Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship, on assignment for the White River Valley Herald.
Rep. John O’Brien, D-Tunbridge, is seeing a challenge this Election Day from Royalton’s Bruce Post, a Republican.
Both farmers with long histories of public service in the area, the two have their sights set on a single seat in the Vermont House for the Windsor-Orange 2 district and have differing ideas about addressing problems they agree need attention, such as affordability throughout the state.
Bruce Post
A dairy farmer, justice of the peace and Lamoille County Transportation motor coach operator, Post wears many caps.
Now, Post is reaching for a new cap in the House. He says his diverse experiences shaped his conservative beliefs and would help him bring common sense to the Statehouse.
Post is running as against incumbent O’Brien, who has served in the seat since 2019.
Post was born in Randolph and has lived his whole life on his family’s small dairy farm along Route 14 in Royalton. In 1977, he earned a degree in dairy management from Vermont Technical College. He has six children and eight grandchildren. He is an active member of his local church.
He said he entered the race because no other Republican had done so. After suggestions from local friends and family, Post launched his campaign.
Post sees himself as a man of the common people, advocating for those in his community that he believes have had their voices quieted.
“When I was growing up in the ’50s and ’60s, the Vermont legislators served by giving up some of their time during a quieter season, (winter). Farmers and small-business owners made up a major portion of our ruling body,” he said. “Today, where bigger is seen as better, we are being advised that our legislators should be recruited from the ‘best and brightest’ among us.”
He believes that less is more and that the government is too large and borderline unmanageable and needs to be reduced.
“We often think the most educated among us are the best to rule when often, lived experience is a better teacher. We must be careful that we are not educated beyond our intelligence and thus leave common sense behind,” he said.
Post finds himself drawn to President Calvin Coolidge as an inspiration for leadership. He said good leadership is having the heart of a servant rather than seeing what you can get out of it.
Post promised to make Vermont safer and more affordable, highlighting break-ins, theft and vandalism experienced throughout the community, including by him.
“Illegal drug distribution is taking place within a mile of my house with no apparent prosecution or repercussions. Just a thought — how about encouraging, enabling and enforcing the laws we already have?” he asked.
He also has a keen eye on the cost of living in Vermont.
“As for affordability, I believe the biggest issues this election are tax increases and stewardship of the money we as citizens entrust to Montpelier. Calvin Coolidge stated, ‘Collecting more taxes than is absolutely necessary is legalized robbery.’ I’m with Cal,” Post said.
Post and members of his family keep a small dairy herd and a bountiful vegetable garden. When able, he and his wife Dale sell their milk and produce. He says he enjoys providing something that people would want. Post said he hopes to take that mentality from his farm into the Vermont General Assembly.
John O’Brien
O’Brien believes he has work left unfinished. That’s why he is running again for the seat he has held since 2019.
Born in Tunbridge, O’Brien lives on the same farm where he grew up and prides himself on having the same phone number his whole life.
O’Brien’s interest in politics is largely shaped by his father Bob O’Brien, who served in Vermont’s Senate in the 1970s. O’Brien the younger spent his adolescence going to anti-nuclear war demonstrations with his sisters and brothers.
Nowadays, O’Brien and his wife are small-business owners, operating a wedding venue out of their sheep farm in Tunbridge. O’Brien also serves on the Tunbridge Selectboard.
In the Legislature, O’Brien has served on the House Committee on Agriculture, Food Resiliency and Forestry. As a farmer himself, O’Brien has a great interest in food and forests, and those topics are important to the district, he said.
O’Brien said he works to incentivize farming and the forest economy while at the same time protecting the environment.
“It’s a great challenge, and I never get tired of that,” he said.
O’Brien said he’s focused on the issues “everybody’s talking about,” especially regarding the affordability of living in Vermont. O’Brien is concerned with “runaway taxes, housing and health care.”
“These are huge issues I don’t think one person can really get their head around, but I am hopeful that with bipartisan teamwork we could solve these problems,” he said.
“There are all these places in America that don’t have Vermont-style engagement,” he said. “I am just really thankful for our involvement and our scale and having a lot of smart people at the local level.”
O’Brien urged Vermonters to go out and engage in local politics where decisions are being made.
“The great thing is everyone has access to these meetings,” he said. “You can speak on the floor, you can vote, you can join the school board. We should not take that sort of democracy for granted.”
When not working in politics or running his family farm, O’Brien has a history as a filmmaker. Many of his films use Vermont as inspiration, with his most famous, 1996’s “Man with a Plan,” highlighting a Tunbridge farmer — Fred Tuttle — who went on to run for political office on a common-sense platform.
O’Brien believes that “Man with a Plan” is a good introduction to politics at the Vermont scale.
“I think it’s holding up really well,” he said.
As a sheep farmer, politician and filmmaker, O’Brien joked that he seems to have picked professions that aren’t known for earning lots of riches.
“You work long, long days, and there’s no real financial reward at the end, but they’re such challenging jobs that there are other rewards for doing them,” he said.
Going into this year’s election, O’Brien wants voters to know that those running for office want what’s best for their communities.
“They really are public servants. I think most of the people who do them have their community in mind and want to do the best for it,” he said.