In case you haven’t heard, Montpelier native and former Politico Magazine editor Garrett Graff is thinking about running for lieutenant governor.
After spending more than 11 years in Washington, D.C., Graff moved to Burlington last fall and said he’d explore a run for the state’s second-in-command. Just one catch: The Vermont Constitution states that candidates for the position must have lived in the state for four years before the election.
Graff made his case that he should be eligible for the position before a legislative committee Wednesday, stating that though he’d moved away, Vermont has always been his “mental home.”
The denizens of Twitter seized on that phrase, asking the big questions: How do you get food delivered to #mymentalhome? What are the taxes like there? And, most importantly — it’s Vermont, after all — what is #mymentalhome’s carbon footprint?
The hashtag originated with Shay Totten (who, full disclosure, is a former Seven Days political columnist). But others jumped in on the action, too.
And commenters on our story weighed in with their own thoughts on the matter:
knowyourassumptions: Doesn’t he owe Vermont 10 years’ worth of “mental” income taxes, plus interest and penalties?
Dr. Mindbender: Does he qualify for instate tuition at any of the fine schools in the Vermont State College system?
Anyway, I had a VT native tell me that you couldn’t call yourself a native Vermonter unless you, both your parents and all four of your grandparents had been born, and lived the entirety of their life, in Vermont. I think there is a special dispensation for trips to New Hampshire to buy tax-free liquor and big ticket items.
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Politico smolitiko. Garrett Graff appears to be a clueless dope. If he ran this by the old man and Chris said “go for it Gary” then he’s a dope too.