By Sam Douglass

Northeast Kingdom resident and incumbent Lt. Governor, John Rodgers, is seeking reelection to the state’s second highest office. He is running on a record of advocacy and turning the position into an active participant inside the Statehouse on legislation and important policies. Rodgers faces former Democratic Lt. Governor Molly Gray in the November general election.

The lieutenant governor has few statutory obligations in Vermont and is sometimes viewed as a ceremonial position. However, in addition to presiding over the Senate, the lieutenant governor fills in for the governor when he is out of the state or leaves office mid-term. The last time a lieutenant governor was sworn in as governor mid-term was in 1991 when Howard Dean became governor upon the death of Gov. Richard Snelling. Day-to-day however, Rodgers said that he uses the office for more than its stated obligations. 

“One thing that I hear consistently from lobbyists and legislators in the statehouse is that these past two years have been the most productive and active that they’ve ever seen the Lieutenant Governor’s office,” said Rodgers. “For a long time, the lieutenant governor’s office has been underutilized.” While the Lt. Governor cannot propose legislation, they can advocate for policies behind the scenes or use their position to bring attention to issues. 

For Rodgers, running for reelection isn’t an ambitious decision, but one of necessity and grave importance. “If Vermont doesn’t change direction, our children and grandchildren won’t be able to afford living in Vermont,” said Rodgers. The Lt. Governor, a stonemason and farmer, lives on his fifth-generation family farm in West Glover with his wife and has lived and worked in Vermont his entire life. 

On homelessness, Rodgers believes that the state has an obligation to its homeless populations, but he wants to ensure that root causes of homelessness, including mental health and substance abuse, are equally considered. He attributed much of Vermont’s homelessness to a lack of affordable housing and believes that adequate affordable housing will help address homelessness.

On transportation funding, Rodgers believes that Vermonters should pay their fair share and that a user charge system as considered by the legislature during the 2026 session is a good start. However, he also thinks the purchase and use tax should go to our roads and fixing education funding will free up funding. 

With the highest insurance premiums in the country, Rodgers believes that healthcare costs in Vermont should be a major focus in the next two years. He acknowledged that healthcare remains a significant driver of education cost tied to high property taxes; addressing those healthcare costs will aid in alleviating tax pressure on Vermonters. Fundamentally, he said, twenty years of Democrat control is the reason we have the highest healthcare costs and reducing healthcare costs may not happen altogether immediately. He pointed out Vermont’s taxpayer spending on healthcare subsidies and doesn’t believe that raising taxes or increasing spending in these areas is the best path forward for addressing the burden. 

On climate and environmental policy, Rodgers supports policies of climate resilience in times of changing weather patterns. However, he believes that most Vermonters don’t care much about climate change when they can’t afford to pay mortgages and feed their families, and his first priority is the policies that will help families thrive. He also believes that many Vermonters in agricultural and forestry work are doing a great job of battling climate change through cover cropping and sequestering carbon, and will promote policies that support those practices.

Rodgers has been a longtime advocate for the rights of landowners and sportsmen. In 2024, he was a leading voice and organizer in the “Tap Trees, Not Vermonters” movement that gained notoriety for its opposition of high taxes and environmental regulations. This was prior to his run for Lt. Governor. Part of this opposition was due to high statewide property taxes that have led in turn to the past two years of education reforms. During his time in office, Rodgers has also been an active participant in opposition to Act 181, which included the removal of Tier 3 classification and the road rule.

Rodgers has broadly supported the education reform efforts of the Scott administration and supports its most recent iteration that encourages local voluntary mergers. It’s critical, he said, that the state moves to a foundation formula and schools work to keep costs reasonable. 

Rodgers has spent decades in public service, from municipal government to the executive branch. He was first elected to the legislature in 2002 as a Democrat and later served in the Vermont Senate. As a Democrat, he often didn’t stand in line with his party on issues and has since described himself as an independent-minded lawmaker willing to work across party lines and prioritize the interests of his constituents over party. In 2024, Rodgers switched to the Republican party and ran successfully to be lieutenant governor, narrowly beating incumbent David Zuckerman. Neither candidate received the required 50 percent of votes to win, bringing the issue before the legislature to decide on the outcome. 

Of his two years in office, there are two bills in particular he is proud of having helped get passed: S.157 and S.193. The former was a bill to aid recovery homes, like Ben’s House in Derby, with their treatment of substance abuse. Rodgers attended events with the bill’s sponsor and other legislators, and said he heavily promoted the bill in the statehouse. The latter was a bill to establish a forensic facility to house and treat individuals charged or convicted and found incompetent to stand trial. Substance abuse and victim’s rights are two issues deeply meaningful to him.

During his interview, Rodgers was asked about the recent polling conducted by the University of New Hampshire that indicated he would lose to any of the Democratic challengers. 

He laughed, “I’m not worried, they’ve been campaigning all year while I’ve been in Montpelier working. [Molly] Gray has been campaigning since she quit her job a year ago to campaign full time. I wish I could quit my job for a year.”

Rodgers has been a vocal critic of the Trump administration having publicly spoken out against the administration on a number of issues including tariffs imposed on Canadian goods, and at a protest in April 2025 on women’s rights and cuts to Medicaid. Despite his opposition, he said that he’ll engage and work with anyone as long as the policies are good for Vermonters.