October 29, 2026To the Community:
As a fourth-generation Vermonter who has lived and worked in more than towns or villages throughout Vermont, as well as having served at the helm of Vermont.gov in Montpelier for nine years, I am urging Vermonters to consider voting for those candidates who have a grounded historical understanding of our state, especially the rural people in communities who are stewards of the working landscape.
These are the people who understand the value of subsistence traditions and have created innovative solutions out of the hardscrabble bedrock of the state throughout our proud history.
The incredible arrogance emanating out of the State House over the last 10 years, guided by globalist interests with funding well outside of Vermont, has very predictably resulted in the attempt to hollow out rural communities and our historic traditions, and exacerbated the crises of affordability, public safety, addiction, and homelessness that are now tearing our state apart.
Beware the “well-intentioned,” faux-environmentalists and carpetbagger candidates enacting population control policies under the guise of mitigating climate change while simultaneously stripping away our property rights and sustainable food systems, slowly extinguishing the middle class in Vermont to be replaced by the wealthy elite who further devalue our traditions.
And while there are many things to be critical of the federal government about, be careful not to conflate the slow demise of Vermont with the terrible actions of both the Trump and Biden administrations over the last six years. The problems facing Vermont have been growing for the last 30+ years, and the State House and its majorities, more than any other body politic, are to blame for where we are right now.
Vote wisely.
Jamie Gage
Bethel
Jamie Gage was president of Vermont Information Consortium, which developed and managed websites and online applications for the state of Vermont from 2009-18, including the award-winning Vermont.gov website. Gage says he is an Independent and supports Suz Seymour for U.S. Congress.