The most interesting race in the August primary is the Democratic contest for lieutenant governor. Three candidates have already filed: former LG Molly Gray, Democratic operative and Peter Welch staffer Ryan McLaren, and Esther Charlestin, 2024’s sacrificial la — ahem, Democratic candidate for governor. Charlestin, with all due respect, we can dismiss with gratitude for her willingness to serve. This is a race of two well-connected Dems, Gray and McLaren.

Gray was first out of the gate with a truly impressive haul of endorsements including 38 sitting lawmakers and a bunch of high-profile formers like Howard Dean and Kitty Toll.

This week, McLaren formally launched his bid at an Essex restaurant featuring what his campaign called “a packed venue” including “enthusiastic supporters, community leaders, and organizers from across Vermont.” The campaign’s press release boasted its own truly impressive endorser list: former treasurer Beth Pearce, former secretary of state Jim Condos, former LG David Zuckerman*, former House speakers Mitzi Johnson and Shap Smith, and an undisclosed “dozens of current and former members of the Vermont Legislature.” (The release also claimed endorsements from “hundreds of other community leaders,” but McLaren’s campaign website does not offer a list of endorsers.)

*Which ought to end the persistent speculation that Zuckerman will run for something in 2026. I honestly don’t think he will. He’s certainly not making another bid for Vermont’s own bucket of warm piss.

A couple of notes on the press release before I go on. One of those addressing the crowd was Kathryn Becker Van Haste, described as a “veteran Congressional aide and Senate campaign manager,” pointedly not described as a longtime aide to Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders. Seems an odd omission considering Bernie’s popularity, but maybe hee didn’t want his name brandished at a Democratic event.

Then there was this unintentional laugh line from Van Haste: “We need someone who doesn’t just want the title, but wants to do the work.” Uh, well, about that. The office of lieutenant governor, with all due respect, is pretty much all title and no work. The LG presides over the state Senate, but can only have an impact on “the work” beyond gavel-banging if allowed to do so by Senate leadership.

But I digress. (Always play to your strengths.)

Interesting thing about the two lists. They describe the broad ideological spectrum of the Democratic and Progressive parties, as if both candidates are simultaneously well-connected insiders and upstart outsiders. It’s rare to find McLaren backers Shap Smith and David Zuckerman on the same side; ditto Brian Campion and Tanya Vyhovsky, occupying places of honor on Team Gray.

It’s not often you see a Democratic primary matching two candidates who each claim across-the-board appeal. But if you’re totting up “outsider points” — and I’m not saying they are of any proven value among actual voters, but it’s a popular measuring stick for statboy political observers — then I think Gray wins the tiebreaker, and I never thought I’d be caught uttering those words.

Which, finally, brings me to the image at the top of this post. It’s a screenshot of Molly Gray taken from a Zoom meeting of Vermont groups and individuals interested in helping immigrants that was held on January 29 and archived on YouTube. The meeting attracted zero attention in the media, with the notable exception of a very good article written by The Commons’ Joyce Martel.

The event was entitled “Beyond Minnesota: Supporting Refugees and Immigrants in Vermont.” Gray hosted the event in her role as head of the Vermont Afghan Alliance, a position she has since relinquished in order to run for office.

The lack of media interest was puzzling because ICE is, pun unintended, a red-hot issue right now. Vermont has yet to see a Minneapolis-style crackdown, but you have to think it’s only a matter of time. And even without a real crackdown, federal officials have already detained more than 900 people in Vermont for immigration-related reasons. That’s kind of a lot in a small state.

The hotness was reflected in the surprising quantity of attendance. Gray said that organizers had expected maybe a couple hundred people. Instead, more than 1,100 signed up for the event, which is simultaneously heartening and disturbing.

The particulars are outside the scope of this already too-long post; I refer you to Martel’s fine writeup if you want to know more about how Vermonters are prepping for an ICE-In. My point is, purported cautious centrist Molly Gray took on quite a challenge when she signed up for the Vermont Afghan Alliance in 2023. I’m sure she could have chosen much cushier gigs. It’s to her credit, and belies her bland political image.

An image that was well-earned thanks to her mushy, biography-centric, policy-avoidant runs for lieutenant governor in 2020 and for Congress in 2022. Maybe this is a reflection of her real political self (now there’s a living, breathing contradiction), or maybe it was because of her newbie status as a candidate. She’d never run for any office before 2020. Maybe she’ll run a better campaign this time around, and reveal herself as a deeper, more thoughtful person.

She’ll have to, because McLaren is no pushover despite the fact that he’s never been a candidate before. He’s run campaigns and been a force in Vermont Democratic politics for quite a while. He knows the game, and should be an effective campaigner and fundraiser.

At this point, I have no idea how this race will develop. At the beginning of 2022’s three-way contest for the Democratic Congressional nomination, no one saw Becca Balint mopping the floor with Gray and Kesha Ram Hinsdale, but she did. Like I said, the most interesting race on the statewide primary docket. Too bad there’s nowhere near as much interest in the party’s gubernatorial nomination, which looks like it will once again be gifted onto the shoulders of a worthy but inexperienced and under-resourced contender.

Hey, maybe one of these two should have run for governor. There’s an idea.