He can’t vote, can’t drive a car, and still needs a permission slip for field trips — but 14-year-old Dean Roy believes he’s ready to run Vermont.
While most high school freshmen set their eyes on student council or homecoming king, Roy is looking to make history with an eye-popping campaign for governor.
‘I really hope that this mission of mine leads to more youth getting involved,’ Roy told the Daily Mail.
If elected he’d be the first-ever US governor under the age of 18.
In 2018, 13-year-old Ethan Sonneborn ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic gubernatorial primary in Vermont. The youngest-ever US governor was Democrat Stevens Mason, who had just turned 24 when he began serving his term in Michigan in 1835.
Speaking from his bedroom with an American flag hanging vertically behind him, Roy spoke told Daily Mail his long-shot campaign all started with an offhand comment. At his 8th grade graduation, his teacher joked that he wanted the campaign manager job if Roy ever ran for office.
What was likely intended as a throwaway comment struck a moment of curiosity for Roy, who rushed home and looked up the requirements to run.
He found that Vermont is the only state with no age restrictions to run for governor. A handful of states allow citizens to run at 18, but the majority require a candidate to be 30 at the date of election.
Dean Roy, 14, is running to be the youngest-ever governor in US history
Roy is a freshman at Stoew Middle & High School in Vermont. Pictured: Dean Roy and his parents, Chessie and James, who are small business owners with a pizza shop the town over
Roy’s classmate Charlie Bass, 14, is running as lieutenant governor. Both are working to collect the 500 signatures needed to get on the ballot – and they only need a few dozen more to make the cut
That unnamed teacher decided to keep his day job, but Roy and his fellow 14-year-old Lieutenant Governor candidate Charlie Bass are now collecting signatures and shaking things up in the halls of Stowe High School in northern Vermont.
Roy and Bass are hoping to mobilize young voters on social media. Both are active on Instagram, regularly posting Reels expressing political stances and promoting the long shot bid to be the youngest governor and lieutenant governor in US history.
And what’s on the ballot for the high schoolers?: Housing, freedom from electric vehicle mandates and restructuring the school system in Vermont.
‘The cornerstone of my platform is housing, by far housing is the biggest issue for Vermont, for New England and for the country,’ Roy said in a Zoom interview with the Daily Mail, echoing an issue championed by New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani.
The son of small business owners, Roy said that it’s his goal to build houses for $150,000 or lower so ‘younger generations could actually afford’ to buy a home in Vermont.
‘We seriously need new young people in Vermont because our population is aging out,’ the 14-year-old claimed. ‘We are a dying state. We need new workers to keep our economy alive. The only way to get new workers is to incentivize young people to live here.’
Vermont is home to one of the oldest politicians in America – 84-year-old Senator Bernie Sanders. Vermont’s median age is 43, making it the third oldest state in the country, behind Maine and New Hampshire.
Roy isn’t running as a Democrat or Republican. And while that decision is partially strategic to avoid a primary, it’s also in-line with his political beliefs and allows him to also become the youngest person ever to found a political party – the Freedom and Unity Party.
He likes the Republican Party in Vermont but thinks the national level stances are too far right, while he believes the Vermont Democratic Party is too far left. Therefore, a third-party bid made the most sense to Roy.
‘I don’t align with the Vermont Democrats politically. They are probably one of the more left Democratic parties in America. And I personally do not sit that far to the left.’
So he made a party with a name paying homage to the Vermont state motto.
If the gubernatorial run isn’t successful, it won’t be the end of the political road for Roy. He hopes the bid will help him in future aspirations for office. He also plans to continue the Freedom and Unity Party.
Current Vermont Governor Phil Scott, a Republican, is eligible for another term – as there are no limits in Vermont. He has not yet announced if he will run for a sixth term. If he does not run, Lieutenant Governor John Rodgers has been mentioned as a successor.
On the Democratic side, Attorney General Charity Clark is considering a statewide run, possibly for governor; also reportedly exploring a bid is State Treasurer Mike Pieciak.
No formal declarations have been made outside of Roy’s longshot bid.
If anything, Roy hopes his gubernatorial campaign will at least inspire young people to get more involved in politics.
On the off chance he does win, Roy told the Daily Mail that he would finish off high school with online classes while serving his duties in the Vermont government.
Roy says he spends time at the Post Office to meet older voters, present his platform and garner the 500 signatures he needs to make it on the Vermont ballot
Roy spent six weeks during the winter of his 8th grade year working as an intern in the Vermont State House, and says that work ‘really inspired me to start getting involved in politics’
Roy says he spoke with the Vermont Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas (pictured) to make sure his run is legally sound
The high school freshman has spoken with the Vermont Secretary of State and says he was assured his run is legally sound.
The requirements to run for governor in Vermont are being a resident of the state for at least four years, obtaining 500 signatures and filing on the specified date to make sure your name appears on the ballot. That’s it.
Roy has lived all 14 of his years of life in Vermont, needs only 20 more signatures and is prepared to file the first day he’s able. Major parties must file by the Thursday after the fourth Monday in May of an election year.
But for a minor party candidate, like Roy, he must file by early August – which is usually when the primary election takes place.
The gubernatorial hopeful spends time door knocking for signatures and hanging out at the local Post Office to make inroads with older voters, whom he says have had a very positive reaction to his bid.
Roy’s parents Chessie and James own a pizza shop and were shocked but supportive when their son decided to embark on a longshot bid.
They help him with rides and collecting signatures but have otherwise let Roy take the lead on his political aspirations.
(And don’t worry, Roy’s parents gave the Daily Mail permission to interview their son.)