About Those Attack Ads… – Monique Priestley, VT State Representative

I’m disappointed. For weeks, attack ads about me have shown up in your social media feeds, your texts, and now as targeted postcards in your mailbox. Many of you have sent me screenshots from all over Vermont. They come from John Benson’s campaign, the VT Republican Party, the VT Republican Federal Elections Committee. Many of the folks receiving these ads aren’t even Orange County residents.

This isn’t DC. This is Vermont. We know each other here. The person on the other side of an issue is our neighbor at the post office. Growing up in the Upper Valley, I learned to respect neighbors I don’t always agree with. These ads come straight from the Washington playbook: pull a vote out of context, attach a scary word, and aim it at your anger. I expected better, and I think you did, too. John Benson has served Brookfield for years on the selectboard and as a volunteer firefighter. As a fellow volunteer, I respect that. I’d rather debate him on the issues, in front of the people we both want to serve.

Instead, Benson’s campaign and its allies are paying Meta to flood your Facebook and Instagram feeds. Last month, Meta agreed to pay $17 billion to settle claims from 47 states, including Vermont, that it designed its apps to addict kids. If you got a campaign text you never signed up for, your number likely came from a data broker. The same brokers sell guesses about your religion, your politics, and whether you’ll vote.

The ads give you spun talking points with the context stripped away. Here’s what they leave out:

• Reined in data centers. I pushed to make big data centers pay for their own power, not pass the bill to Orange County ratepayers. Governor Scott vetoed it.

• Listened to rural Vermont. As Rural Caucus co-chair, I helped lead the repeal of Act 250’s Road Rule and Tier 3. As your state senator, I’ll keep making sure rural Vermont is heard loud and clear.

• Asked top earners to pay their share. A millionaire pays the same top rate as a couple making $300,000. I pushed for new brackets for the top 1%: income over $500,000 and $1 million for couples. That could raise over $110 million a year, enough to replace the $72 million in health aid Trump and Congress let expire for 30,000 Vermonters.

• Held property taxes down. Towns vote on school budgets, and the Legislature has to fund them. I fought to cut a projected 18.5% increase to 13.8%, then backed $220 million more to hold increases down. Governor Scott signed both bills, and Benson supported this year’s.

• Went after health costs behind your property taxes. School employee health insurance is one of the biggest drivers of school budgets. I backed S.190 to cap what hospitals charge those plans and VT Health Connect plans. Governor Scott vetoed it.

• Invested in child care. I helped pass about $90 million a year for child care. Since then, 48% more Vermont families get help paying for it.

• Backed a historic housing investment. CHIP can put up to $2 billion into the water, sewer, and roads new homes need. The VT League of Cities and Towns calls it the most significant housing investment in state history.

• Protected your data and our kids. My data broker bill, data privacy bill, and Kids Code are now law.

In nearly four years in the House, I’ve stepped up time after time. I joined Rural Caucus leadership as a freshman. I took on some of the country’s most powerful lobbies and joined legislators nationwide pushing back on Trump’s attempts to strip states of their constitutional power to protect you. I say what needs to be said, even when my party doesn’t want to hear it. When Democratic leaders told members to vote down my top-earner amendment, I pushed back until they agreed to take it up. When lobbyists weakened the privacy bill I led, I opposed it and spoke up about the dangerous precedent it set.

John Benson and I disagree on some big things: data centers, asking the wealthiest to pay their share, and funding programs that help struggling Vermonters. That’s okay. We can disagree agreeably, the Vermont way, not with DC-style attack ads.

This isn’t DC, and I won’t run this campaign like it is. I won’t flood your feeds or blow up your phone. I won’t buy your data or your cell number. Every text and email from my campaign comes from me. And I won’t pay Facebook or Instagram a dime while they profit off our kids. I respect you, your family, and your data.

My core values are integrity and service, and you can count on me to keep doing the work. As vice chair of the Joint Information Technology Oversight Committee, I’ll keep asking hard questions about the state’s deals with the world’s biggest AI companies. And I’ll keep fighting for Orange County. My favorite part of this job is talking with you. Come to a forum and ask me anything. Reach out anytime or join me for coffee. I’d rather you hear from me than from an attack ad. This is Vermont, and I believe the brave little state can do braver things when we work for you, not outside interests.