By Breitbart News Network | Created at 2026-10-13 03:57:30 | Updated at 2026-10-13 09:28:47
7 hours ago
Vermont Republican Lt. Gov. John Rodgers is raising questions about Democrat Molly Gray’s response to documented problems with housing for H-2A migrant workers at her family’s farm, arguing that the issue is relevant because Gray has made both the farm and the humane treatment of immigrants part of her campaign.
During the Tuesday, October 6, lieutenant governor debate, Rodgers asked Gray about the treatment of H-2A migrant workers on her family’s farm.
“Miss Gray, you talk constantly about your family farm. Your campaign website also says you believe ‘everyone has the right to live with dignity and ensure humane treatment,’” Rodgers said. “But your family farm was at the center of serious labor violations around its treatment of H-2A migrant workers. Why did you not speak out against the mistreatment of migrant workers on your family farm, and did you use your influence to direct the investigation?”
“Wow, you know, John, seems like kind of a new low here,” Gray responded. “I’m on the ballot. My experience, my background, my policies are on the ballot. My family is not on the ballot, so I’m going to give you an opportunity to ask a different question.”
In an interview with Breitbart News, Rodgers called the issue “hypocrisy,” pointing to Gray’s statements about standing up to President Donald Trump and her own party.
“She says that she will stand up to Trump when he does something wrong, and she will also stand up to her own party, yet she didn’t stand up to her own family,” Rodgers said. “I found it disturbing that that was happening on a farm that she made a central piece of her campaign, and that she wouldn’t answer the question. She didn’t even own that it had happened.”
Rodgers also criticized Gray’s response that her family was “not on the ballot.”
“I think it’s a cop out,” Rodgers said. “She didn’t answer the question. There’s the tough part for me. If you want to be in politics, we’re going to get tough questions. You need to be honest, and you need to answer the questions. I don’t believe she was either.”
Asked what is at stake in the November election, Rodgers pointed to affordability for working-class Vermonters.
“What’s at stake is whether regular working-class people can afford to live here or not,” Rodgers said. “I grew up on a dairy farm, started my own masonry business in my 20s. I’ve been a blue-collar working-class guy doing stonework and excavation, and then going to meetings and serving in the legislature, and now in the lieutenant governor’s office.”
Rodgers said he ran for lieutenant governor because “our kids are all leaving” and “tons of businesses are leaving.”
“The liberals have had control of the legislature for so long that we’ve become the third highest overall tax state in the country, the state with the least economic opportunity of any state in the country,” Rodgers said. “We have the highest healthcare insurance cost of any state in the country, and the list goes on.”
“If things don’t change, Vermont will be nothing but a playground for the very rich, and the only other people that will be here are the ones that are too poor to leave,” Rodgers said.
Rodgers also pointed to his record in office and his years in the Vermont legislature.
“I’ve a long career in the legislature — eight years in the House, eight years in the Senate,” Rodgers said. “Started my career as a conservative Democrat and left the party when it was clear that the Democrats in the state house no longer care about working-class Vermonters.”
“My whole life I stood up for people’s personal and property and constitutional rights, bodily autonomy, and I have fought for every person who goes to work and puts their 40 to 80 hours a week in,” he continued.
Rodgers said he has “pitched proposals to put downward pressure on the cost of education.”
“We have one of the highest per pupil costs in the country and terrible test results, and it’s one of the major factors in the crisis of affordability here in Vermont,” Rodgers said. “We’re one of the highest property tax states in the country.”
Asked what he is hearing from voters, Rodgers said, “Everybody is looking for a reduction in the cost of living.”
“One of the most disturbing things about this campaign year is in many phone calls that I make to people who supported me two years ago. Very many of them no longer live in Vermont,” Rodgers said. “These are lifelong Vermonters, small business owners, retired people; none of them wanted to leave the state. They were driven out by liberal tax policies.”
Rodgers also discussed how his reelection campaign fits into the broader midterm environment.
“We’re a very blue state with a Republican governor and lieutenant governor,” Rodgers said. “I know that my race is going to be tight.”
Rodgers said his campaign outraised Gray’s $150,000 to $90,000 during the latest campaign finance cycle.
He added that polling conducted by his campaign showed that “the overwhelming majority of people who know who I am support me,” but said, “there’s still a lot of people that don’t know who I am.”
“Our big challenge here in this state, with only 640,000 people and a whole bunch of people that don’t have very much money, is raising enough money to compete with the liberals in a blue state,” Rodgers said.
Four Corners Farm has long figured into Gray’s political biography. She has said she grew up on the vegetable and dairy farm in South Newbury, which continues to be operated by her family, and said in a 2021 interview that both of her brothers helped run it with their families. “It’s a special place to me,” Gray said. Her campaign has also emphasized immigrant rights and “humane treatment,” saying her upbringing taught her that everyone has the right to live with dignity and have their basic needs met.
State records show that Four Corners Farm, where Gray grew up and which is still run by her family, came under scrutiny over housing provided to H-2A workers. The Vermont Daily Chronicle reported that workers showed Vermont labor officials where they were staying during an August 2024 visit. A later Vermont Agency of Agriculture investigation identified several problems, including livestock beneath a kitchen used by workers, insufficient insulation, heating issues, damaged screens and flooring, and a privy located close to living and food-preparation areas. A basement shower used by workers was also described by a Vermont Department of Labor official as “unlit and unventilated” and lacking privacy.
The matter was referred to the Vermont Occupational Safety and Health Administration in August 2024. Federal Wage and Hour investigators later conducted an on-site investigation in October, and VOSHA conducted its own inspection in November before issuing a citation on December 3. Housing issues continued into 2025, when the Vermont Division of Fire Safety did not grant occupancy for H-2A worker housing after identifying deficiencies involving fire separation, plumbing, heating, and bathroom requirements.
“Like many Vermont farmers, my family has worked to adapt to strict federal and state regulation when it comes to farm worker housing,” Gray’s campaign said at the time. “With state cooperation and guidance, they were able to successfully bring worker housing on an over 200 year old farm into compliance with new Vermont rental code standards.”
“They care deeply about the rights, safety and well-being of their employees, whom they rely on to keep the farm going,” Gray’s campaign said.
“I’m going to continue to run a positive, issue-focused campaign focused on the needs of Vermonters. I encourage John Rodgers to do the same in the final days of his campaign,” Gray added.
Concerns over housing for migrant workers at Gray’s family farm come as Arkansas Democrat Senate nominee Hallie Shoffner has faced separate allegations involving immigrant workers on her family farming operation. Shoffner said farmers “did, or still do, employ undocumented immigrants” and remarked that “we’d trade five Americans for just one of them because of how hard they work.” A former senior employee later alleged that Shoffner knowingly employed three illegal aliens at her family business, while her campaign demanded “credible evidence” that the workers were unauthorized to work in the United States.
