The first candidate has announced a run for governor in Vermont’s 2022 election cycle. Brenda Siegel stood on the steps of the Statehouse in Montpelier Monday to kick off her campaign. The Democrat from Newfane is an advocate who ran for governor in 2018 and Lieutenant Governor in 2020, coming in third in both Democratic primaries. She tells WAMC North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley she is running for governor because the state needs leadership on issues critical to the state beyond those related to the COVID pandemic.
There was already a climate crisis. There was already a housing crisis. There was already an overdose crisis. Vermonters are made up of majority low and moderate income families and individuals and the policies that we make have to support those individuals because our state needs the people in it to be able to thrive, I mean, and survive. We can’t even, even upper middle income families are struggling to found housing right now in Vermont.
You have run in the past for governor and lieutenant governor and you’re running for governor this time. Why did you decide to try for the top seat in the state instead of another elected office?
I really believe that there is systemic change that is needed, that we need to get to the place where we are being led by people that not only understand what it’s like to do the work on the ground, the grassroots work, what it’s like to help move policy in the legislature and also what it’s like to work alongside people in the administration trying to work with them to make policy change. We need someone who understands all of those systems but also has had to navigate them.
What would your approach be to working with the Legislature as policies and issues come up in the legislature if you were governor?
While it is a separate branch of government one thing that has happened in the current administration is that at the eleventh hour they throw wrenches in the wheel of progress. And what we can do instead is we can work with the legislature communicating where our bottom line is and ensure that when this policy is passed it is the product of that strong compromise. What I would say is that the legislature is passing bills that are the product of compromise that do move Vermont forward and the Governor as an individual and his administration is saying that he does not support it. But it is not something that has been supported through a tri-partisan lens.
Brenda Siegel, you have never held office before so how effectively do you think you’d be able to accomplish work with the legislature?
Well I have moved major policy and I have done that alongside legislators. I have worked one on one with Republicans, with Democrats and Progressives to make sure that the policy is able to get to the finish line. Those one on one conversations I’ve been in committee rooms and inside the, while they’re voting. Again I’ve worked and chatted with and conversed with and made change with people in the administration. I have done the work from the grassroots all the way through the system.
Brenda, when you started the conversation you noted COVID has been really the focus of the last couple of years but we’ve had underlying issues continuing throughout. Have the issues changed since you last ran for governor in 2018 or even lieutenant governor in 2020?
They have not changed but because we haven’t done enough to solve the problems they have gotten worse. And so the housing crisis was looming for a very long time. And it isn’t, you cannot make just a housing plan that looks good on paper. It has to address needs. And you cannot work on the overdose crisis continuing to use the same old drug policy war on drugs tropes. You have to use science, data and lived experience experts to make those changes. Those changes are there. The tools we have to make sure people can survive are there. We just have to use them. And then on the climate crisis when you have a governor that vetoes the Global Warming Solutions Act which really is, was an incredible bill and also was very limited in its scope of what it could do. So if we can’t even get that through this governor then how are we going to protect not only our children’s future but also the state that we all love so much?
Well he also just vetoed the pension reform act. How would you have handled that piece of legislation?
That legislation was worked on not only in a tri-partisan manner but also a pension task force that included teachers. The teachers and state employees agreed to this compromise and it was a strong bill that actually began us paying our obligations and also helped us to follow through on our promise to our state employees and our teachers. It seems like every time we turn around there’s an attack on those individuals, the teachers and the state employees. And these are the heroes of our time and they deserve better.
Brenda Siegel, do you expect COVID to remain a state priority if you’re elected governor?
Yes, absolutely, and in fact we can’t wish it away. And we need to make sure that the most vulnerable people in our state are also being helped and being supported. Right now I think that we’re walking away from vulnerable individuals whose lives are vastly impacted by the ongoing COVID pandemic. And so we need to figure out ways to ensure that we’re being inclusive as we move forward within this reality.
Brenda you’re the first candidate to announce for governor.
Yes.
At the point where we are speaking even Governor Scott, Governor Phil Scott the Republican, has not said whether he will run for re-election. But you also note that your campaign will be a “tough battle.” What kind of challenges are you anticipating?
Well, of course we don’t know Governor Scott’s plans but if he were to run that’s the tough battle that I am talking about. I anticipate that’s where the biggest challenge will be. But I do believe that Vermonters when we rise together, when we’re inspired to rise together, that we make change. And I’ve seen that over and over again. When we were able to move the bill to decriminalize small amounts of buprenorphine that was not an easy fight. But we won. When we were able to make sure that the program that houses Vermonters that are experiencing homelessness was fully reinstated that was a very tough battle. It took sleeping on the Statehouse steps for 27 nights. And right up until that 28th day many people thought we couldn’t win. But we won. This is a winnable fight but we’re all going to have to rise together.
It sounds like you’re more concerned about the power of the incumbency rather than things like even funding?
Oh, I believe that Vermonters, and I’m seeing it already, that Vermonters are really excited to have a candidate that understands our systems and has proven that they can move strong legislation.
Democrat Brenda Siegel plans a Zoom campaign launch this week followed by an as yet to be scheduled in-person kickoff.
Third-term Republican Governor Phil Scott has said he will announce his reelection plans at the end of the legislative session.
