor are Gregory Thayer of Rutland, an MBA and businessman, and farmer and former Democrat State Senator John Rodgers of Glover.

Thayer is a longtime conservative activist, and founder of Vermonters for Vermont. Rodgers has more than 16 years of experience in the Senate, albeit with the opposition political party. Thayer supports former Pres. Donald Trump, Rodgers does not. Rodgers has been endorsed by Gov. Phil Scott, while Thayer cites a lengthy list of endorsements from Vermont citizens.

The primary elections for Vermont are today, Aug. 13. The duties of Lieutenant Governor, often merely ceremonial, also include four important jobs:

1. Preside over the Senate meetings, much as a Town Meeting moderator presides over Town Meeting, and casting the tie-breaking vote if necessary.
2. Sit on the Senate’s three-member Committee on Committees, which selects committee members and chairs and other appointments. This year, several longtstanding chairs (Dick Mazza, Transportation; Richard Sears, Judiciary; Robert Starr, Agriculture; and Jane Kitchell, Appropriations) will be replaced due to death and retirement. 
3. Act as temporary governor when the governor is out of state or unable to perform.
4. Become the governor full-time upon the governor’s death or permanent inability to perform the office. Lt. Gov. Howard Dean is the last LG to become governor in this manner. 

A Democrat-turned-Republican

Rodgers represented the Essex-Orleans district in the Senate, and also served in the House – all as a Democrat. He ran unsuccessfully against Republican Gov. Phil Scott as a write-in candidate in 2018.

He was known over the years to break with Democrat Party ranks on issues such as gun control and high spending. Some of Rodgers’ other experiences include running a construction business, a plowing business, property rentals, a hemp company, and a marijuana farm. He’s also a stonemason. He wrote during his run for governor in 2018, “When I went to Montpelier, I promised that I would work for the folks who voted for me. I don’t work for a political party.”

He told Vermont Public that in contrast to when he started in politics, now “the moderate Republicans are the only people I see standing up to the majority and saying this is too expensive.” This will be his first time running for office as a Republican.

In an email to VDC he outlined three main initiatives for his campaign. “Number one is that I will be a voice of working-class Vermonters and bring their concerns into the State House. Number two, I will try to be sure that Vermonters are getting the information they need about what is really going on inside the state house. I want them to know how their representatives and senators are voting on the bills that affect them and what the bills really mean and how much they will cost us. Number three I want to help Governor Scott recruit sensible people to run for the House and the Senate.”

When Rodgers ran for governor in 2018, he spoke to the public about what separates him from other candidates. He said, “I don’t think we’re going to encourage a lot of big businesses to come here [because] we have high energy costs, we have high tax costs, Act 250 is hard for businesses to get through. My idea is to focus more on our institutions of higher learning, especially our state colleges, and work with them to figure out how to connect kids to state colleges and then build maker-spaces and incubator spaces around those state colleges.”

In 2020 he sponsored S. 201 which is to “require that Vermonters be personally responsible for their greenhouse gas emissions.” His current opponent Thayer suggests that this action “helped the path to the Global Warming Solutions Act and the Home Heat Act” in a campaign email, and he argues those initiatives are now driving up the cost of living.

Rodgers has the endorsement of John Klar, a conservative activist and former GOP gubernatorial candidate. Klar wrote, “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.”

Thayer a longtime conservative activist

Thayer has been a regular speaker at public events for conservative causes, on multiple occasions he’s expressed his patriotism by ensuring that “God Bless America” was played on the Statehouse lawn.

Thayer wrote in a commentary to VDC, “For the past three years, I have been sounding the alarm to their increasing taxes, over-regulation, and out-of-control spending and the fact that they do not care what ‘We The People’ say.”

He continued with harsh words for the current ruling party. He wrote that “they are eradicating the middle class” and that they “want all possible power and control over your life and your children!”

Thayer also responded to a questionnaire by VDC. On housing, he wrote, “First, Vermonters are tired of what the Democrat-Socialist leaders are dishing out to hard-working Vermonters. We Republicans are going to win a lot of seats under the Gold Dome this November. Help is coming. Reduce and cut over-regulations! The Democrat-Socialist leaders created this problem with their regulating everything in the industry. If we cut regulation, reduce taxes, and more of their out-of-control spending the floodgates of investment and developers will flourish, [and] end this problem.”

He also broke down how the latest plans for transportation reforms may not be in Vermonters’ best interest. He wrote in his commentary, “Their goal is to have all citizens get rid of their private vehicles and ride on bikes or public transport. They want us all living in PUDs (Planned Urban Developments) inside a city center where no one will need a vehicle because everything will be right there (paid with our taxes, of course). They want combustion-engine vehicles gone by 2035.”

During the shutdowns of 2020/2021 during COVID-19, Thayer had harsh words for how that was handled.

He wrote, “The global pandemic is igniting elected politicians, un-elected bureaucrats, and Marxist politicians to take control and weaponize the fears of good Americans and Vermonters to push for government control through public policy. They want socialized medicine, nationalized factories, high tax increases on small businesses, and the end of private property rights. They want to fund cash payouts to people who do not want to work.”

And the winner goes on to…

The winner will face off in the general election on Nov. 5 against either the incumbent Democrat/Progressive Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman or Winooski Deputy Mayor Thomas Renner.

Renner, according to reporting by VTDigger, says that Vermont is “at a crossroads” and that his top priorities according to the story are the “affordability crisis, a housing emergency, and the continued impacts from climate change.”

Zuckerman is currently fighting off a scandal regarding a controversial tampon dispensary initiative run out of his Statehouse office.

The author is a writer for the Vermont Daily Chronicle