Before we make our recommendations for the political offices below, here’s why we do it. The purpose of an endorsement is to cite reasons why one candidate might serve the public better than his or her opponent. Candidates also make choices that reflects on their values, and those actions also provide valuable points of comparison. The object is to encourage readers to think about their own preferences and provide insight or background of each candidate to help readers make a choice. We also have the opportunity to interview the candidates in hour-long conversations, and in some cases to interact with them on multiple occasions — an opportunity most voters don’t have.
We share our perspective not to coerce voters to follow suit, but to complement the robust endorsements of those who write letters in support of candidates, as well as other news coverage of the candidates. Hopefully this effort helps voters make informed decisions. In last week’s editorial, we endorsed Amanda Janoo for governor.
U.S. HOUSE: DEMOCRAT BECCA BALINT
In the race for Vermont’s lone U.S. House seat, Democrat Becca Balint has our solid support. She has served Vermont well over the past four years, which has been particularly important in trying to contain the damage done to the nation by a rogue president and a Republican Congress too intimidated to enforce its rightful powers — particularly the power of the purse that, by law, is relegated to Congress.
Republican Gerald Malloy is a nice man who has run against Sens. Peter Welch and Bernie Sanders in prior elections and has name recognition but has mounted an ineffective campaign against Balint. He says he is opposed to President Trump’s cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, as well as Trump’s immigration policy and has been opposed to Trump’s trade war with Canada. That said, America’s democracy is desperate for a sea-change in congressional power. Without such change, which would help stop Trump’s worst impulses, the nation will further alienate our allies, deplete our military reserves, erode civil rights, recklessly punish the immigrant community, and a host of other ills.
Vote for Becca Balint for Congress in the hope that a swing election will help a Democratic Congress check the worst impulses of a president who is seemingly determined to undermine our democracy and align us with dictators like Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
MOLLY GRAY FOR LT. GOV.
Former Lt. Gov. Molly Gray has the legislative experience, the legal background to defend Vermonters’ rights against an increasingly belligerent president, and the small-town values essential in protecting Vermont’s rural communities. She is also a champion of individual and civil rights and unafraid to expose President Trump’s authoritarian ambitions and his threats to democracy.
These are extraordinary political times that demand those in power to push back against a president and his administration who are brazenly violating civil rights, ransacking government agencies, dismantling essential public services, engaging in blatant corruption, sowing distrust in our election system, and on and on.
It is not a time, as Gov. Phil Scott and Lt. Gov. John Rodgers have been doing, to “go along to get along.” Or, to say it another way, it’s no time for Vermont to be an accomplice to Trump’s crimes.
Gray was raised in South Newbury on her family’s third-generation dairy farm and also understands the demanding trials and tribulations of farm life. As a human rights lawyer who has worked globally with the International Red Cross and other humanitarian organizations, and most recently served as the founder and executive director of the Vermont Afghan Alliance, she has demonstrated a deep commitment to defending those who have less. Vermonters can count on Gray to have their backs and to fight for their and the state’s best interest.
Rodgers’ record, on the other hand, has been underwhelming. In his first two years as Lt. Gov., he has mostly been known for fighting with his hometown over a boundary dispute involving his personal residence and underestimating the value of his cannabis crop and having to pay a fine to the state.
Gray will be a lieutenant governor who will fight for Vermonters to ensure individual rights are upheld and ensure the Legislature focuses on the main challenges facing the state: making it affordable so families can stay here and attractive enough for young workers to move here.
MIKE PIECIAK FOR STATE TREASURER
Democrat Mike Pieciak is a shoo-in for re-election as Vermont’s State Treasurer. He’s done an awesome job in that position over the past two terms and deserves another. Among his accomplishments he has strengthened the state’s pension system, helped thousands of Vermonters start saving for retirement, and used the state’s balance sheet to take on the cost of housing and healthcare through innovative programs.
Specifically, some of the programs Pieciak has initiated include:
• Proposing and launching ArrayRX, a pharmaceutical discount card that joins Vermont with states like Connecticut and California to drive down drug prices.
• Proposing and helping pass a plan to buy and cancel $100 million of Vermonters’ medical debt with a one-time $1 million investment.
• Committing up to $130 million in low-interest loans to build workforce housing through the “10% in Vermont” program, resulting in 1,700 new homes.
• Cutting $2 billion from unfunded pension liabilities by working with lawmakers and unions on a compromise that protects retirement for teachers and state employees. The proposal passed unanimously in the Legislature.
• And when the Trump administration put Vermont’s immigrant neighbors at risk, he helped start the Vermont Immigration Legal Defense Fund to back the lawyers defending them in court. More than 100 attorneys have now been trained.
Pieciak does have challengers in Republican Lynn Lafleur of Stowe and Progressive Zachary Hampl of Rutland Town, though neither have waged campaigns that have attracted notable support.
In short, all Vermonters are better off because of the programs Mike Pieciak has initiated and for the work he does on behalf of all residents. He deserves our enthusiastic vote for a third term.
