This story by Patrick Bilow was first published in the Stowe Reporter on July 17.
Watch out, Gov. Phil Scott – Dean Roy, a 14-year-old from Stowe, is running for your job.
It started as a bit of a joke with one of Roy’s teachers at Stowe Middle School. If Roy ever ran for office, the joke went, he’d have a campaign manager in his teacher.
Over time, it became less of a joke, and while Roy’s teacher isn’t running his campaign, the rising freshman hit the streets with a few of his peers last week collecting signatures. As of Monday, he had just shy of 100, with almost a year left to reach 500 and make his campaign official.
To be clear, Roy isn’t expecting to oust the Republican governor of nearly 10 years, and he understands when people tell him he’s too young for the job, but Roy is looking at the big picture. He said politics is his lifeblood, and he wants to start proving himself as a viable option for voters now.
Roy is running as part of the Freedom and Unity Party, which emerged in Vermont around 2022. As far as he knows, he would be the youngest third-party candidate for governor in the nation. In 2018, Ethan Sonneborn, a 13-year-old from Bristol ran for governor as a Democrat. Both Sonneborn and Roy benefit from a Vermont election rule that doesn’t set an age limit for running for public office.
Roy is no stranger to the Statehouse. Over the winter, he served as a legislative page in Montpelier, a distinction given to a handful of students throughout Vermont every year. He shadowed politicians, gained an inside look at the legislative process and mingled with a few of Vermont’s top lawmakers.
During one interaction, he challenged Lieutenant Governor John Rodgers on his electric vehicle stance. Rodgers has been outspoken about the negative impacts of the electric vehicle industry and, while their opinions differ, Roy still went a few rounds with Rodgers before they went their separate ways.
Roy’s campaign is centered around affordability and rising property taxes in Vermont, the number one issue facing the state right now, he added. Roy acknowledged the irony that, as a 14-year-old, he doesn’t own a home.
“When a kid in Vermont understands that there’s a housing and affordability crisis, that’s when you know it’s bad,” he said.
Scott might be his opponent for governor, but Roy applauded the work his administration has done to reform education spending in Vermont and reduce property taxes. Roy said H.454, the recently-signed education reform bill, isn’t perfect, and he admitted it might not be great for rural districts like his own, but he thinks the state must take big – and sometimes painful – steps if it’s going to save money for residents.
Roy leans conservative when it comes to finances, and he said a variety of political voices is important to creating good laws. But, like many conservatives in Vermont, he wants to keep it about the money. As for social issues, he believes women have a right to choose and he’s opposed to the way immigrants are being treated in Vermont and across the country.
“This country needs immigration reform badly,” Roy said. “No one should be pulled from the home, and it shouldn’t take decades to become a legal citizen in our country. That’s wrong.”
If elected, he would also work to restore Vermont’s relationship with its neighbors to the north, which has been tested by the President Donald Trump and his administration.
When it comes to hyperlocal issues, Roy said he’s witnessed how short-term rentals have impacted his hometown — those issues exist throughout the state, he added. Roy is a proponent of short-term rental caps and a five-percent tax on those properties statewide.
Part of his motivation for running is to engage his peers – Vermont’s youth – in politics. His friends Charlie Bass, Paul Slesar, JP Rozendaal and Roger Andelin have all been active in his campaign, and he wants to bring in more people.
“We’re all looking for something different,” Roy said, which is part of the reason he’s running as a third-party candidate.
Even if he doesn’t win, Roy wants to stay politically active. He’s currently vying for a letter of recommendation from Bernie Sanders – a political idol to Roy’s – to become a U.S. page in Washington D.C., a highly competitive process.
As for his political candidacy, voters can expect to see Roy on the ballot until he reaches office, he said.
“I want to do great things for the state of Vermont,” he added. “I know I’m young, but I hope I can get my name out there and start building some credibility this year. That way I can run a very serious campaign when it’s time.”
