Updated at 5:23 p.m.
A second Democrat is entering the race to unseat Republican Gov. Phil Scott.
Aly Richards, chair of the University of Vermont Medical Center board and former CEO of childcare advocacy group Let’s Grow Kids, announced her candidacy on Monday ahead of a campaign launch later in the morning in her hometown of Newbury.
Richards, who lives in Montpelier, had been rumored for weeks to be gearing up for a run. She told Seven Days in early March that she was seriously considering one. Her official announcement took place Monday morning at the Newbury Village Store.
“We have common sense here in Vermont. You have to ask yourself — are you better off today than you were 10 years ago?” Richards asked the crowd. “When people can’t afford to live here, you know there’s a problem — it’s not working. It’s time for a new approach.”
Richards served as deputy chief of staff to former governor Peter Shumlin. As CEO of Let’s Grow Kids, she is widely credited with helping push through the legislation meant to strengthen the state’s struggling childcare system. Scott vetoed the bill, but it was overridden by the legislature.
The bill raised payroll taxes to generate about $125 million per year for subsidies to help more families afford childcare. Scott argued the higher taxes make the state less affordable.
In a press release after the event, Richard said her top policy priorities will be making housing more affordable and fixing the broken health care system. She leaned heavily in her speech on her experience leading Let’s Grow Kids.
“I led a movement of over 40,000 parents, small business owners, and early childhood educators to pass the most significant child care law in the country,” she said. “We came together across party lines and we delivered. But here’s the thing: We’re not done. We’re just getting started. We need to bring that same focus and elbow grease to the issues that have plagued the state over the last 10 years.”
She planned to hold an additional campaign event on Tuesday, April 7, at 5:30 p.m. at Burlington Beer, followed by a statewide tour this spring.
Richards, a married mother of 7-year-old twins, joins Amanda Janoo, an economist and South Strafford native who now lives in Burlington, in seeking the Democratic nomination. Janoo, a political newcomer, announced her campaign last month.
Janoo argues that the popular Republican governor is vulnerable because he has shown he has no plan to help struggling Vermonters and hasn’t pushed back hard enough on the damaging policies of President Donald Trump.
Neither State Treasurer Mike Pieciak nor Attorney General Charity Clark has announced their plans for 2026, though they’ve been discussed as potential Democratic contenders for governor. Scott has not announced, either, but is widely considered to be running for a sixth term.
The primary is scheduled for August 11.
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