MEET MOLLY GRAY

Born and raised on her family’s farm in South Newbury–a welcoming place serving the community–Molly learned two things early on: that progress takes many hands, hard work and problem-solving, and that everyone has a right to live with dignity and to have their basic needs met.

Now raising her family with her husband Mike, Molly leads the Vermont Afghan Alliance, helping Afghan allies who risked their lives for the United States with jobs, driver’s licenses, housing, and other support to start their new lives and grow Vermont’s workforce. Molly also helps care for her mom, who continues to battle multiple sclerosis, giving her an even clearer understanding of the caregiving and economic pressures facing working familes.

At a moment when Washington chaos is driving up costs and threatening basic freedoms, Vermont needs leaders who aren’t afraid to hold the line or fight back, offer solutions and deliver locally. With experience, urgency, and a record of standing up for others, Molly is running for Lieutenant Governor to help protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of every Vermonter to lower costs, and make life better for working families.

Molly is a proud product of Vermont’s education system. After attending the University of Vermont on an Athletic Scholarship, Molly hung up her cross country skis and put her energy and drive into helping elect Peter Welch to Congress, serving as his scheduler and later moving to Washington to serve Vermonters as a congressional aide in his office.

While working in Congressman Welch’s office, Molly’s younger brother deployed to Iraq with the U.S. Marine Corps. From Washington, she watched as false claims about weapons of mass destruction unraveled, reports of detainee abuse emerged, and private military contractors were accused of killing civilians—clear failures of accountability with real human costs.

Concerned for what she was seeing, Molly joined the International Committee of the Red Cross, where she worked to promote U.S. compliance with the Geneva Conventions and led humanitarian missions in Haiti, Uganda, the Western Balkans, East Africa, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

She returned home to attend Vermont Law School and clerked for the Honorable Peter W. Hall on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Rather than join a private firm, Molly continued her public service, helping launch the International Code of Conduct Association to hold private security contractors accountable for human rights violations, and leading monitoring missions in Africa and Iraq.

Inspired by Eleanor Roosevelt’s belief that human rights begin at home, Molly served Vermont as an Assistant Attorney General, helping lead a landmark investigation into abuse at the St. Joseph’s Orphanage. Experiencing firsthand the impacts of a demographic crisis and a generation struggling to care for loved ones, afford rent and pay the bills, Molly ran for Lieutenant Governor in 2020—and won.

As Lieutenant Governor, Molly worked to give Vermonters a voice in government and a seat at the table. She fought for the needs of working families and rural communities, particularly those hit hardest by the pandemic. She advocated for equitable access to broadband, affordable childcare and eldercare, paid family and medical leave, and strong investments in housing and workforce development.

When she’s not working, Molly is happiest outdoors—skiing with Mike at Sleepy Hollow in Huntington, helping family at the farm in South Newbury, or soaking up Lake Champlain with her son Jack in Burlington, all to the soundtrack of Noah Kahan!