I worked my way through college, forgoing the typical “college experience” by logging 30-40 hours per week while studying accounting and was able to avoid taking out student loans…a great financial decision. I spent summers working as a laborer in a welding shop which was grueling work, but it put me in peak physical shape. Graduating as an accountant during a recessionary period, I was fortunate to pick up accounting work.  At the same time, I took additional classes, studied, and passed the national CPA exam. After years in the insurance industry, around 2000, I decided to make the leap and became self-employed as a CPA and Financial Sales Representative.

When my wife and I married, the economy and real estate market at the time put a strain on our assets and we had negative equity in our home.  We understood the value of hard work, and were willing to put in long hours and live frugally to be able to save and make wise investments. Because of my wife’s traditional “9-5 job” in the insurance world and the flexibility offered by my career, I became the “stay-at-home” Dad.  It was great being able to watch our two children grow up.  I am proud to say that they are now fully grown, college-educated adults with respectable careers, paying for themselves while living on their own. 

My ties to Vermont span over 50 years. In the 1990’s my parents decided to purchase land in Caledonia County and establish permanent roots after years of being visitors. My engineer-trained Dad designed the house, had it built, and it became the family homestead. Both parents have since passed, and I have inherited half the home (and purchased the other half from my sister), which is where I live today. I spent much of my adult years back and forth between Connecticut and Vermont, enjoying the scenic mountains, great skiing, quaint towns, and abundant outdoor activities. I am proud to have made Vermont my permanent home.

Instilled from a young age by industrious, middle-class parents was the value of hard work, education, community involvement and volunteerism as both parents were entrenched in local charitable activities. In addition to being a Caledonia delegate to the VT UCC for years, my dad brought his skills to Habitat for Humanity and was their area supervisor for about a decade. My mom worked at St. Johnsbury Academy and volunteered at Secondhand Prose bookstore. For more than a decade she also ran the “Boot Fund” in the NEK which donated thousands of winter coats and boots to NEK needy families. Community service has been part of my upbringing and the inspiration for my own volunteer work.

I view current events through multiple and varied sources, avoiding those with too much bias. I like to apply my own critical thinking and common sense to the country’s affairs, something that I believe is missing from our representatives in Washington. I have grown tired of the “politics as usual” and the division in Congress which drove my decision to enter the political arena and run for US Senate. Standing on the motto of Vermont, “Freedom and Unity”, I plan to bring the work ethic, skills I have learned, and the common-sense approach that have carried me through life to Washington as Vermont’s representative.