Tuesday Vermont Public forum features Democratic lt. gov. candidates
July 20, 2026 | By Waterbury RoundaboutVermont’s three contenders for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor will meet for a candidate forum with Vermont Public on Tuesday at noon.
The forum will include the three candidates seeking their party’s nomination in the Aug. 11 statewide primary election: Esther Charlestin, Molly Gray and Ryan McLaren.
Charlestin, from South Burlington, was the unsuccessful 2024 gubernatorial challenger to Gov. Phil Scott. She co-chairs the Vermont Commission on Women and works as an education and nonprofit consultant. She previously served on the Middlebury Selectboard.
Vermont’s Lieutenant Governor from 2021 to 2023, Gray most recently has worked as executive director of the Vermont Afghan Alliance and previously served as an assistant attorney general. She ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. House in 2022.
McLaren, from Essex Junction, most recently has worked as a top staffer to U.S. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt. He also worked for former Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin and with the Vermont Democratic Party.
The August primary winner will be on the November ballot facing Republican Lt. Gov. John Rodgers, who is seeking a second term in office.
The Tuesday forum will be carried live on Vermont Public’s Vermont Edition radio program, noon-1 p.m., and streamed on vermontpublic.org. Later on Tuesday, a recording will be broadcast at 7 p.m. on Vermont Public’s PBS television station. It also will be available online on Vermont Public’s YouTube channel.
See a report by VtDigger.org from a candidate forum in South Burlington on July 15 here.