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by Guy Page
Incumbent Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman, a former Progressive who won election as a Democrat, took heat this week from Democrat lawmakers over his practice of dispensing menstrual products from his State House office.
“Offering feminine hygiene products in an office and seeking out women to let them know about availability is not acceptable,” House Speaker Jill Krowinski told Zuckerman in a letter that came to light in a VTDigger news story published Tuesday.
Incumbent Gov. Phil Scott, unchallenged in next Tuesday’s primary, leads all gubernatorial candidates on the statewide ballot with $128,700 in 2024 campaign contributions. Unlike the other candidates for governor, Scott also has a ‘war chest’ of contributions from previous campaigns, totalling $332,359.
All campaign contributions listed below are through August 1, as reported on the Vermont Secretary of State’s campaign finance page.
In the Democratic race for lieutenant governor, Zuckerman holds a comfortable 3-1 fundraising lead over challenger Thomas Renner of Winooski. Last month the fundraising gap was closer to 8-1.
Many if not most of Zuckerman’s donors are traditional Progressives, showing his strength and roots with Vermont’s large left-of-Democrat electorate. Renner has drawn strong support from former and current Progressive candidates like Martha Abbott and Marielle Blais and Tiffany Bluemle, but very little from Democrats. The VT NEA contributed $4,850.
Renner, however, has received cash from former sitting Democrat elected officials including Maida Townsend, Kitty Toll, Joan Shannon, Democrat-affiliated activists Maggie Lenz and Jake Perkinson, and no less than four 2024 Vermont senators: Chris Bray, Jane Kitchell, Brian Campion, and Kesha Ram Hinsdale. Several Republicans, including Alex Farrell, members of the Tarrant family, and former top aide to Gov. James Douglas Neal Lunderville also have contributed to Renner.
Renner may also have received a boost from media coverage. Democrat House member Heather Chase of Chester told VTDigger this week that Zuckerman had offered her a menstrual product in a meeting in Zuckerman’s State House office.
The VTDigger report, published Tuesday August 6, exactly a week before Primary Day, includes a February, 2023 letter [see below] from House Speaker Jill Krowinski urging Zuckerman – an unceasing supporter of virtually every reproductive and gay rights legislation in the last 30 years – to review sexual harassment policies, hand over the menstrual products to the Sgt. of Arms, and not meeting with women alone.
Zuckerman told Digger he was just trying to be a “very inclusive, welcoming lieutenant governor.” With his office located across the hall from the main floor restrooms, “a number of folks found it very helpful to come into the office to get those products when they needed,” he reportedly said.
But according to Digger, Krowinski, and Rep. Chase, that wasn’t the vibe some women were getting. “I was totally creeped out,” Chase reportedly told Digger Bureau Chief Sara Mearhoff.
According to her House bio, Chase was born in Canada, grew up in Wyoming and has lived in Vermont since 2002. A Registered Nurse, with a Master’s degree in community health, she is a lactation consultant and CEO of her business, Corporation Lactation Services, Inc.
Zuckerman has not responded to VDC inquiries about the news story.
In the Republican primary for lieutenant governor, former Democrat state senator John Rodgers has a 10-1 fundraising lead over conservative grassroots activist Greg Thayer of Rutland, who says his platform and campaign history show he’s the only true Republican in the race. Rodgers’ campaign advertising has touted his endorsement by Gov. Phil Scott, his history of farming and work as a tradesman, and his centrist voting record as a legislator.
