Let’s send Hoop back for a 4th term!

JAY HOOPER was born in Berlin, Vermont in 1993. Having graduated from Connecticut College as a double-major in history and government, Jay returned to his hometown of Brookfield, promptly launching a successful campaign to represent the ORA-WAS-ADD District in the State Legislature. Eager to give back to his community on as many fronts as possible, Jay works on local issues of sustainable economic development, energy efficiency, and community organization. Spending much of his schooling career outside Vermont, Hoop’s appreciation for his good fortune of living in this beautiful rural state, which is governed by a unique democracy, has grown tremendously. He broadened his worldview when he spent two and one-half months doing community service work in Africa between his junior and senior years in high school at an all-boys boarding school called Trinity-Pawling. Hooper spent two summers canvassing for Vermont Public Interest Research Group, mobilizing grassroots activism in opposition to Monsanto and to take action against climate change, big money in politics, and toxins in children’s toys. He grew up in a family of cheese-makers, who established B-Corp certified Vermont Creamery in the early 1980s, which currently employs over 100 Vermonters. As a fill-in milker at the family farm in Randolph (the largest of his five-town district), Hooper often finds time to discuss the nature of Vermont’s greatest agricultural complexities at length, as his older brother, Miles, maintains the role of being Jay’s most immediate source of news from the dairy community writ large. Ayers Brook Goat Dairy is the home of Jay's two nephews, Olcott & Weston Hooper, who both give Jay added incentive to make progress on issues surrounding the impacts of climate change. In his first term, Jay served on the House Agriculture & Forestry Committee, though he now offers youthful insight to the House Education Committee. Jay has been excited to dive into his second term with resolve and conviction; to jump-start the dormant Millenial Caucus as both Sen. Corey Parent [R-St.Albans] and Rep. Ben Jickling [I-Randolph] agreed to co-chair a coalition of 19 young Vermonters now serving in the Legislature. Every Saturday morning during the legislative session, from 11 o'clock to noon, Hoop brings guest panelists onto his Randolph-based radio show known as 'The Heat of the House' at WCVR (1320 AM - 100.1 FM) North Country.