In the Republican primary this year for Vermont’s sole seat in the U.S. House, two candidates who have run for Congress before are on the ballot again.
But other than the fact they’ve both sought federal office — and lost by large margins each time — Gerald Malloy and Mark Coester see differences in the approach they’d bring to the job, and even in their personalities.
“We’re miles apart in terms of, frankly, character and experience and platform,” Malloy said in a Vermont Public interview last month.
Malloy, who lives in Weathersfield, spent decades serving in the U.S. Army and more recently worked federal contract jobs in the defense industry, including with major firms such as Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. He moved to Vermont in 2020 and also owns property in Baltimore, according to a federal financial disclosure report.
He’s made the case that his military service, which brought him around the world including to posts in the Middle East, positions him well to tackle some of the country’s biggest issues in Congress. His contracting work, he told Vermont Public, means he already has experience “supporting many, many, many government agencies.”
In 2022, Malloy ran what was his first campaign for office against then-U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by former Sen. Patrick Leahy. He scored 28% of the vote to Welch’s 69%. Two years later, he challenged incumbent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., losing with 32% to Sanders’ 63%.
Coester lives in Westminster, Vt., and has operated small businesses in the logging, fishing and maple sugaring industries, among others, according to his campaign website. He has lived in the state for five decades, a video on his site says. He’s positioned himself as an anti-establishment candidate who can connect with working-class voters.
“Mark’s like you. He’s not some out-of-touch career politician,” the video states, urging voters to “send a logger to Congress.”
Coester ran against U.S. Rep. Becca Balint two years ago, scoring 30% of the vote to Balint’s 62%. Coester had both the Republican and Libertarian party nominations.
Whoever wins this month’s GOP House primary will face Balint, who is seeking a third term in office, in the November general election.
Both Malloy and Coester are critical of Balint’s record and her handling of the job, which they say focuses too much on criticizing the Trump administration rather than looking for ways to collaborate with it. But Coester has taken by far the more aggressive tack, sharing several videos to his social media feeds in recent weeks that appear to have been created with artificial intelligence and depict Balint in unflattering ways.
Coester was in the headlines earlier this year after one of those videos, which depicted him dropping Balint into a dumpster using an excavator, prompted the Vermont Attorney General’s Office to investigate the content creator who first shared it over concerns the video could have violated a new state law regulating AI-generated political media.
Coester did not make the video but told Seven Days he thought it was “hilarious” and posted it to his own feed. In that story, the newspaper quoted him calling a reporter who asked about his connection to the content creator, Hank Poitras, a “libtard f—.”
Malloy has since seized on that comment, telling Vermont Public last month that it was an example of how Coester does not have the right temperament for public office.
“I’ve known Mark for several years now. I’ve seen how he operates. He’s got a kind of a self-control issue,” Malloy said.
Coester did not respond to a request for comment for this story. In an interview published Monday that was conducted by Poitras, who goes by the moniker Planet Hank, Coester framed himself as someone who is open to hearing anyone’s perspective.
“I promise to be honest with people and listen to them,” he told Poitras. “If they want to be a jerk, fine. Maybe I won’t talk to them next time. But I’m willing to listen to anybody that wants civil discourse.”
Malloy’s campaign did not make him available for an interview ahead of this story’s publication. In past remarks, he has said he’d focus on advancing the same policy goals in Congress that Republican Gov. Phil Scott supports at the state level, including making Vermont more affordable and reducing regulatory barriers to new development.
He told Vermont Public he is “completely on board with the governor’s vision”. He pointed to the executive order Scott signed last month, which included a slate of measures to decrease health insurance regulations in an effort to lower costs, including implementing age-based insurance premiums. He said that, broadly, the governor’s beliefs on reducing regulations need stronger support in Congress.
Malloy has also been tempered, on the campaign trail, in his support for President Trump.
He said he supports the U.S. and Israel’s war in Iran but does not think Trump did a good enough job justifying the need for that military intervention to the public. He thinks Trump “should just leave Canada alone,” he told Vermont Public, and “I don’t like him getting into a tiff with the Pope.”
Malloy also said he does not think it’s in the country’s best interest “to try to track down every possible single person in the U.S. that might not be fully documented,” describing it as a poor use of resources.
Coester said his top priority once elected would be “to listen to Vermonters” as opposed to lobbyists and campaign donors. He gave Poitras an example of getting approached by a lobbyist “for Israel and Turkey and Iran,” but said that he would tell them, “Excuse me, sir, I’ve got to take a phone call from somebody back home.”
He also said the state is not affordable for many working-class people and thinks part of the reason why is that rampant use of illegal drugs has driven away people who would otherwise stay and contribute to the economy. His campaign has also focused on ending human trafficking, an issue he told WCAX does not get enough attention.
“We’ve got serious problems in Vermont. Affordability, there’s no question about it,” he told Poitras. “Like, everybody’s broke.”
In addition to his 2024 bid for Congress, Coester ran in 2022 for one of two seats in the Vermont Senate representing Windham County. He won that year’s Republican primary but in the general election finished a distant sixth.
Ahead of the 2022 election, Coester faced criticism from some over a float he used in a parade in Colchester, Vt., that included a depiction of a symbol associated with the Spanish authoritarian dictator Francisco Franco as well as a drawing of “Pepe the Frog,” a cartoon character often linked to various far-right and white nationalist groups.
With just weeks to go until election day, Malloy has raised more money for his campaign than Coester, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission. Malloy has brought in $58,280, while Coester has raised $36,039, filings show.
Notably, just shy of 60% of Coester’s fundraising — $20,897 — has come from his own pockets. In comparison, about 9% of Malloy’s fundraising is from himself.
Malloy’s campaign has been drawing more momentum with voters, too, according to a poll released last month. The University of New Hampshire survey found that among likely GOP primary voters, 58% would vote for Malloy but just 6% would vote for Coester, while another 32% were undecided.
Vermont’s primary election is on Aug. 11.
This story was first published by VtDigger and is republished with permission as part of the Vermont Journalism Trust’s Community News Sharing Project.