2024 Campaign Contributions through August 1 [Source: VT SoS Campaign Finance System page]
| Name | Office | Party | July | Total |
| Phil Scott | Governor | Republican | $22,860.00 | $128,700.00 |
| Peter Duval | Governor | Democrat | $6.00 | $153.00 |
| Esther Charlestin | Governor | Democrat | $3,266.00 | $16,320.00 |
| David Zuckerman | Lt. Governor | Democrat | $40,344.00 | $151,432.00 |
| Thomas Renner | Lt. Governor | Democrat | $4,889.00 | $48,043.00 |
| John Rodgers | Lt. Governor | Republican | $44,950.00 | $44,950.00 |
| Greg Thayer | Lt. Governor | Republican | $2,450.00 | $4,700.00 |
| Stewart Ledbetter | Senate (Chit. Central | Democrat | $9,850.00 | $58,039.00 |
| Philip Baruth | Senate (Chit. Central | Democrat | $14,125.00 | $14,125.00 |
| Tanya Vyhovsky | Senate (Chit. Central | Democrat | $15,573.00 | $18,573.00 |
| Martine Gulick | Senate (Chit. Central | Democrat | $9,546.00 | $22,536.00 |
| Ginny Lyons | Senate (Chit. Southeast) | Democrat | $500.00 | $720.00 |
| Kesha Ram-Hinsdale | Senate (Chit. Southeast) | Democrat | $4,288.00 | $20,482.00 |
| Thomas Chittenden | Senate (Chit. Southeast) | Democrat | $880.00 | $5,883.00 |
| Louis Meyers | Senate (Chit. Southeast) | Democrat | $7,000.00 | $16,000.00 |
Up-to-date candidate filings and more information about the August 13 statewide primary are available on the Secretary of State’s website.
Visit the Election Division’s Campaign Finance System and click on “Search Filed Reports” to:
• Download a copy of any of disclosures,
• Find an updated list of filings,
• Search filings from other entities or reporting periods.
Visit the Election Division’s Candidates page to:
• See major party candidates who have filed for the Statewide Primary,
• See an updated list of minor party and independent candidates who have filed for the General Election (deadline: August 8, 2024 at 5pm),
• Find instructions and signature requirements to run for office.
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Categories: politics
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One of the remedies specified in Speaker Krowinski’s letter to Zuckerman regarding his transgression is that he “remove the feminine hygiene products from your office and have Janet Miller place them in the appropriate bathrooms”. It seems that Speaker Krowinski is also guilty of insensitivity, exclusivity and a direct insult toward the non-binary/transgender community if she specifies that there is such a thing as an “appropriate bathroom” for the placement of what she also refers to as “feminine hygiene products”. Because of policies that have come forth from the Speaker’s administration and generally from her party in recent years, we all are now painfully aware that it is proper public policy that EVERY public restroom should be equipped with said dispensers, regardless of any stick figure or word posted on the door.
And yes Mr. Zuckerman, regardless of the proximity of your office to the bathroom and your “desire to be inclusive and welcoming”, your forthright way of making those products available to certain colleagues IS creepy. Having a jar of lollypops on your desk is welcoming.
This is one time I agree with Jill Krowinski. Does Zuckerman want to be one of the girls? Is that what he means by inclusivity? There’s way too much creepiness in today’s politics.
The VSR continues to circle the drain.
We all know those feminine products were for him.
He would be aware that, in a pinch, some tampon wrappers are a good substitute for rolling papers…
From my first aid training: Tampons can be handy for staunching bullet wounds….
“… and not meeting with women alone.”
There’s gotta be at least one good Mike Pence joke in there…
Vermont is bleeding good jobs and young people. Tampons aren’t the remedy. Better leadership is.
I “loved” (not actually) how he informed a colleague in her sixties that she might not require these products do to her age……if I were a rep in Montpelier, I would have personally purchased a bucketload of little blue pills and low “T” supplements – just to demonstrate my own inclusivity & welcoming gestures, but of course – and asked him to dig right in preferencing the fact that due to his advancing age, they may be to no avail.
Childish? Maaaaaybe…… But perhaps tit for tat is about all that can register with these looney tunes. Sorry. I love Vermont, but going New Yawk in VT is what is necessary right now. At least for the time being.
As far as the Speaker publicly outing Suckerman right now? I think she realizes that the electorate is just beginning to demonstrate a possible meltdown & wants to try to smooth a few ruffled feathers by finally calling out but one example of Montpelier crazy. NOT. NEAR. ENOUGH, Madam Speaker!
