$39.2K
AUG 12, 2026Primary Election
Party selects its nominee.
Current roleLieutenant Governor
PartyRepublican
Political ideologyModerate Republican
Age60 years old (Jul 29, 1965)
GenderMale
LocationVermont
BackgroundLieutenant Governor of Vermont
EducationSacred Heart School (Newport, Vermont), graduated 1983
Notable personal detailsJohn S. Rodgers is the lieutenant governor of Vermont, elected by the Vermont Legislature on January 9, 2025 after winning a plurality in the 2024 general election. He previously served in the Vermont House of Representatives and the Vermont Senate representing the Northeast Kingdom. Rodgers has worked as a construction business owner (JS Rodgers Masonry Inc.) and as a farmer, including operating a cannabis farm.
The candidate emphasizes reducing government spending and making Vermont more affordable by stemming increases in property taxes, energy and healthcare costs, while also saying taxes should be fair and indicating wealthy Vermonters should pay their “fair share.” His statements combine calls for fiscal restraint with openness to shifting some burden onto higher earners, producing no single clear ideological stance on taxation.
Opposes Vermont pursuing a single‑payer or universal health system on the state level as too costly and instead favors pushing the federal government and Vermont’s congressional delegation to address health‑care costs and reduce waste. Emphasizes lowering drug and insurance prices and improving efficiency rather than implementing a state single‑payer program.
John Rodgers has expressed opposition to mass deportation and emphasized that Vermont farms and the state economy rely on immigrant and undocumented farmworkers. He has argued for protecting those workers and criticized aggressive enforcement actions while not advancing a detailed federal legalization plan in the cited public statements.
Supports reproductive autonomy and a woman’s right to choose, framing abortion and bodily autonomy as protected rights. Has publicly endorsed measures to enshrine reproductive rights in Vermont’s constitution and affirms support for women’s rights to bodily autonomy.
Supports acknowledging climate change and promoting voluntary, incentive-based stewardship (for example, tax or financial incentives for sustainable land management) but opposes aggressive, economy-wide regulatory mandates and large-scale renewable deployments that he says raise costs for Vermonters. Criticizes major renewable developers and specific policies such as a clean heat standard and some EV/subsidy approaches as economically regressive and environmentally problematic (e.g., supply-chain harms).
John Rodgers supports broad Second Amendment rights, opposes bans on commonly owned semi-automatic rifles such as the AR-15, and has criticized new restrictions on law-abiding gun owners while also saying databases and red-flag laws can play a role in keeping firearms from prohibited people. He has sponsored measures to resist federal firearm restrictions and frames gun ownership as part of rural life and self-protection.
Rodgers’ nomination price spiked from 2% to 21% intrahour, while Phil Scott still leads at 73%. That kind of sharp repricing is trader-relevant because it signals a real challenge to the long-dominant favorite, even if the market remains Scott-heavy.
Rodgers’ nomination price surged intrahour while Phil Scott’s stayed dominant; that kind of sharp repricing can signal a real shift in trader attention even in a deep-frontrunner market.
That’s above the previous high of 8% for John Rodgers in the Vermont Republican governor nomination race.
New updates coming soon
We're monitoring and will update when new data impacts the race.
