‘We can’t solve our problems with the same thinking that created them.’ Amanda Janoo would ‘lead a different way.’

Who is Amanda Janoo? And how is this political novice polling closely with Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, now running for his sixth term?

“The conventional political wisdom would say I shouldn’t have a chance,” Janoo told me. “But I don’t think that these are conventional times.”

With two weeks to go before Election Day, we invited Amanda Janoo, the Democratic/Progressive candidate for governor, and Gov. Scott, a Republican, for separate interviews on The Vermont Conversation. Gov. Scott’s campaign declined. Janoo was eager to talk.

Amanda Janoo grew up in South Strafford, and then attended Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she earned a degree in political science. She went on to study at Cambridge University in the UK, where she earned a master of philosophy in development economics. For the past six years she has worked as an economics and policy lead for the UK-based Wellbeing Economy Alliance, which advocates for an economy that centers quality of life over economic growth.

Janoo’s only electoral experience in Vermont was being elected justice of the peace. But in March, she announced her candidacy for governor, and five months later she won a close primary against Aly Richards, a former aide to Gov. Peter Shumlin and CEO of the childcare advocacy group, Let’s Grow Kids.

Janoo’s signature policy is a state-backed program of free universal primary and preventive care. She estimates the program would cost over $300 million that would be paid for by a 2 percent tax on Vermonters with individual incomes over $250,000, and up to 8 percent on incomes over $500,000.

Critics have called Janoo’s plans “magical thinking” and cited Shumlin’s attempt to implement single payer health insurance a decade ago that he abandoned when confronted with its high cost. Janoo acknowledged that a full analysis by state fiscal and health officials would be needed.

Still, she argued that Vermont must confront the role of insurance and fee-for-service medicine in rising costs. “A profit-oriented healthcare system is a terrible idea,” she said. “We’ve got to move towards universal healthcare.”

Janoo would address Vermont’s housing crisis by taxing luxury second homes and private equity–owned housing, which she calls “extractive.” She has also called to ban AI data centers, invest in community schools, and support local food initiatives.

Janoo contrasts her approach to crisis leadership with Gov. Scott. She praised him as “a really nice man” who cares about Vermont and supported the state through Covid-19, but said his approach relies on an outdated economic playbook.

“We can’t solve our problems with the same thinking that created them,” she said.

Scott was widely praised for his leadership during the pandemic. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading infectious disease expert, hailed Vermont’s response to Covid-19 as “a model for the country.”

With artificial intelligence, climate change, fiscal strain and democratic instability converging, Janoo said Vermont should seek to shape events rather than simply endure them.

“If it’s not Vermont, who’s going to do it?” she said. “There are a lot of opportunities for us to not just keep reacting to crises, but actually to proactively lead a different way.”

Janoo argued that the foundation for that shift already exists in the state’s libraries, granges, festivals, mutual aid and local initiatives. The role of government, she said, should be to “nurture, uplift and support” ideas already working in Vermont communities.



“This isn’t some utopian mission,” she said. “It’s already happening.”