Molly Gray, the one-time Vermont lieutenant governor and 2022 Congressional candidate, told Seven Days on Tuesday that she intends to run for her former office next year.
“I’m ready to get off the sidelines,” Gray said in an interview. “To bring my skills, strength and clarity to bear to help Vermont get through this moment, and — with a lot of humility and perspective — get back to work in an office where I had a lot to offer.”
Gray, 41, burst onto Vermont’s political scene when she emerged from a crowded primary field of Democratic LG candidates to easily defeat Republican Scott Milne in the 2o2o general election. She was about halfway through her first term holding the state’s second-highest office when she entered the 2022 Democratic primary for Vermont’s lone U.S. House seat. Gray ultimately lost to eventual winner Becca Balint and stepped away from politics after her LG term expired.
Gray, who is a licensed attorney, has spent the past few years serving as executive director of the Burlington-based nonprofit Vermont Afghan Alliance. The organization helps the state’s burgeoning Afghan community acclimate to new lives in the wake of the fall of their country’s government in 2021.
Much of her time has been devoted to helping Afghans navigate the bureaucratic boondoggle that is America’s immigration system.
The gig has provided an up-close view to the “deeply inhumane and hurtful impacts” of the Trump administration’s policies, she said. It has also shown her where state leaders are falling short on protecting their most vulnerable residents. She pointed to Gov. Phil Scott administration’s recent decision to stop extending food assistance benefits to Afghans and other refugees in response to changing federal guidance, and to the “constant state of fear” that many people now find themselves in amid reports of immigration roundups and deportations.
“Vermonters need cover,” she said. “I want to make sure no Vermonter feels like they’re on their own.”
Gray said she also continues to be motivated by her own experiences. Since leaving office, she gave birth to her first child and has continued to help care for her mother, who has multiple sclerosis. Vermont continues to be unaffordable for working-class families, she said.
“It’s health care. It’s childcare. It’s paid leave. It’s a generation that’s still caring for kids and trying to care for parents at the same time,” she said. “If we refocus on those issues and try to address the cost of living and make lives better for working families, we can come out better on the other side.”
Gray’s early entry in the 2026 LG’s race, combined with her significant name recognition and experience in the office, could give her an advantage over Democratic challengers. If she wins, though, she may have to face an incumbent in the general election: John Rodgers, a Democrat-turned-Republican who upset incumbent David Zuckerman last year.
This story may be updated.
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