Republican Lieutenant Governor John Rodgers and Democratic challenger Molly Gray largely agreed on policy issues during a debate hosted by Vermont Public on Tuesday, but exchanged personal criticisms throughout the event.
“My opponent and I agree with one thing,” Rodgers said. “And that is that we can’t afford the status quo.” Both candidates discussed topics such as education, healthcare, property taxes, and rural-urban divides. They agreed that Vermont needs to lower the cost of living and support its rural population.
However, the debate featured deflections and personal attacks rather than detailed policy outlines. Rodgers accused Gray of political opportunism and questioned her rural credentials and schooling, while Gray defended her education and later accused Rodgers of bullying.
Gray, who previously served as lieutenant governor from 2021-2023, said the role should be used to advance state priorities and address federal overreach. Rodgers criticized her decision not to run for reelection in 2023, instead making an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. House of Representatives.
Both candidates have touted their rural upbringings. Rodgers, 61, of Glover, brought up Gray’s high school education at Stratton Mountain School, a private boarding ski academy. Gray, 42, of Burlington, responded by noting that she had received a scholarship having learned to cross-country ski while growing up in Newbury.
They also agreed on education spending, healthcare, land-use policy, and property tax. Gray said she would advocate for universal primary care and affordable housing, noting a five-point housing plan she’s proposing. Rodgers recalled an amendment he proposed on Act 46 in 2015 that would have mitigated education costs but ultimately wasn’t passed into law.
Rodgers also said that Gray has yet to explain how to pay for universal primary care. Gray responded by suggesting recouping the Trump tax cuts and possibly increasing the tax on luxury second homes in Vermont, not hunting camps, not workforce housing, and investing that directly into a program that would bring down costs, stabilize the education system, and provide Vermonters meaningful property tax relief.
Gray won the Democratic primary in August. After her unsuccessful bid for Congress in 2022, she served as the first executive director of the Vermont Afghan Alliance, a nonprofit which supports Afghans resettling across the state. Rodgers has also previously spoken against the Trump administration’s cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, tariffs, and the detentions of migrant workers.
