This article by Lou Varricchio originally appeared Aug.31 in the Vermont Eagle. It is republished here with permission.
FERRISBURGH, Vt. — When Ferrisburgh resident and independent-minded Steve Thurston decided to enter the 2020 campaign as a write-in candidate for the Vermont House, covering the towns of Addison, Ferrisburgh, Panton, Waltham, and the city of Vergennes, his decision came prior to the August primary.
The retired homebuilder, a Vermont resident since 1970, didn’t make the decision to run lightly.
As a former member of three school boards, as well as a past member of the Manchester Selectboard, Zoning Board, and Conservation Commission, he comes to join the race with a unique perspective.
Ferrisburgh resident Steve Thurston
“I cannot in good conscience sit back and watch,” Thurston said regarding current political trends in Vermont and the nation. “The supermajority vice grip that Democrats and Progressives hold on the Vermont Legislature must be loosened. The ratio of 102 Democrats and Progressives to 43 Republicans in the House must be rebalanced.”
Thurston believed that what he calls “Democrat and Progressive overreach” has impacted every Vermonter through the loss of local control of schools (Act 46) and town planning (S.260). However, Democrats and Progressives can provide a claim of the majority’s will when it comes to election results statewide in recent years.
“Energy mandates like the Global Warming Solutions Act will raise the cost of living with no benefit other than to wind and solar developers,” he said. “Addison County’s farmers are burdened with unreasonable regulations. COVID-19 restrictions have brought Main Street businesses to their knees. We need to focus on the state’s economy, which was anemic before the pandemic and on life support now.”
Thurston and his wife Monique Thurston, a past GOP candidate, is active in promoting regulations for safe industrial wind-turbine noise levels in Vermont and Maine. But he’s also become a strong supporter of law and order in a lawless time.
Thurston called out local incumbent Representatives Matt Birong and Diane Lanpher. He claims they have voted to raise the cost of living and take away freedoms and local control. He also is angered by the duo voting themselves a pay raise while many Vermonters lost employment during the pandemic.
The Eagle is reaching out to both legislators to respond to Thurston’s claims.
He also reported that he attended a pro-police rally in Montpelier in July and was appalled at the uncivil behavior of anti-law enforcement protestors.
“The rally began as a peaceful event, with an invocation, the National Anthem and Pledge of Allegiance. Within minutes, as speeches began of policemen saving lives and helping people in difficult situations, the words were drowned out by a growing group of young people holding signs and chanting ‘black lives matter’, ‘defund the police’, ‘no borders, no prisons’ and vulgar things I cannot repeat here… This was my first personal encounter with Black Lives Matter and Antifa. But I recall when Black Lives Matter activists stormed the stage at a Bernie Sanders campaign event in 2015 and he meekly turned his microphone over to them.” He added, “They do this under the guise of establishing ‘racial justice’. They call ‘white supremacy’ the problem and ‘reparations’ the solution. They say people should feel guilty about being born with white skin and need to apologize for the actions of long-dead Americans. Last week the Progressive Burlington City Council voted to establish a task force to study this issue.”
Thurston doesn’t mince words even though he lives in a county where Democrats, Progressives are the political majority.
And while he appears to be all for improving black lives, his campaign material indicates that the organizations are more about extreme leftist politics than about improving individual black lives.
“Black Lives Matter and Antifa are extreme leftist organizations, led by self-described trained Marxists, and fully supported by Democrats and Progressives,” he said.
In the few months remaining until the November election, Thurston will focus on law and order measures as well as on Vermont policies that cost too much for farmers and other taxpayers to bear; he will likely continue to call out groups that he and other conservatives believe are behind recent social disruptions and lawlessness.
“What I witnessed in Montpelier was Vermont’s timid version of what we are seeing in major cities every night on the news: citizens’ rights trampled; public and private property occupied; windows smashed, businesses burned and looted; police officers attacked with rocks, sticks, and bottles; statues of historical figures destroyed; all amidst calls for the dismantling of police departments by leftist mayors and city council members. In Vergennes, the mayor and four of seven city council members have resigned over backlash from the mayor’s proposal for an unelected citizens committee to oversee the Vergennes Police Department.”