That is: “due” to her age, sorry….
Well, it’s easy to joke about this, but let’s not help David worm his way out of this by making light of it. I can’t imagine doing what he did. I’ve known David for more than 25 years, and I have to say that I am surprised by these disclosures. That said, some people we’ve known for a long time do creepy things and reveal aspects of their personalities that we might not otherwise suspect. I never had any intention of voting for David in the first place due to our policy differences, but if I had, I would nevertheless consider this behavior disqualifying for public office.
JONATHAN WEST (as pictured above):
Seeks to bring a PLETHORA of low-income housing (aka: “affordable housing”, “workforce housing”) to Manchester because of his belief that ANYONE should be ABLE to live ANYWHERE they WANT, regardless of personal financial ability. He follows Obama/Biden/Harris AFFH program: “AFFIRMATIVELY FURTHER “FAIR” HOUSING”. He is working with SETH BONGARTZ (who is seeking the open senate seat for Bennington County) to DESTROY Manchester just as they DESTROYED Bennington!!!!!!!!!!
—–Hey West, WHY doesn’t your leftist program have tentacles in locales such as Chappaqua or Martha’s Vineyard???????????????????????????
West is a leftist neo-Bolshevist extremist who is gaining ground by latching onto to Bongartz’ coattails.
Well Tom, that’s called poor judgement on your part. You are in good company though, people who vote for him and the rest of these wannabe overlords in Mount Stupid also have poor judgement. Just look at the condition of our state. I’ll also add that the republican leadership of Vermont has been complicit in the downfall of this once great place to live and raise a family now gone!
Amazing that VTDigger came out with this info. There seems to be a cabal of moderate democrats and even some progressives that want Zuckerman gone.
With the Vermont primary just around the corner, that nagging feeling is coming on about wanting to make some trouble and “be a democrat for a day” by voting in their primary. Zuckerman’s primary challenge is making this all the more tempting. Farmer Dave’s true calling is running the farm.
It’s not amazing IMO. VTDigger simply was given the thumbs-up to go public by the Speaker, the Defacto head of the Dem Party in the legislature…….just like when the American press was given the A-OK (finally) to admit that Biden was no longer mentally present. Real “shocker” there, right? The DNC’s Plan B was already set to be implemented due to Biden’s poor polling numbers, was all.
I’m guessing that in this case, the VT Communist Party might have just been working in their lab late one night (to pen the words once written Bobby “Boris” Pickett) & discovered they could reanimate Lenin. So, they require Suckerman to step down.
Do not trust these people colluding with the American Pravda press.
I agree but, his true calling is to return to wherever he came from and take his ponytail with him. I truly hope that We the People can help him with that on the 13th.
The fact that Zuckerman is even a candidate after openly and willingly admitting to submitting taxpayer funded expenses without incurring the costs associated with reimbursement shows the blatant disregard for ethics and integrity he has. A vote for Zuckerman is basically showing approval and rewarding his fraudulent behavior. Party over principle is a path to failure, a path far too many are willing to accept in Vermont.
If it’s true that he is a trust funder, that makes it even worse. If he gets a check from Dad or Mom or an estate, he shouldn’t have to steel the taxpayer’s money.
The greed is deep under the Golden Doom.
Zuckerman and his progressive followers are what’s wrong in the state, and why it is in the dismal shape it’s in, keep voting these clowns in and the state will keep failing !!
Vermont has a cancer that has metastasized within Montpelier….. Wake up people.
The sick depravity….. The Lt. Governor and his tampon dispenser in our public offices. This is unacceptable—high school mentality. The people who vote for imbeciles such as Zuckerman should take a long hard look at their morality if they can find it.
He is the only candidate that I’ve ever seen handing out dirty organic carrots to children along the parade route. Just what they wanted a dirty carrot. This guy is weird. Those carrots ended up as trash on the street.
Male feminists like Zuckerman are usually the worst sort of predatory creep.