SARAH COPELAND HANZAS FOR SEC. OF STATE
In the race for Secretary of State, incumbent Sarah Copeland Hanzas has served Vermonters well in her first two terms and deserves re-election. Notably, Hanzas was firm in her rebuke of the Trump administration’s deceitful demand to provide sensitive voter information to the federal government. There is a reason that individual states control their own elections and the personal data of their own citizens. That’s precisely to prevent an authoritarian from gaining access to the nation’s voter rolls and manipulating it to that party’s and administration’s advantage. That’s big government at its worst.
Vermont was among 30 states sued by Trump’s Department of Justice, of which 20 cases have been tossed out by federal judges. Vermont’s case was tossed out this past September because the Trump administration had overstepped its authority.
“The court made clear: The Trump Administration had no authority to demand access to the sensitive personal information of voters — including home addresses, dates of birth, and Social Security and driver’s license numbers,” Hanzas and state Attorney General Charity Clark said at the time. “Today’s ruling affirms our efforts to protect the privacy and voting rights of Vermonters from unlawful federal overreach.”
The incumbent is challenged by perennial Republican candidate H. Brook Paige, and Progressive Rachel Shaw, neither of whom has mounted effective campaigns.
TIM ASHE FOR VT. AUDITOR OF ACCOUNTS
Democrat Tim Ashe is the more qualified candidate for Vermont’s Auditor of Accounts. Ashe has been the Deputy Auditor for Vermont for the past five years, serving under Doug Hoffer, who held the position for seven two-year terms and is not seeking re-election.
Ashe also has almost 20 years of service in local and state government. He served on the Burlington City Council from 2004 to 2007, then in the Vermont State Senate from 2009 to 2020. He was elected president pro tempore in 2017 and held that post through 2020 when he ran for lieutenant governor, losing in a competitive Democratic primary.
Ashe, 49, is challenged by Poultney Republican Ivar Kronick. If you don’t recognize the name or haven’t heard of him, that’s a tell-tale sign of a very low-key campaign.
One job of the state auditor is to help state officials craft more effective programs, not merely catch mistakes or shortcomings in those programs.
Ashe has the on-the-job experience to know how to strengthen programs and produce better outcomes for Vermonters. Vote Tim Ashe for Vermont Auditor of Accounts.
CHARITY CLARK FOR VT ATTORNEY GENERAL
Under adversity, the tough shine the brightest and that’s certainly been true of Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark. She has filed or joined multi-state lawsuits in 67 cases since Trump took office in his second term. Those cases have challenged federal executive orders, funding freezes, tariffs, mass layoffs, dismantling federal agencies to the state’s detriment, birthright citizenship, voting restrictions, and environmental rollbacks. So far, Vermont and other states have won most of their preliminary injunctions which have helped recover tens of millions of dollars in withheld state and federal funding.
Clarke is being challenged by Edwin Howell Kemon, a Vergennes Republican, who jumped into the race late and is relatively unknown as a statewide candidate. We found only one two-question interview with Kemon, which can be found here.
Born and raised in southern Vermont, Clark grew up working in her family’s grocery store in Londonderry. She is a graduate of Burr & Burton Academy in Manchester, the University of Vermont, and Boston College Law School. Before she entered law school, she was a policy analyst at the Vermont Governor’s Office under Gov. Howard Dean. In 2005, she began her legal career as an associate at a law firm in Burlington and later practiced at a law firm in New York City.
Clark’s career in Vermont’s Attorney General’s Office began in 2014 as an Assistant Attorney General. She was later appointed Chief of Staff, serving in the role from 2018 to 2022. She was first elected Vermont Attorney General in November 2022 and is running for her third term. She is also an avid skier and hiker, completing the Long Trail in 2021.
Clark’s years of work in the Attorney General’s office, her legal experience and deep roots in Vermont, plus her steadfast resistance to the Trump administration’s overreach, are ample reasons to vote for her re-election as Vermont’s Attorney General.
VOTE YES ON PROPOSALS 3 AND 4
While somewhat redundant, Proposals 3 and 4 deserve support. Specifically, Proposal 3 would provide a state constitutional right for collectively bargaining, specifically “for the purpose of negotiating wages, hours, and working conditions and to protect (workers) economic welfare and safety in the workplace.”
Currently, federal and Vermont statutes provide for collective bargaining for employees. Proposal 3 would amend the state constitution to also prohibit state laws that might conflict with the right to collective bargaining.
A statement by Aimee Bertrand, President of Vermont State Employees Association explains their reasoning: “At a time when workers are under attack daily from the federal administration, this amendment ensures that workers in Vermont will forever have the option to join a union and bargain for their wages, working conditions, and benefits.”
Proposal 4 is an amendment to the state constitution that would ensure all individuals’ equality of rights. A yes vote supports amending the constitution “to prohibit the denial of rights to an individual based on their race, ethnicity, sex, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or national origin.” Thirty other states have similar rights. Proposal 4 was first passed in the Vermont Senate on April 23, 2024 by 20-0; passed in the House on May 8, 2024, by 141-4. In the second legislative session, it passed the Senate, 29-0, and passed the House 128-14 on May 13, 2026. It deserves the public’s support.
Angelo Lynn
