Dean Roy is a freshman at Stowe High School. He is also, as of this spring, an official candidate for governor of Vermont, the first person under 18 to appear on the state's general election ballot for the office. He turns the page on homework at night. He wants to turn the page on Montpelier by day.
Roy, 14, secured his spot not through a major party but by creating his own: the Freedom and Unity Party. That maneuver was possible because Vermont's constitution sets no minimum age for gubernatorial candidates. It requires only that a candidate have resided in the state for four years. Roy clears that bar. Just the News reported that Roy will appear on the November general election ballot, making him the youngest gubernatorial candidate in Vermont history to reach that stage.
Nearly every other state has closed this kind of loophole. Most require gubernatorial candidates to be at least 30 years old. Kansas went further in 2018, adding a minimum age of 25 after six teenagers filed to run for governor in a single cycle. Vermont never followed suit.
The Associated Press reported that Roy worked as a legislative page at the Vermont Statehouse before deciding to run. That experience, brief as it was, gave the teenager a front-row seat to how state government operates, and, in his telling, how it falls short.
Roy does not pretend the odds favor him. He told reporters plainly that winning is not the point, at least not this time.
"I don't expect necessarily to win. What I do expect is to start the movement, and get more young people to come in behind me and say, 'Yeah, we also want to make change.'"
He posted a blunter pitch on his campaign's Instagram page, writing that he knows "it sounds crazy, a 14-year-old running for governor," but adding: "Honestly, look at the people in charge right now. They've been doing this forever and things still aren't working."
That line lands differently depending on your politics. But the frustration behind it, that career politicians produce diminishing returns, is hardly unique to a ninth-grader. It echoes a sentiment that has driven populist campaigns across the political spectrum for the better part of a decade.
Roy told reporters that housing is the most important issue facing Vermont. He did not lay out a detailed policy platform, but he identified the cost and availability of housing as his top concern, a real problem in a state where home prices and rental costs have squeezed working families for years.
As for the obvious logistical question, how a high schooler would govern, Roy said he would consider taking online classes and doing homework at night after work. That answer raises more questions than it settles, but it at least acknowledges the elephant in the room.
The broader debate over election eligibility and ballot access rules has taken on new energy at the federal level, where lawmakers continue to push reforms aimed at tightening who can appear on a ballot and under what conditions.
Republican Gov. Phil Scott's office offered a diplomatic but unmistakable answer when asked about Roy's candidacy. Amanda Wheeler, Scott's press secretary, said the governor applauds youth engagement, but drew a clear line.
"He believes it's important for our youth to get involved. But the Governor also believes that a teenager may not be best suited to serve in that role given the lack of experience and lived perspectives youth have at that point in their lives."
That is a polite way of saying what most voters would say less gently: a 14-year-old should not be running a state. Scott's office did not call for a constitutional amendment or minimum-age law, but the implication hangs in the air. Vermont's constitution has a gap, and Roy walked right through it.
Roy is not the first Vermont teenager to run for governor, but he is the first to reach the general election. In 2018, an eighth-grader named Ethan Sonneborn sought the Democratic nomination for the same office. The New York Post noted that Sonneborn finished last in a four-way primary. He never made it to November.
Roy bypassed that problem entirely. By forming his own party rather than competing in a major-party primary, he guaranteed himself a line on the general election ballot. It is a creative workaround, and one that highlights how loosely Vermont guards access to its highest office.
The contrast with Kansas is instructive. When six teenagers ran for governor there in 2018, state lawmakers moved quickly to impose a minimum age of 25. Breitbart reported that Vermont's constitution, by contrast, still sets no such floor, requiring only four years of state residency.
Questions about who belongs on a ballot and what standards should apply are not new. Across the country, debates over election integrity and voter eligibility continue to shape how Americans think about the basic architecture of democratic participation.
James Carpenter, Roy's former history teacher, vouched for the teenager's sincerity. Carpenter described Roy as an "old soul" with endless curiosity and praised him for giving it his all.
"It just really shows what type of kid Dean is. He's very earnest in what he's doing. There's no gimmick behind this. I think he blends that youthful optimism with some pragmatism that few kids have."
Carpenter's assessment is generous. Roy may well be earnest. But earnestness is not a governing credential. A 14-year-old who has never held a job, managed a budget, or navigated the pressures of executive authority is not equipped to lead a state, no matter how bright or well-intentioned he may be.
Roy himself seems to understand the limits of his candidacy. He framed his run not as a path to the governor's mansion but as a provocation aimed at entrenched politicians.
"What I'm aiming for is that these career politicians look at me and they say, 'Oh my God, he actually has a chance to disrupt things.' If I can get people to think that I am a threat to them, then I know that's been a success. Because what I want is to show them that the youth have a voice. We're gonna make change. The future is now."
Fair enough. But the real lesson here is not about Dean Roy's ambition. It is about Vermont's failure to set basic standards for who can hold its highest executive office. Newsmax reported that Vermont remains unusual precisely because its constitution lacks the minimum-age requirement that most states adopted long ago.
When a freshman in high school can form a third party and land on the general election ballot for governor with no legal obstacle, the problem is not the teenager. The problem is the system that never bothered to draw a line.
Roy does not identify with either major party. He says he wants to shake things up. He may even pull a few votes in November. But the adults in Montpelier should not need a 14-year-old to show them that their election laws have a hole wide enough to drive a school bus through.
Good for Dean Roy for caring about his state. Now it is Vermont's turn to care enough about its own constitution to fix the obvious.