Interesting this is finally coming out now when it happened in February 2023?
national democrats would call zuckerman “weird”
Doubtful. They would instead blame Donald Trump for Zuckerman’s behavior. Including Paul Dame and Governor Scott.
Zuckerman has always been a weirdo wannabe farmer. I’m guessing that the Democrats decided that they can live with John Rodgers.
John Rogers is not voting for Trump! What else does anyone need to know about him. He’s a big whiner. He’ll wear that sling till November and continue to tell everyone how Trump was mean to contractors. And if he gets in, he’ll to pass more laws to benefit his cannabis operation. I wish I had a million dollars to donate to Gregory Thayer’s campaign.
Yes Rebecca …… please tell me ……… is it true that John Rogers changed his family farm from growing and harvesting food to a farm that grows and harvests Marijuana?
If yes, why would we Vote or put our trust in him as our Lt. Governor? The Marijuana harvesting business may make easy money, but it’s with no consideration to the destruction of human brains and lives, especially the brains of our vulnerable youth.
Vote for Greg Thayer!! He would never choose money over Principle.
during the covid kill shot scam demic, what was zucker man wearing for a face diaper/// inquiring minds need to know////
David, don’t be a Timmy (Walz)! It should be clear the Dem/Prog party has an extraordinary outlandish fetish for all things perverted, inappropriate, sexual, and degenerate. The party is full of reprobate minds suffering from arrested development and sociopathy. Find a cure.
Yep, there are an unusually high number of paraphilic disorders on display in the Dem/Prog party.
“No profanity, explicit racist or sexually demeaning language…”
Behavior this filthy forces the VDC, through no fault of its own, to violate its own policy just by reporting the facts. In some corporations I’ve worked for, he would be fired and then sued by the company. But all the schoolmarm can do is bluster at him. Funny.
OMG: This is what it’s come to? Hygiene products? And we’re adding this to the already humongous list of complaints on the table?
I just listened to the current VP and Presidential candidate, Kamala Harris, exclaim that ‘on day one’ of her presidency she would enact her plan to tackle inflation and improve the economy for the middle class.
She’s the Vice President already. The anointed democrat candidate for the upcoming election. She is clearly in charge (right?).. not Joe Biden.
Sooo… what’s she waiting for? Why doesn’t she do it now, instead of making us suffer with this nonsense for six more months? She’s got Bernie, Peter and Becca on her side. Meanwhile, we’re wasting our time complaining about tampons?
If reasonable people can’t figure out how far gone we are – or, as Ben Franklin presciently opined in 1787, “when the People shall become so corrupted as to need Despotic Government, being incapable of any other”, we deserve every discomfort coming our way.
…if she is aware of the inflation problem, why didn’t she act on it 3 years ago? Maybe Obama told her to sit tight on it? Anyhow, as she alludes to in her ads, it is all the fault of corporate greed and price collusion…which she thinks she can turn off like a light switch. She is not fit to manage a Maplefields… and we can only hope that at least the moderate democrat voters will vote for Kennedy or stay home as a protest of her ignorance and the audacity of their party for putting her up as their candidate.
Don’t worry; she’ll be swapped out for something even “better”. Walz is intentional sabotage.
Where’s Joe ???
We all saw his mental decline and the DemocRAT elites covered for him, so who’s been running the country ??, whoever it is they are running it into the ground !!!
The newly ” Anointed one ” Kamala, Joe was inept because of his senility but Kamala is just an Idiot…… she is what you get from a DEI hire…………..pretty pathetic.
I can’t wait for the debates if she shows……..this will be a hoot, ” Word Salad Harris ” !!
So far, she accepted the ABC and has chickened out on Fox and NBC. They are going to try to hide her just like they did when Joe was running from his basement and Trump was filling rallies with thousands of followers. Here we are again. The DNC is like the KGB, they run the show and the sheeple democrats follow along as useful idiots. When you see a Kamala rally, look at the people behind her on the stage and you will see what I mean.