LETTER: Molly Gray for lieutenant governor
July 8, 2026To the Community:
I’m not one to often publicize my support for a candidate, but I’m making an exception this election cycle. I’m supporting Molly Gray for lieutenant governor.
I do not believe the lieutenant governor is a trivial or ceremonial position. The lieutenant governor is the president of the Vermont Senate and has significant influence with state senators and other legislators. They are also often appointed to important boards and commissions, serve in the governor’s stead occasionally, and are, of course, in the line of succession. We need someone with deep experience and fresh ideas in the position.
I’ve written previously about the three critical issues we have in the state – education, health care, and housing. Our education system is unaffordable and not serving our children; health care is unaffordable, and we have significant access issues; and we don’t have enough affordable housing in the state to attract young families. As a result, people are finding the state to be overall unaffordable, and our population is declining while rapidly aging. Unfortunately, our legislature’s approach to this has typically been to raise taxes whenever and wherever it can rather than address the root causes.
In speaking with her, Molly seems to really understand these issues and is thinking creatively about solutions. But she understands that taxes in the state are a concern and we can’t just throw money at every problem. We have to be an affordable place for people to live. I particularly like her support of universal primary care. In my opinion, this is a little bit different from universal health care, which U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders is proposing nationally with his single-payer bill. Primary care is the front line of health care, and ensuring people’s access to regular primary care heads off a lot of problems that can become acute if not addressed early. It’s not as big a bite as trying to fund all of health care, but it will lower costs by addressing symptoms early and preventing more costly care down the road. It’s nowhere near as costly as Medicare for All. There are a lot of implementation issues to be worked out, but it’s the kind of creative problem-solving I like to see.
Molly Gray also understands that the problems above are interrelated. Addressing health care and lowering costs will impact our education budgets, since health care is a big driver of education costs.
Another important thing, often overlooked in today’s social media and political climate, is character. The basics matter. I’ve hired a lot of people over the course of my career, and I’ve always focused on this, not how someone positions themselves on social media or in public. Is this a person of high ethical standards, integrity, and strong personal moral character? Do they have the experience, expertise, skill and personality to excel at the job? Is this someone really willing to do the hard work? Will they focus on the needs of their constituents and not on advancing their political career? Are they low ego and willing to give credit to others?
Molly Gray ticks these boxes for me. We have significant challenges here in Vermont, and she has the experience, temperament, background and personality required to move our legislature in the right direction to address them.
I think she can make a difference. It’s good to see her back in the fray, and I’ll be voting for Molly Gray come November.
Pete Mooney
Waitsfield