Most 14-year-old American schoolboys might be fixated on
baseball, chasing girls and dodging their homework. Not
Ethan Sonneborn. He’s running for governor in Vermont.
The teenager is taking advantage of a quirk in the
constitution of the bucolic northeastern state that imposes
no age limit on running for governor. Candidates only have
to have lived in Vermont for at least four years.
Ethan, happily for his campaign, has lived in the state for
14. He faces a crowded field of adult rivals in Tuesday’s
Democratic gubernatorial primary.
His website proclaims him a champion for middle- and
working-class families, with “the right ideas” on healthcare
reform, economic development and education never mind that
he’s still years from graduating high school.
He identifies with the progressive wing of the Democratic
Party, which has been increasingly in the ascendant in the
United States since the ultimately thwarted run for president
by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders in 2016.
“I think I’m the candidate who best represents the change we
need,” he told a televised town hall event earlier this month.
His rivals include Christine Hallquist, running to become
America’s first transgender governor, James Ehlers, a Navy
veteran and environmentalist, and Brenda Siegel, the
executive director of a dance festival.
But despite praise for Sonneborn’s “maturity” and political
awareness, his campaign has attracted calls for Vermont
lawmakers to close the loophole.
“I think we should probably take a look at that to be perfectly
honest,” Republican Governor Phil Scott told reporters
when asked if he thought 14-year-olds should be eligible to
run.
“I think you should at least be able to get your driver’s
license at the time that you become governor.”
Scott, 60, has been at the helm of Vermont since 2016 and is
running for re-election, facing Keith Stern, who runs a
fruits and vegetable business, in the state’s gubernatorial
Republican primary, also on Tuesday.

Photos here >> http://www.nairafame.com/2018/08/photos-meet-14-year-old-boy-running-for.html