The race for Lt. Governor pits Republican Randy Brock of Swanton against Progressive/Democrat David Zuckerman of Hinesburg.

Brock was state auditor, a Senator from Franklin County, and the Republican candidate for Governor in 2012. Zuckerman served 14 years in the House and four years in the Senate, representing Chittenden County.

Zuckerman is an organic farmer with a 151-acre spread producing pork, poultry, and vegetables. Brock had a long and successful career as a financial services auditor and manager for Fidelity Investments. Before that he served as a captain in the U.S. Army and was chosen vice chair of the Board of Visitors of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Brock is a Middlebury graduate, Zuckerman a UVM graduate.

Zuckerman has been an ardent advocate for cannabis legalization and commercialization, although he says that if elected he will stay out of the pot growing business to avoid a conflict of interest. He also led the campaign for a labelling law for food containing Genetically Modified Organisms, resulting in a silly Vermont law that Congress promptly pre-empted.

Zuckerman supports the Progressive agenda, including single payer health care; a “guarantee that all working age Vermonters are afforded the opportunity for full time employment which provides a living wage;” higher income taxes; a wealth tax; a carbon tax; and more land-use controls. He is strongly pro-union and embraces the Vermont-NEA teachers’ union anti-school choice agenda. His enthusiasm for gun control earned him an “F” rating from the National Rifle Association.

Zuckerman has also been an enthusiast for renewable energy subsidies including those for Big Wind, which he says “causes less damage than that caused by [Tropical Storm] Irene.” He voted to enact the 2015 RESET bill (Act 56) mandating utilities to obtain 75 percent of Vermont’s electricity from renewable sources by 2032. And he was one of three Senate votes against S. 230, a bill giving towns more influence in the wind tower permitting process (Gov. Shumlin vetoed the bill on the grounds it gave local residents too much influence).

In short, David Zuckerman has been a faithful Progressive throughout his 18 years in office. On the issues, he is the polar opposite of his opponent, Randy Brock.

Brock has been a champion of keeping tax rates low and purging waste from state government. In his 2012 Gubernatorial campaign against Peter Shumlin, Brock summarized the question thus: “The question is: Do we continue to move recklessly in the direction of ever-higher spending and government dependency that drives businesses and jobs out of Vermont? Or, do we change course with a leader with sound judgment, a steady hand, realistic vision and a deliberate focus on creating an economic environment that will attract new business to Vermont, create new jobs and provide a future for our children?”

On energy issues, Brock says “Vermont energy planners must abandon the obsession with renewable power at any environmental and financial cost, and instead promote energy options that are environmentally sound, ratepayer-friendly, and competitive for business and industry.” He has thus been a steady critic of the rush to plant Big Wind all over Vermont mountaintops.

Brock earned an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association for his devotion to the protecting all of the rights included in our state and federal constitutions.

We wholeheartedly agree with Brock’s remark that “Vermonters are tired of being guinea pigs in some grand social experiment.” He is unashamedly pro-business, particularly small businesses that are burdened by overbearing state regulations and taxation. In sharp contrast to Zuckerman, Brock has a wealth of executive experience that well qualifies him to move up to the governor’s office.

Four years ago we proudly endorsed Randy Brock for Governor, saying “We hope and believe that most Vermonters want a Governor who is capable, principled, forthright, honest, and more concerned about the future liberty and prosperity of the people of our state than his own political advancement. Vermont is fortunate to have just such a candidate in Sen. Randy Brock.”

After six years of rampant liberalism in the State House, Vermonters badly need clear-eyed and experienced leaders in the Statehouse. Progressive David Zuckerman, though likable, cannot offer us that. Republican Randy Brock does.

We strongly endorse Randy Brock’s election to Vermont’s second highest office.

Source: (http://www.caledonianrecord.com/opinion/editorial/editorial-vote-brock/article_9cc56b27-f6fd-55ac-be39-d678837b877b.html)