Photo: Aly Richards announces run for Governor. Courtesy photo.
VermontBiz Today, Aly Richards, the former CEO of the child care advocacy organization Let’s Grow Kids, announced she’s officially running for governor of Vermont in the 2026 Democratic primary. Richards announced she’s running at a campaign kick-off rally at the Newbury Village Store, down the street from where she grew up. The event was attended by over 100 supporters, including dozens of business leaders, parents, and children.
In her announcement speech, Richards said: “We have common sense here in Vermont. You have to ask yourself – are you better off today than you were ten years ago? When people can’t afford to live here, you know there’s a problem - it’s not working. It’s time for a new approach. What if we had an economy that grew instead of shrank?What if we invested in our rural communities instead of squeezing them? What if we believed Vermont’s best days are still ahead of us? Well, I believe. And I know you all believe, too. I’m running for governor because there’s so much to do and there’s no time to waste.”
Richards’ campaign will be focused on bringing people together—regardless of party, background, or persuasion—around the best ideas to help Vermont realize its full potential. Her top policy priority will be building more housing people can actually afford, along with improving the state’s broken healthcare system and bringing down costs, protecting communities from the dysfunction in Washington, and creating an economy that lifts everyone up.
Richards has spent her career fighting to improve the lives of Vermont children and families. From 2015 to 2025, she led the statewide movement for high-quality, affordable child care as the CEO of Let’s Grow Kids, mobilizing over 40,000 Vermonters to pass Vermont’s landmark child care law. In 2014, she led the effort to pass Vermont’s Universal Pre-Kindergarten bill. After college, Richards worked on Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. She grew up in Newbury and attended Oxbow High School, where her father was a teacher. She is now raising her family in Montpelier with her husband James and their identical twin boys, Beau and Wesley.
In her speech, Richards talked about her motivating belief that Vermonters are used to coming together to do hard things and the potential of what we can accomplish when we’re all working towards the same vision. “I led a movement of over 40,000 parents, small business owners, and early childhood educators to pass the most significant child care law in the country. We came together across party lines and we delivered. But here’s the thing: We’re not done. We’re just getting started. We need to bring that same focus and elbow grease to the issues that have plagued the state over the last 10 years.”
One of Richards’ core campaign priorities will be to make Vermont the best place to raise a family. Notably, the event was attended by dozens of Vermont parents of young children. One of them, Alison Byrnes, a mother of three and a public high school math teacher in East Montpelier, spoke about Richards’ work on affordable child care: “I have never met anyone who is so determined and effective at getting things done. She united families, legislators, businesses, and the community to rally behind what is now Vermont’s landmark affordable child care law. Because of this work, we’re now saving thousands and felt comfortable adding to our family and having our third child. We need more women, more moms like Aly, leading our government.”
Leaders from the Vermont business community came out to Newbury to stand behind Richards. Among them was Michelle Asch, who is the Chief People Officer of Twincraft Skincare, her family’s contract manufacturing business. Asch, who previously worked with Richards to advocate for major affordable child care legislation, stated in her remarks at the event: “Aly doesn’t just talk about challenges, she builds coalitions to solve them. She brings the right people together and turns ideas into real results. I have seen her do it. With grit and determination, she earns trust, builds alignment and turns vision, strategy and plans into action. This is what real leadership looks like and it’s exactly what Vermont needs. I have a renewed sense of hope and optimism for our future, and I am proud to support Aly Richards as Vermont’s next governor.”
Rick Davis, a Vermont philanthropist and the founder of Let’s Grow Kids, also shared: “I’ve worked with Aly for over 15 years and I have never seen anyone who could energize Vermonters the way she can. She has proven that she can gain bipartisan support and work with people with diverse backgrounds and interests, including business leaders, leaders in health care and education, and ordinary Vermonters, for real solutions to the great challenges facing our state.”
Richards will hold additional launch events at 5:30 p.m. tonight at Barr Hill in Montpelier, and tomorrow, April 7 at 5:30 p.m. at Burlington Beer Company. The campaign will soon announce a statewide spring tour with events in all 14 counties.
Vermonters can learn more about Richards and her campaign at AlyforVT.com.
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