Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman celebrates his election as the Democratic Party candidate in Burlington on Tuesday.
VTDigger – Glenn Russell
Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman and former state Rep. John Rodgers won the Democratic and Republican primaries for Vermont’s second-highest office on Tuesday, paving the way for a contest between two statehouse veterans who do not clearly toe party lines.
Zuckerman, a Hinesburg fruit and vegetable grower who is making his fourth run for lieutenant governor, defeated Winooski Deputy Mayor Thomas Renner. All cities announced their results shortly before midnight, and Zuckerman defeated Renner 56% to 37%, according to unofficial results from the Secretary of State’s office.
Rodgers, who runs a construction business in Glover and previously served in the state legislature for nearly two decades, defeated Rutland accountant and former local GOP committee chairman Gregory Thayer. Unofficial results showed Rodgers receiving 56% of the vote and Thayer 35%.
Meanwhile, Zoraya Hightower — a former Burlington city councilor who works for an environmental nonprofit — won unopposed for the Vermont Progressive Party’s nomination for lieutenant governor, unofficial results show.
But the party’s chairman had previously said that Hightower and other progressive candidates at the state level would “probably not” be on the November ballot. He added that progressives would support certain candidates after the primaries, including some historically “fusion candidates” such as Zuckerman, who describes himself as a progressive Democrat.
“I feel good – it was definitely a tough campaign,” Zuckerman said Tuesday night at a campaign party in Burlington’s South End, shortly after the results were announced. “Fortunately, my track record counts for something with a lot of people.”
Zuckerman was the only state incumbent to face a primary this year, and in his campaign he touted his experience as lieutenant governor of the Vermont Senate (the office’s primary responsibility) and his prior experience as a representative serving in that chamber and in the Vermont House of Representatives.
Several voters at the polls on Tuesday said they had doubts about Zuckerman after reading recent reports about a 2023 incident involving the lieutenant governor. As VTDigger reported last week, House Speaker Jill Krowinski, Democrat of Burlington, issued verbal and written warnings to Zuckerman earlier this year after state lawmakers reported they felt uncomfortable when he offered them access to a supply of menstrual products.
Northfield resident Ben Sanders said the story has been the subject of many conversations he’s had about Zuckerman. “I’ve felt he’s done a good job so far,” Sanders said. “But the recent news has given me a lot to think about. Whether it was an overreaction or the right reaction to what he did, regardless, it still makes me think more seriously about who should represent us.”
Others said they would be happy to re-elect the lieutenant governor. Zuckerman “understands the people of Vermont” and “cares about the environment,” said Samantha Keyes, 27, of Middlebury.
Renner – who has previously held office only at the local level – had highlighted his identity as a gay black man and stressed the importance of representation in state government. He said he saw little difference between himself and Zuckerman on policy issues, but also stressed that he sees himself exclusively as a Democrat.
“Running against an incumbent is really difficult. I worked for an incumbent who was in office for over 30 years,” Renner said, referring to former U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy. Renner spoke to his supporters at a campaign party in downtown Winooski. “But we ran a really great campaign,” Renner said.
With Zuckerman, Vermont’s Democratic voters have once again supported a candidate for lieutenant governor who feels less closely tied to their party. But Republican voters have also supported a more unconventional Republican in Rodgers.
Rodgers served in the House and Senate as a Democrat and even ran a write-in campaign for governor as a Democrat in 2018. But earlier this year he announced his candidacy for lieutenant governor as a Republican, saying the state Democratic Party no longer reflected his values and accusing its leadership of not caring about the working class.
He had also described himself as a moderate compared to Thayer, who is a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump and participated in the Stop the Steal rally in Washington, DC, that preceded the storming of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
“I think our message is being well received and many Vermonters are ready for change,” Rodgers said in an interview Tuesday evening after the results were announced. “And they believe I am the candidate for that.”
Speaking by phone Tuesday evening, Thayer – who also ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor in 2022 – said he was disappointed with the outcome, but added that he was “not leaving.”
“We’ve spread our message. We’ve spoken to and represented thousands of Vermonters,” Thayer said. “We’re going to keep working on it.”
Chloe Jad, Emma Malinak, Sarah Mearhoff and Theo Wells-Spackman contributed reporting.
