Molly Gray, who served as Vermont’s lieutenant governor from 2021 to 2023, has won the Democratic primary to reclaim her former office, defeating rivals Ryan McLaren and Esther Charlestin in Tuesday’s vote.
Gray announced her comeback campaign in January at a coffee shop in Burlington’s South End, framing her decision to run again around the current political moment. “There are no ceremonial offices right now,” Gray said in an interview ahead of launching her bid. “No one can afford to sit it out or stand on the sidelines.”
Vermont Primary Results 2026 Live: How Did Gray’s Campaign Distinguish Itself From Her Rivals?
Gray leaned heavily on her prior experience in the role throughout the campaign, arguing she would be ready to resume the office’s responsibilities immediately. Her chief rival, McLaren, a former aide to Vermont’s Democratic US Senator Peter Welch, offered a starkly different pitch to voters, arguing at a candidate forum in Montpelier, “We can do better than politicians from the past.”
McLaren pointed to his own record as evidence he could match Gray’s accomplishments, telling voters at the same forum, “The fact that those 60 Afghan women could get driver’s licenses is because I was the No. 2 at the DMV,” referencing work Gray herself had cited from her tenure as lieutenant governor.
Vermont Primary Results 2026 Live: What Institutional Support Did Gray Draw On During The Race?
Gray’s campaign built a substantial base of establishment backing well before Tuesday’s vote. State lawmakers largely broke in her favour, including a majority of the Senate Democratic caucus, while Vermont Public reported that Gray and McLaren had split the support of the state’s Democratic donor class, with both candidates advertising heavily and securing labour union endorsements.
Charlestin, by contrast, ran a lower-profile campaign and raised comparatively little money over the course of the primary, according to Vermont Public’s reporting on the race.
Vermont Primary Results 2026 Live: Why Did Gray Choose To Challenge Rodgers Rather Than Run For Governor?
Gray addressed directly why she opted to pursue the lieutenant governor’s office rather than a run against Republican Governor Phil Scott, who wields considerably more power in state government.
She described the period since her last campaign as one of “self-reflection,” telling Vermont Public, “I have the humility to know what I can do well and where I have something to offer.” Gray had previously left the lieutenant governor’s post in 2022 to run for Vermont’s open US House seat, a primary she lost to Becca Balint, before returning to public service as executive director of the Vermont Afghan Alliance.
Vermont Primary Results 2026 Live: What Comes Next For Gray In The General Election?
With Tuesday’s primary win secured, Gray now advances to face Republican incumbent John Rodgers, who first won the lieutenant governor’s seat in 2024, in November’s general election. Rodgers ran unopposed for renomination in his own primary, according to Ballotpedia’s tracking of the race.
Vermont’s lieutenant governor has relatively limited formal duties beyond presiding over the state Senate when it is in session, though those who hold the post have often used its visibility to advocate for particular causes, a role Gray is now positioned to reprise should she defeat Rodgers in the autumn.
