Former lieutenant governor Molly Gray will have the chance to reclaim her old job in November after besting two Democratic rivals in Tuesday’s primary.
The human rights attorney and former leader of the Vermont Afghan Alliance defeated Ryan McClaren, a former staffer for U.S. Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Esther Charlestin, a former Middlebury Selectboard member. The Associated Press called the race for Gray, who gained a decisive lead as votes were tallied.
“I got into this race because I was so deeply, deeply concerned about what I was seeing at the federal level and what was happening here in Vermont,” she told supporters in Burlington Tuesday night, “and that concern got to a point where I felt like I could no longer sit back and wait and wonder what was going to happen when it comes to protecting fundamental rights.”
Many Democrats see the LG race as their best chance to oust a Republican from statewide office come fall. Lt. Gov. John Rodgers, a Republican pot farmer, has only had the post for one term, and Democrats would like to win the office back. They view him as more vulnerable than Gov. Phil Scott, who is also a Republican.
“We’re going to see national Republicans getting involved because they don’t want to lose the seat, ” Gray told supporters. “They’re going to outspend us. We know that. We’re getting ready for it.”
In a University of New Hampshire poll of likely voters taken in mid-July, 49 percent said they would pick Gray compared with 29 percent for Rodgers in November.
Some voters were turned off by Gray’s effort to reclaim a position she abandoned so quickly to run for higher office. She was first elected to the post in 2020, but announced a run for Congress less than a year into her term. She lost that primary race to Becca Balint, a state senator who went on to win the general election. Balint is currently seeking reelection to Vermont’s sole seat in the U.S. House.
Many in the party had hoped for some new blood, as evidenced by the strong financial support that McLaren received. He raised just shy of $410,000 in total contributions as of the last filing period, compared to $336,000 for Gray.
McLaren also had some key backers, including Welch, former LG David Zuckerman and U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) Many supporters cited his recovery from a spinal injury sustained in a skiing accident as evidence of his determination and resilience.
But UNH polls in June and July showed him lagging behind Gray among likely voters, suggesting he struggled to get name recognition as a first-time candidate for statewide office.
Charlestin, meantime, finished a distant third in the race.
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