BRATTLEBORO-Vermonters have an important choice to make over the next four weeks. By Aug. 11, Primary Day in Vermont, we will need to choose the Democratic candidate who will run against Phil Scott in November.
Scott has been in office now for 10 years. Our hospitals are on the verge of bankruptcy, and our farms are failing. Over 60% of young Vermonters anticipate moving out of the state. Scott’s “moderation” has begun to wear thin.
Democrats have fielded two primary candidates, who at first glance may appear similar — two smart young women. However, there are substantive differences between the two, visible if you observe them in forums, interviews and meetups.
One candidate, Amanda Janoo, is an economist who works as an advocate and policy analyst on a global level. She can clearly explain the theory behind our economic problems. The solutions she envisions are uniformly progressive but often impractical.
The other candidate is Aly Richards, who began her public service career as the youth representative on the Vermont State Board of Education. She worked on Barack Obama’s first presidential campaign and most recently spent 10 years working collaboratively with Vermonters to pass childcare access legislation.
This nationally recognized legislation has resulted in establishment of more childcare businesses, better wages for childcare workers, and childcare subsidies for more Vermont families.
When I listen to Aly, it is evident that she is eager and excited at the thought of bringing Vermonters together to find solutions to the problems now hobbling the state, beginning with housing and healthcare.
Her method, successful in passing the childcare bill, is to gather all the concerned constituents and work with them to define the problem and identify the most viable solutions.
She knows these problems will be hard to solve, and brings will, skill, and experience to the process. She promises as governor to harness the zeal of experts in the state administration to support the work of our Legislature on behalf of these solutions.
Voting in the primaries has already begun, and town clerks have ballots available. Ballots can be requested at the town clerks’ offices or at the official state voter portal at vote.vermont.gov.
For primaries you must request ballots; they are not sent automatically as are general election ballots. Registered voters can get ballots and vote any time through Aug. 11.
Vermont does not have party registration and there is no need to declare your party to vote in the primary; voters may choose at each primary election to vote any one of the three ballots they are given.
The best possible way to retire Gov. Scott this fall is to put Aly Richards on the ballot!
Rebecca Bartlett
Brattleboro
This letter to the editor was submitted to The Commons.
This piece, published in print in the Voices section or as a column in the news sections, represents the opinion of the writer. In the newspaper and on this website, we strive to ensure that opinions are based on fair expression of established fact. In the spirit of transparency and accountability, The Commons is reviewing and developing more precise policies about editing of opinions and our role and our responsibility and standards in fact-checking our own work and the contributions to the newspaper. In the meantime, we heartily encourage civil and productive responses at voices@commonsnews.org.