2026 · Vermont at-large · Independent
Vermont does not need another campaign built around a political party. It needs an independent project built around Vermont.
Ryan P. Walton is running for the United States House of Representatives to give Vermont an independent voice—and to build the institutions, ideas and projects that should already exist.
A campaign usually begins by asking people for money. This one begins by asking a more important question: who should have the authority to represent Vermont?
For too long, Vermont has handed that authority to the national political parties almost automatically. When our political mandate is given away without conditions, Vermont loses its leverage. We ask little of the parties, and too often receive little in return.
I am asking Vermonters to make that decision deliberately again.
Not to give me authority over Vermont, but to entrust me with a mandate from Vermont: to represent this state independently, to challenge federal power when necessary, and to begin building the ideas and institutions Vermont will need next.
Your vote is not a party inheritance. It is Vermont’s authority to give.
These are not résumé bullet points placed beneath a candidate photograph. They are active projects—things being built, tested and opened to participation.
WVT–P01 / ACTIVE SET
A statewide civic network for Vermonters who believe the state should think, organize and negotiate for itself—not simply inherit the priorities of a national political party.
Build the independent constituency Vermont has never been allowed to measure.Visit Independent VermontWVT–P02 / ACTIVE SET
A public debate and meeting series built around a simple question: where does governing authority in Vermont actually reside, and where should it reside?
Bring political authority back into the room with the people who grant it.Explore Who Governs VermontWVT–P03 / ACTIVE SET
The practical work of restoring buildings, creating homes, managing properties and confronting Vermont’s housing shortage from the ground rather than from a press release.
Leadership should understand what it takes to turn an idea, a damaged building and a limited budget into something people can live in.View the Property WorkWVT–P04 / ACTIVE SET
Independent software projects designed around usefulness, ownership and privacy—including Great Honk and the other products already presented on the website.
Small teams can still build public value without surveillance advertising, institutional permission or enormous overhead.View the Software ProjectsBuilder’s record / Ryan P. Walton
My résumé is not a straight line through political offices. It is a record of projects.
I have restored properties, created housing, operated service businesses, developed software, worked on educational institutions, written proposals and started public initiatives.
Not every project is finished. Not every experiment works exactly as imagined. That is part of building. You begin, test, correct and keep going.
Congress has enough people who know how to inhabit institutions. Vermont could use a representative who knows how to begin one.
Real estate investment, rehabilitation and housing operations in Vermont.
Property services, construction, development and the work of making difficult systems function.
Independent software and product work built around usefulness, ownership and privacy.
Education and institution-building work organized around practical capability and discovery.
Political theory, proposals and an independent argument for Vermont’s authority.
Independent Vermont and Who Governs Vermont as public infrastructure, not campaign decoration.
An independent 2026 campaign for Vermont’s at-large seat in the U.S. House.
The major parties ask Vermont for loyalty before they offer Vermont leverage.
An independent representative changes the negotiation. Vermont’s support can no longer be assumed, inherited or taken for granted. It must be earned.
Independence does not mean refusing to work with Democrats or Republicans. It means working with either when it benefits Vermont—and belonging to neither when it does not.
Vermont is not a branch office of a national party.
Vermont is Vermont.
Every vote, negotiation and alliance begins with the interests and independence of Vermont.
Support useful ideas regardless of which party introduces them.
No national organization receives ownership of Vermont’s congressional vote.
The purpose is not independence as a performance. It is independence as leverage.
Campaign finance · The Walton Standard
Imagine a political system in which a qualified person could stand for office, speak to the public and earn a mandate without first assembling an investor class.
That is not the system we have today.
So Walton for Vermont has adopted a voluntary contribution standard designed to keep fundraising small, local and finite.
Please do not contribute because a campaign email frightened you, rushed you or made you feel responsible for keeping a fundraising meter alive.
Contribute only if you understand the standard, believe in the project and can comfortably afford to participate.
If your household has a better use for $250, keep it.Better than $250
Money can purchase campaign materials. It cannot create a mandate.
Five honest conversations may be worth more than any contribution.Contributions must use the contributor’s own funds, are subject to applicable federal campaign-finance law, and are not tax deductible. Required information will be collected by the approved payment provider.
This voluntary standard is a campaign policy, not a statement of the federal legal contribution limit. No contribution purchases access, influence or authority.
Review the complete contribution terms at AnedotProject intake / Open
This campaign is not looking for passive supporters. It is creating places where people can participate.
Not because one candidate promised to solve everything.
Because Vermonters remembered that political authority belongs to them—and decided to use it to build something of their own.
Let’s build.