Thanks for Mr Varricchio for bringing this breath of fresh air. Thank you Steve for being you – we need more ppl like you and Monique. Good on you both and very best of luck sir. 😀
Then you read of the very major corporations who are paying BIG, BIG, BIG Protection money to Antifa,
so that they and their products, and OFFICERS, would not be boycotted, or violently attacked.
Soros is the major sponsor, but Very Many Very Rich People are also paying tribute Money to rioters.
People need to understand that these rioters are the results of George Soros.
These thugs are being bussed all over the country to do this as a job.
This is an organized business now at this point- and a big one. Read about the arrest of the “Riot Kitchen” people.
Read the stories of people finding pallets of bricks being put around in cities where riots are happening. There is NOTHING at all that is organic about any of this. Then see the sick media coverage of the whole thing.. these idiots standing in front of burning buildings calling this “Peaceful Protesting.”
The Media truly are the enemy of the people.
During the Trump Rally that recently took place up in Maine, there were some protesters and the local Mainers went and spoke to them. Boston Radio’s Howie Carr was on this subject and several of those Mainers called in and said they spoke to people from as far away as Chicago (of all places right?) One lady said she didn’t talk to a single protester that was from Maine.
So *all* of this is being staged by paid for people and he and his like minded organizations are at the root of this.
Also, I just read about the arrests in Kenosha, the over whelming majority of them were again, outta staters.
Bear in mind the danger we are all now because of this.
When will a busload of these violent thugs, many flat out criminals, be dumped off a bus in your town?
Organizers provide hundreds of frozen water bottles (who freezes them?), dozens of baseball bats, ropes, ladders,
Industrial power man-lifts, commercial fireworks, The highest quality most violent arson firebombs for
cars and buildings. Those things don’t just appear at the next chosen site of violence, they are bought and paid for and delivered to areas selected for the NEXT neighborhood chosen for rioting.
I feel I am an endangered species here. I am not a native Vermonter but my admiration for the independent and libertarian vein I found in this state endeared me to it when I moved here fifteen years ago. In the past years I have found an invasion of an element drawn here to this states welfare generosity (your taxes at work) and all it’s trimmings, increasing the crime rate and sparking a drug epidemic of monstrous proportions. Most Vermonters have never went to school with, or lived closely around African Americans in their everyday life. And reading in the news this morning of a rise in Black American support for Trump speaks volumes about the naivety and dogmatic nature of this reactionary subculture rioting in the streets of our cities.
There are many ppl who came here who care more about and appreciate VT than native VTers – and have become a part of their communities, contribute and make our world a better place – aka ‘good people’.
Steve’s my kind of guy. He’s s held a wide range of public offices giving him a much broader perspective on the needs of our state. My guess is one of the most, if not the most, qualified candidates to run in many years. It would be interesting to compare Steve’s credentials with most of the Dem/Lib/Progs in Montpelier. Most probably the only ones who might come close are the lawyers who follow the lobbyists as they consider that on the job training for their next job after leaving Montpelier.
Best of luck to you Steve, your a breath of fresh air to VT stale leftist political scene.
Progressives are not, they are in all reality REGRESSIVE and we’ve seen since the 60’s a steady decline in taking care of VT’ers in favor of left coast
agenda so VT can “lead the way” and pay dearly to do so.
Antifa and BLM are also being bank rolled by the euro trash criminal Soros via his open secrets org as well as the biggest corps who unwittingly *or maybe not^ give money that will never actually HELP black people only fund more leftist democrats and their brown shirt rioters.. If black lives matter they would teach their own not to shoot their own : cops killed 9 blacks
blacks killed 6660 blacks in the same time period.
Again Steve your what VT needs more of.. thanks for running, wish I could vote for you. (not in your district)
I fully support Steve’s run for the legislature. He is a well respected and thoughtful business man with integrity and honor. His thoughts on the direction of our state are spot on .
ANTIFA and BLM are Marxist,so anyone sponcering anything they may present should be removed from officers they and their schemes would be antithetical to the Constitution and the republic.