I have to be honest - paying attention to the *checks notes* Lt. Governor's race in Vermont (of all places) wasn't exactly on my to-do list, but I ran across an extraordinary video this morning that sort of torqued me off. And the more I looked into it, the more I realized it's another primo example of the extraordinary privilege Democrats believe they have and do not hesitate to exercise when it comes down to accounting for all the things they demand of others.
Let me set the stage here.
The race pits two candidates who both have Lt. Gov. in their bios. One is the incumbent -current Lt. Gov. John Rogers, a Republican. And former Lt. Gov. Molly Gray, who served from 2021-2023, is running as the Democrat on the ticket. She wants her old job back.
According to the VTDigger, there's not much room between the two as far as most of the issues go, the biggest of which is the unsurprising 'affordability' question bedeviling every campaign.
Incumbent Lt. Gov. John Rodgers and Democratic challenger Molly Gray mostly challenged each other on past experiences rather than policy in a debate Tuesday afternoon.
“My opponent and I agree with one thing,” Rodgers said. “And that is that we can’t afford the status quo.”
Rodgers and Gray, the former executive director at Vermont Afghan Alliance, talked bipartisanship, education, healthcare, property taxes and rural-urban divides in a debate hosted by Vermont Public. The candidates agreed that Vermont needs to lower the cost of living and support the state’s rural population. Deflections and personal attacks, however, left little room for policy outlines.
Throughout the debate, Rodgers accused Gray of political opportunism and questioned her rural credentials and schooling, while Gray defended her education and later accused Rodgers of bullying.
Their take on Tuesday's debate was that it was more a clash of personalities than differing plans of action, and that the personalities were not compatible.
In fact, you can tell from the last sentence in the quote that there's a problem already, as it seems Rogers was going for meat on the bone, and Gray's answer was to call him a 'bully.'
What an AWFL response, just reading it.
These are the 'rural credentials' Molly Gray relies on heavily as part of her origin story. She's a 'raised on the family farm' girl.
We're backing Molly Gray for Vermont Lieutenant Governor! A grassroots leader raised on a Vermont family farm, @mollyforvermont is fighting to protect fundamental rights, lower costs, expand affordable housing and healthcare, and support strong public schools—all without taking corporate PAC money. Molly offers the kind of people-first leadership Vermont deserves!
— Our Revolution (@OurRevolution) July 10, 2026
The barns are often featured in her photos, and she wears tons of flannel.
Lt. Governor Molly Gray on her family's farm in Newbury Four Corners. I think she'll run, and I think she'll win. https://t.co/FBPeTftm4v
— Dan Chiasson (@dchiasso) November 15, 2021
Now, to be honest, when I hear 'I'm a family farmer' from a politician, the first person I think of is the revolting Elissa Slotkin, who claimed the same thing when she was running for the Senate and not quite as svelte as she is now. The little dumpling from the family farm that gave birth to the Ball Park Franks fortune never actually mucked stables out or plowed soybean fields to earn a living.
And, as politicians are wont to do, the farm she 'lives on' wasn't exactly what she rhapsodically describes in attempts to be 'just like you.'
...Rep. Elissa Slotkin has held up her her eastern Michigan family farm as a way to show that she understands the hard-working voters in the Great Lakes State.
Instead, she’s reaping a bitter harvest — with the property in Holly, 50 miles northwest of Detroit — becoming a source of controversy in her closely fought swing-state Senate race.
Most recently, the Democrat grossly exaggerated the size of her farm to attendees at a Michigan Farm Bureau forum. “We grow soy and corn on about 300 acres, little bit less than 300 acres right now,” Slotkin said.
In reality, the property she owns is 10 acres.
...Just last week The Post reported that the Michigan pol takes a grandfathered-in agricultural tax exemption on her home, saving the hot dog heiress about $2,700 per year in property taxes.
That’s despite the fact that the family stopped raising cattle on the property — the reason for the original exemption — decades ago.
And, despite her claim that soybeans have been sown on the land, it appears there’s no proof any agriculture is taking place.
That property is itself classified as vacant agricultural land. Aerial shots, available through land records, show no evidence of farming.
What she in fact has is a nice place in the country.
AW, CORNSHUCKS
Now, Molly Gray's farm story is a little different, to be fair. Four Corners Farm in Newbury, VT, is actually a going concern, and Molly Gray was most assuredly born and raised there.
It's become her schtick, particularly when it comes to protecting illegal aliens and 'immigrants,' as the farm seems to be big enough an agricultural enterprise that they hire lots of these folks.
As you can imagine, that makes her quite the anti-ICE, anti-Trump immigration policy campaigner.
@mollyforvermont Molly Gray’s campaign says she will use the lieutenant governor’s office to protect Vermonters from “inhumane immigration policies,” and that anyone detained by ICE in Vermont should get legal counsel, interpretation, and medical care. She also wants immigration enforcement barred from schools, hospitals, courthouses, and polling places.
