Phil Scott (Vermont politician)

Phil Scott was born on August 4, 1958, in Vermont. He grew up in Barre, graduated from Spaulding High School and earned a bachelor of science degree from the University of Vermont in 1980.⁠[1][2][3]

Scott was elected to the Vermont Senate in 2000 and served five terms representing Washington County; over about ten years he was vice chair of the Transportation Committee and chair of the Institutions Committee.⁠[2][3]

In 2005 he founded Wheels for Warmth, which accepts donated tires, resells those that are safe and directs the proceeds to heating fuel assistance. The program has raised more than $428,000, sold nearly 19,000 safe tires and recycled more than 31,000 unsafe ones.⁠[3][1]

In 2010 Scott was elected Vermont’s 79th lieutenant governor and served three terms, until January 2017. In that office he launched the Everyday Jobs Initiative, working in 35 professions, and the Vermont Economy Pitch sessions. After Tropical Storm Irene in 2011 he organized the free removal and disposal of flood-destroyed mobile homes without using taxpayer funds.⁠[2][3]

On January 5, 2017, Scott took office as Vermont’s 82nd governor, and he was re-elected to two-year terms in 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2024. In his 2020 re-election he won more votes than any previous Vermont gubernatorial candidate, and in 2024 he carried every city and town on the way to a fifth term.⁠[1][3]

He has described his priorities as growing the economy, improving affordability and protecting vulnerable residents. In his first two legislative sessions his administration’s General Fund budgets for fiscal years 2018 and 2019 included no new taxes or fees while funding economic and workforce development, housing, child care, career training, higher education, clean water and the response to the opioid crisis.⁠[3]

In 2024 he used his political capital and campaign funds to help elect a historic number of Republicans to the Legislature; Democrats kept majorities in both chambers but lost the veto-proof supermajorities they had held in 2023 and 2024.⁠[4]

Just after 3 p.m. on May 28, 2026, Scott walked from the Statehouse to the Secretary of State’s office to file his ballot petition, announcing that he would seek a sixth term. “There’s a lot left to do,” he said, adding, “I don’t want to see anything move backwards.”⁠[4]

In the general election his main opponent was economist Amanda JanooAmanda JanooAmanda Janoo is a Vermont economist who has worked on industrial policy and wellbeing economics at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and the Wellbeing Economy Alliance. She was the Democratic nominee for governor of Vermont in 2026 and lost the November 3 general election to Republican incumbent Phil Scott.Open the full entry, who won the Democratic primary on August 11.⁠[5]

At about 11 p.m. on November 3, Janoo conceded and Scott claimed victory, winning a record sixth term. He pledged to keep working for a more affordable Vermont and to grow the economy, invited legislative leaders of all parties to find common ground, and said, “The bottom line is, we need more taxpayers, not more taxes.” The Associated Press projected Scott the winner; AP data as of November 4 showed him with 52.5% of the vote to Janoo’s 45.9%.⁠[6][7]

Scott co-owned his family’s construction business for more than thirty years. He has raced the No. 14 car at Thunder Road in Barre for more than two decades and holds the most career wins there as a Late Model driver; he is also an avid cyclist.⁠[2][3]

Office of Governor Phil Scott: Official website: https://governor.vermont.gov/ (opens in a new window).⁠[3]