There are two very different interpretations of Amanda Janoo’s candidacy for governor. It was one of the most brilliant surprises in the recent history of Vermont politics, or it was a lucky accident. Janoo herself? Emerging superstar, or flash in the pan.

It’s a mix of the two, really. My recipe is more of the former with a dash of the latter. I hope this isn’t the end of her electoral career. I hope to see more of her in the near future, including another run for governor in 2028. In fact, she ought to be considered the early favorite for the Democratic nomination because (1) she shows great promise and (2) she had the ovaries to challenge Scott when better-known politicians ran away and hid. Her courage merits reward, not punishment.

So let’s expand on the two interpretations, starting with the positive. Janoo entered the race with an impressive if unconventional resumé. She was born and raised in Vermont, but her professional career has taken place elsewhere. She had never run for office or worked in a government job, but she has developed policy and advised officials on how to implement progressive ideas. It’s a profession that requires well-developed political muscles.

But pretty much nobody in Democratic circles knew much about her. From essentially zero, she accomplished something close to miraculous this year. To begin with, she faced a primary opponent who was better connected in political and donor circles, and she won.

That’s when the hard part began. She faced Gov. Phil Scott, a well-known incumbent with an unbroken record of electoral triumph. She had very little money left over from the primary. She was trying to introduce herself to a much broader electorate during a short general election season, and she couldn’t afford a TV ad blitz that could narrow the familiarity gap. Her fundraising prospects were not great.

But then something started happening.

She built a strong grassroots campaign and attracted an enthusiastic base of volunteers. She maintained an energetic schedule of town meetings in every corner of the state, drawing large and engaged audiences. Donors began responding, especially after the first round of polls showed she was seriously competitive. She raised more money than the governor. In the closing weeks of the campaign, she actually managed to invest in TV and digital advertising. A last pre-election poll had her in the lead.

In the end, she didn’t pull it off. The undecideds broke for the familiar, and she lost by six and a half percentage points. That’s the closest anyone has ever come to beating Scott in any of his nine runs for statewide office.

Janoo ran an unconventional campaign. Her public events were conversations, not rallies or speeches. She avoided direct criticisms of Scott, although she occasionally voiced objection to administration policies without naming him. She addressed Vermont as a whole, not as rural versus urban. She called for major structural change but in a relentlessly optimistic way.

I wish she had found ways to criticize Scott without being mean about it. But it was her campaign not mine, she ran it the way she saw fit, and it’s hard to argue with the results. She pointed the way toward a new kind of Vermont politics. I don’t think it’s outlandish to say she could turn out to be the political successor to Bernie Sanders: a truly progressive figure who can appeal to voters in every corner of Vermont.

The optimistic view of her future is that she wins the Democratic nomination in 2028 and wipes the floor with H. Brooke Paige or whoever the Republicans dig up to succeed the presumably retiring Scott. Or heck, even if Scott gives it another spin, he doesn’t have the energy or will remaining to hold off a battle-tested Janoo who’d be much more familiar to voters. She wins, and works with a Democratic Legislature to implement her agenda. If it works, we’ve got a new, economically vibrant, inclusive, progressive Vermont that’s an even better place to live. And maybe after a few terms as governor she either runs for Congress or returns to her consultancy with a flashy new line on her resumé, having been one of the most successful chief executives in Vermont history.

That’s interpretation number one carried to its conclusion. Here’s interpretation number two.

Janoo was largely a historical accident who surfed the blue wave to third base and thought she hit a triple. She benefited much more from the anti-Trump momentum of 2026 than from anything she did herself. Phil Scott survived the tsunami when all other Republicans were washed away because she wasn’t that strong a candidate. If the Dems had nominated someone better known who started out with the party and the donors on board (Mike Pieciak or Charity Clark, for instance), Scott could have been defeated.

Having lost to Scott despite the political headwinds, Janoo is now headed to the scrap heap alongside everyone else who lost to Phil Scott. In modern Vermont politics, losing candidates don’t get second chances. If she runs again in 2028, she’ll lose to Pieciak or whichever party favorite makes the run. She’ll go back to the consultancy game and be nothing but a footnote in the history books.

This concludes interpretation number two. Now here’s my own recipe, mixing a cup of the former with a dollop of the latter.

Janoo did well enough to deserve another chance. She’ll be a better candidate next time, and will have a base to build on. She holds out the promise of a new and more inclusive Democratic politics — and by inclusive, I mean she can make progressive policies appeal to rural and working class voters.

She could still lose again. Her brand of politics might prove to have a short shelf life, more attractive as a novelty than as a steady diet. When choosing a leader, Vermont tends to opt for chicken pot pie over the chef’s special: Phil Scott, Jim Douglas, Howard Dean.

All things considered, I do believe she deserves another shot. The 2028 Democratic primary, assuming Scott does retire, is going to be an absolute rockfight. An entire generation (or two) of Democratic politicians will be eager for what might be their only shot at the corner office. Janoo will have to prevail over people with decades of relationships and connections. If she does, well, we will find out what kind of governor she could be. I’m definitely intrigued, more than I’d be for a Pieciak or a Clark governorship.