She sells that stance as something she learned on the family farm she talks about constantly. Born and raised on her family’s farm in South Newbury, she says she learned that “everyone has the right to live with dignity and to have their basic needs met.” Her site says the farm is still operated by her family, and that she was raised to “take care of the land that has taken care of us.
So Molly Gray is a bleeding-heart family farmer, as well or you would be forgiven for thinking so, thanks to everything you're being sold via campaign information and media.
At the beginning of this month, her family farm found itself in the spotlight when a report about it from August 2024 surfaced (files here), containing none other than accusations of abusing its migrant help with substandard housing conditions. There were citations issued, etc., so it's documented.
WAIT, WHUT
Government records concerning Four Corners Farm in Newbury, where Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Molly Gray was raised and which remains operated by her family, document state and federal investigations into housing provided to migrant farmworkers, according to a statement issued today by the campaign to re-elect incumbent John Rodgers.
...The records, sent Tuesday afternoon to media by the Rodgers campaign, describe an August 2024 visit in which H-2A migrant workers directed Vermont labor officials to their housing. A later Vermont Agency of Agriculture investigation identified a series of problems, including livestock kept directly below a kitchen area used by workers, inadequate insulation, heating concerns, damaged screening and flooring, and a privy within 100 feet of living and food-preparation areas.
The records also describe concerns about a basement shower used by workers. A Vermont Department of Labor official characterized the shower area as unlit and unventilated and said it lacked privacy.
According to a timeline in the records, the case was referred to the Vermont Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or VOSHA, in August 2024. The federal Wage and Hour Division subsequently took up the case and conducted an onsite investigation in October. VOSHA conducted its own onsite inspection in November and issued a citation Dec. 3.
Housing issues continued into 2025, according to the records. A Jan. 22 inspection by the Vermont Division of Fire Safety did not grant occupancy for H-2A worker housing and identified deficiencies involving fire separation, plumbing, heating and bathroom requirements. State officials said outstanding issues would have to be corrected before the housing could be approved for occupancy.
The records do not establish that Gray was personally responsible for managing the farm or its worker housing, or that she knew of the conditions identified by inspectors.
Four Corners Farm has long been part of Gray’s political biography. Gray says she grew up on the vegetable and dairy farm in South Newbury, which is still operated by her family. Her campaign website lists her rural Vermont upbringing as central to her priorities.
Rogers went for the jugular about the farm at the debate.
Gray's answer was both astonishing in her suddenly not copping to being a family farmer, and gobsmacking in its arrogance.
The Lt. Gov’s race in Vermont does not get a ton of coverage but this has to be one of the most brutal questions I’ve ever seen one candidate ask another and her answer was so smug. https://t.co/f0Dq6R2bU3
— Ryan James Girdusky (@RyanGirdusky) October 8, 2026
MY FAMILY IS NOT ON THE BALLOT, SO I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU THE OPPORTUNITY TO ASK A DIFFERENT QUESTION
Molly Gray paraphrased: "How dare you ask me, a virtuous Democrat, about the poor living conditions for migrants on my family farm that I regularly reference in my campaigns?"
— Amy 🇺🇸 (@amy_likes_owls) October 8, 2026
Remember, Gray herself says she learned from living on the farm that 'everyone has the right to live with dignity and to have their basic needs met,' even if it's, like, a shower in a barn basement that has no lighting.
Here’s her barn: Molly Gray family farm investigated for migrant farmworker housing conditions https://t.co/dVteewGmz9 https://t.co/YwDLMhdenz
— Paul Bean 🇺🇸 (@pbeanVT) October 8, 2026
The campaign says, 'Back off, bros! We fixed it...or rather had the state tell us what we had to do.'
There wasn't even the decency of a 'My family feels bad they were uncomfortable in the accommodations we'd procured for them. If only we'd known' mea culpa lie in there.
...In response, Gray says her family, with state assistance, brought worker housing on the farm into compliance with rental code standards. She also criticized Rodgers for raising the issue.
“John Rodgers has every right to come after me and my policy ideas, but going after my family is disgraceful and a new low,” she said.
Just, 'HOW DARE YOU.'
So, that's the end of that, and don't even be asking another question about it. Bullies.
In the VT Lt. Gov debate, John Rodgers asked Molly Gray why she stayed silent on labor violations (unsanitary conditions for H-2A migrant workers) at her parents' farm and whether she influenced the probe. She called it a new low, insisted her family isn't on the ballot, denied any influence, then labeled him a bully. The clip captures her reaction as he drinks water.
— Grok (@grok) October 8, 2026
...denied any influence, then labeled him a bully. The clip captures her reaction as he drinks water.
AWFL, right?
You bet.
She was ahead by twenty-some odd points. Does it move the needle?
Hard to know, but I swear to God, they are all cut from the same cloth.
Editor's Note: The Democrat Party has been infected by socialism, and it's spreading FAST. Democrats are claiming there's nothing to worry about, but we know the truth.
Help us continue to shine a light on the socialist takeover by joining HotAir VIP. Use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your VIP membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member