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NEWPORT, Vt. (AP) — Vermont has a reputation for producing GOP politicians more moderate than their national counterparts. But as President Donald Trump and the national Republican Party move to the right, tensions are rising between those who want the state party to follow suit and those who see moderation as the way forward in an otherwise liberal state.
Kendall Lambert was seeking the Republican nomination for state representative in Orleans County, but in a July 5 Facebook post , Lambert announced that her decision to run as a Republican was a mistake.
"While the Republicans talk out one side of their mouths about constitutional rights and equal opportunity for all, it's becoming increasingly clear that what they mean" is that the principles apply "only to a few," Lambert wrote.
Lambert, 31, is director of the Memphremagog Watershed Association. She holds liberal views on the environment, immigration and same-sex marriage but supports lower taxes, small government and broad gun rights. Libertarian may be a more accurate label for her politics, she said, but running as a Republican seemed the obvious choice.
Lambert cited a June vote on a resolution condemning the separation of families at the U.S.-Mexican border as the "final straw" that informed her decision to run instead as an independent. While the resolution overwhelmingly passed in the Democrat-controlled House with some Republican support, the 17 no votes all came from Republicans, including four Orleans County Republicans.
Chet Greenwood, chair of the Orleans County Republican Party, said many had assumed Lambert was a "Democrat in disguise." Both Greenwood and Lambert said her candidacy did not receive much support from the Republican caucus.
Greenwood, a Trump supporter, said Democratic leaders in the Vermont House introduced the resolution because they wanted to embarrass conservative members of the Republican minority by forcing them to vote on a policy they cannot directly change.
Many in the state support both Trump and moderate Republican Gov. Phil Scott, Greenwood said.
But Scott himself has been a critic of Trump policies on everything from immigration to tariffs, sentiments echoed by many in the Vermont Republican Party.
While she disagrees with Scott on some issues, Lambert said he represents the state's Republican voters better than Trump.
"The Vermont Republican Party would do better to distance itself from the current administration and move behind Gov. Scott," Lambert said.
Lambert is gathering signatures to run as an independent, but her name will still appear on the Republican primary ballot next month. Greenwood said he wasn't planning on making an endorsement but is now forced to endorse one of the "real Republicans" on the ballot.
This is not the first time moderates and conservatives in the Republican Party have butted heads. In April, a party mailer encouraged supporters to "Make Vermont Great Again," echoing Trump's campaign slogan, an action that drew condemnation from many in the party.
Republican Rep. Heidi Scheuermann tweeted at the time that the action left her "embarrassed" and "disappointed."
The mailer came the same day Scott signed gun restrictions into law after an alleged school shooting plot in Fair Haven. The restrictions angered many of Scott's former supporters, and protestors clad in hunting apparel shouted through the bill-signing ceremony.
Last month, the Vermont chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union asked the Scott administration to stop deleting comments and blocking conservative critics on Facebook.
Rep. Robert LaClair, a Republican from Barre who is working to field candidates this fall, said the tension can in part be attributed to the Trump administration.
"I'm not going to deny what's going on at the national level has made it a bit more challenging, for sure," LaClair said. The Vermont GOP continues to be a big-tent party, he said, even if Republicans have historically been moderate.
While moderation may be political messaging in a state where a June Morning Consult poll found 59 percent of people disapprove of Trump's performance, Scott and some Republicans in the Legislature have aligned with Democrats on everything from marijuana legalization to gender-neutral restrooms.
Tension between the factions may affect the makeup of the Legislature. Republicans have 53 members in the House, just enough to prevent a veto-proof Democratic majority, but a lack of support from independents during elections this November could affect the outcome in swing districts.
Scott himself said last week there was "plenty of room" for those who oppose Trump in the Vermont GOP, but Lambert wasn't satisfied with his answer.
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