The major party candidates for Vermont governor subtly, and sometimes blatantly, criticized each other during a debate this afternoon.
Republican incumbent Phil Scott and Democrat Brenda Siegel have participated in several debates, the latest at midday Tuesday on Vermont Public.
During the first question on climate change Siegel criticized Scott’s veto of a Clean Heat Standard bill, which the legislature subsequently failed to override.
“The legislature has had to govern far too much by a two-thirds majority in the last six years," stated Siegel. "Unfortunately, in this case the Governor’s advisors gave him the wrong information and his concerns had already been addressed in that bill.”
“The only person they didn’t ask about whether my concerns were satisfied was me," retorted Scott. "I meet with the legislative leadership every single week. They didn’t come to me.” Siegel starts to interrupt, but Scott continues. “Let me answer. They didn’t come to me and ask me are you okay with this solution we’ve come up with. Never.”
During candidate-to-candidate questions Siegel recounted the overdose deaths of some of her relatives and cited data indicating that more than 875 Vermonters have died due to overdoses since Scott became governor.
“If they were at an overdose prevention site, they would have overdosed but they would not have died," asserted Siegel. "Were their lives worth saving?”
“It’s somewhat of an unfair question," bristled Scott. "We’ve all lost friends and family members through a number of different issues. We have to be realistic. We can’t provide a government-run injection site in every single town and city in Vermont. We just don’t have the resources to do that. So I think it’s unfair to think that providing that would have saved all of their lives. But unfortunate that we lost them to begin with.”
Scott, seeking his fourth two-year term, used his question to target Siegel’s campaign promises.
“You’ve made a lot of promises during these debates," recalled Scott. "Whether it’s housing proposals which will cost hundreds of millions of dollars without federal aid in the future, child care proposals, paid family leave, universal school meals, universal primary care. How are you going to pay for it?”
“So I would argue that we are actually spending quite a lot of money right now," replied Siegel, "by not solving problems.”
During closing comments, the two continued to criticize each other. Siegel disparaged Scott’s policies.
“In the last six years the things that matter most to Vermonters have not gotten better, they’ve gotten worse," said Siegel. "Vermont has not become more affordable, it’s become less. The housing crisis has been barreling at us and there is no plan. We’ve seen the most overdose death in the history of our state and the governor is vetoing the bills.”
“Sometimes there are no easy or perfect solutions," observed Governor Scott. "So you end up making a decision to the best of your ability and based on your experience. I make decisions based on the facts. What I won’t do is over-promise just to get your vote.”
Independents Peter Duval, Kevin Hoyt, and Bernard Peters are also running for Vermont governor.
