A 14-year-old high school freshman will appear on Vermont’s general election ballot for governor this November, becoming the first candidate under 18 to do so in the state’s history.
Dean Roy, a student at Stowe High School, secured his spot by creating his own third party, the Freedom and Unity party, after working as a legislative page at the Vermont Statehouse last year.
“I don’t expect necessarily to win,” Roy 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.’”
Roy is able to run because Vermont’s state constitution sets no minimum age for gubernatorial candidates, requiring only that candidates have resided in the state for four years. Most other states require gubernatorial candidates to be at least 30 years old. In Kansas, lawmakers added a requirement that candidates be at least 25 in 2018 after six teenagers ran for office.
“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.”
Peter Teachout, a professor at Vermont Law and Graduate School, pointed to a section in the state constitution that requires voters to be 18, suggesting that same standard might apply to candidates. Even so, he doesn’t predict a win for the teenager. “In theory, a 4-year-old could run for governor. Should we be worried about it? No,” he said. “Vermonters can be a little cantankerous and provocative just for the fun of it, but it is not something they are likely to support in this context.”
But Roy’s former history teacher, James Carpenter, described Roy as an “old soul” with endless curiosity. “It just really shows what type of kid Dean is. He’s very earnest in what he’s doing. There’s no gimmick behind this. I think he blends that youthful optimism with some pragmatism that few kids have.”
Roy, who said he doesn’t identify with either major party, identified housing as the most important issue facing the state. He has also thought about how he would juggle school with being governor, saying he would consider online classes and do his homework at night after work.
Current Republican Governor Phil Scott applauds Roy’s interest in politics but questions whether someone so young is ready for the responsibilities of running a state. “He believes it’s important for our youth to get involved,” said press secretary Amanda Wheeler. “But the Governor also believes that a teenager may not be best suited to serve in that role given the lack of experience and lived perspectives youth have at that point in their lives.”
Roy disagrees that age has anything to do with whether a candidate is fit for office. “What I’m aiming for is that these career politicians look at me and they say, ‘Oh my God, he actually has a chance to disrupt things,’” he said. “If I can get people to think that I am a threat to them, then I know that’s been a success. Because what I want is to show them that the youth have a voice. We’re gonna make change. The future is now.”
