Forum for lt. governor candidates Wednesday

The League of Women Voters of Vermont will host an in-person candidates’ forum for the office of lieutenant governor from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 21 at St. Johnsbury Athenaeum, 1171 Main St., in St. Johnsbury. A meet-and-greet is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

The two major party candidates participating in the forum are Sen. Joe Benning
(Republican-Caledonia) and David Zuckerman (Progressive/Democrat). Ian Diamondstone (Green Mountain Peace and Justice Party) has been invited. Tom McKone, former executive director of the Kellogg-Hubbard Library, will serve as moderator.

Benning is an attorney and 12-year veteran of the state Senate who has twice served as Minority Leader. Zuckerman was lieutenant governor from 2017 to 2021 and served in the state legislature for almost 20 years.

Lieutenant governor is the second-ranking officer of the executive branch with three primary responsibilities:

• presiding over the Senate and casting tie-breaking votes when required
• determining committee assignments for senators
• acting as governor when the governor is out of state or is incapacitated or acceding to the governorship in case of vacancy

The event will also be live-streamed on Kingdom Access Television via YouTube.

Information is available here. Send any questions here.

The forum is sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Vermont, Vermont Commission on Women, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Burlington Chapter and the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum. LWV regularly sponsors candidate forums as part of its mission of encouraging informed and active participation in government.