Looking back, gubernatorial candidate Dean Roy says his political ambitions started in the 8th grade, and by that he means last year. After working as a legislative page at the Vermont Statehouse, the 14-year-old freshman at Stowe High School now has his sights set on the corner office. In November, he’ll be the first candidate for governor under the age of 18 to appear on the state’s general election ballot. “I don’t expect necessarily to win,” he said. “What I do expect is to start the movement, and get more young people to come in behind me and say, ‘Yeah, we also want to make change.’” Another 8th-grader, Ethan Sonneborn (pictured below), sought the Democratic nomination for governor in 2018 but finished last in a four-way primary. Roy secured his spot in the general election by creating his own third party, the Freedom and Unity party. Both Roy and Sonneborn were able to run because the state constitution sets no minimum age for gubernatorial candidates, requiring only that candidates have lived in the state for four years. “I know it sounds crazy, a 14-year-old running for governor, but honestly, look at the people in charge right now,” Roy said in a post on his campaign’s Instagram page. “They’ve been doing this forever and things still aren’t working.” Nearly all other states set minimum age requirements for governor, often 30 years old. In Kansas, after six teenagers ran for office, lawmakers added a requirement that stipulated that gubernatorial candidates must be at least 25 years old.
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| Ethan Sonneborn |
