Randolph D. "Randy" Brock III (born September 28, 1943) is an American politician from the state of

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the ...

and a member of the Republican Party. He currently serves in the Vermont Senate and is the first African American caucus leader in Vermont. He served as the

Vermont Auditor of Accounts The Vermont State Auditor of Accounts is one of six constitutional officers in Vermont, elected statewide every two years. The Office provides an independent and objective assessment of Vermont's governmental operations. The current Auditor is ...

from 2005 to 2007, as a member of the

Vermont Senate The Vermont Senate is the upper house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The senate consists of 30 members. Senate districting divides the 30 members into three single-member districts, six two-me ...

from 2009 to 2013 and was the Republican nominee for

Governor of Vermont The governor of Vermont is the head of government of Vermont. The officeholder is elected in even-numbered years by direct voting for a term of 2 years. Vermont and bordering New Hampshire are the only states to hold gubernatorial elections every ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, losing to

Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

incumbent

Peter Shumlin Peter Elliott Shumlin (born March 24, 1956) is an American politician from Vermont. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 81st governor of Vermont from 2011 to 2017. He was first elected to the office in 2010, and was reelected to a ...

. He ran unopposed for the 2016 Republican nomination for

Lieutenant Governor of Vermont The lieutenant governor of Vermont is elected for a two-year term and chosen separately from the governor. The Vermont Lieutenant Governor's main responsibilities include acting as governor when the governor is out of state or incapacitated, pre ...

. In December 2017, Governor

Phil Scott Philip Brian Scott (born August 4, 1958) is an American politician, businessman and Stock car racing, stock car racer who has served as the List of governors of Vermont, 82nd governor of Vermont since 2017. A member of the Republican Party (Unit ...

announced that he had appointed Brock to the Vermont Senate, filling the vacancy caused by the resignation of

Dustin Allard Degree Dustin Allard Degree (born February 12, 1985) is a Politics of the United States, politician from the city of St. Albans (city), Vermont, St. Albans in the U.S. state of Vermont. A Republican Party (United States), Republican, he represented St. ...

Early and personal life

Brock was born in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. He holds a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four ye ...

from

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalists, Middlebury was the first operating college or university in Vermont. The college currently enrolls 2,858 undergraduates from all ...

and an

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. ...

from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

. Brock served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

, attaining the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. He saw action in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, earning a

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

and an

Army Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issues its own version of the Commendation Medal, with a fift ...

. He is a retired executive vice president for

Fidelity Investments Fidelity Investments, commonly referred to as Fidelity, earlier as Fidelity Management & Research or FMR, is an American multinational financial services corporation based in Boston, Massachusetts. The company was established in 1946 and is on ...

. He is married to Andrea Forrest Brock, and the couple has two children.

State Auditor

2004 election

Brock was elected as Auditor in 2004, defeating

incumbent

Elizabeth M. Ready Elizabeth Mary "Liz" Ready (pronounced "reedy") (born October 7, 1953) is a Vermont non-profit director and elected official who is most notable for her advocacy for Vermonters with lower incomes, especially the housing insecure. She served in the ...

in her bid for re-re-election.

2006 election and recount

In the November 7, 2006 election, Brock was challenged by

candidate

Thomas M. Salmon Thomas M. Salmon (born July 28, 1963) is an American politician who was Vermont Auditor of Accounts from 2007 to 2013. He did not run for reelection in 2012, and was succeeded by Democrat/ Progressive Douglas R. Hoffer. He was elected in 2006 as a ...

, the son of former Vermont Governor Thomas P. Salmon. The initial vote tally put Brock ahead by 137 votes. However, Salmon requested a

recount An election recount is a repeat tabulation of votes cast in an election that is used to determine the correctness of an initial count. Recounts will often take place if the initial vote tally during an election is extremely close. Election reco ...

, and on December 21, 2006, Salmon was declared the winner by a margin of 102 votes.

State Senate

In 2008 Brock was elected to the Vermont State Senate. He was re-elected in 2010.

2012 gubernatorial election

On December 7, 2011, Brock announced his candidacy for

in the 2012 gubernatorial election. He received the Republican nomination unopposed and ran against incumbent Democratic Governor

. Brock, however, only received 37.7% of the vote; Shumlin was easily re-elected, with 170,598 votes to Brock's 110,940.

2016 Lieutenant Governor election

Brock ran unopposed for the 2016 Republican nomination for

, and faced Senator David Zuckerman in the general election. He lost in the general election, receiving 139,344 votes to Zuckerman's 159,738.

Return to State Senate

In November 2017, Republican

resigned from the Vermont Senate to accept a position as special assistant to Governor

. In December, Scott interviewed three candidates recommended by the Franklin County Republican Party. On December 27, he announced that he had selected Brock to fill the vacancy. In November 2020, Brock was elected minority leader in the state senate. He is the first African American caucus leader in Vermont ever.

Political positions

Brock is a

social conservative Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social instituti ...

. He voted against the legalization of

same-sex marriage in Vermont Same-sex marriage in Vermont has been legal since September 1, 2009. Vermont was the first state to introduce civil unions on July 1, 2000, and the first state to introduce same-sex marriage by enacting a statute without being required to do so by ...

in 2009, holds a "dim view" of

universal health care Universal health care (also called universal health coverage, universal coverage, or universal care) is a health care system in which all residents of a particular country or region are assured access to health care. It is generally organized ar ...

and is "less than enthusiastic" about spending on social programs.

References

External links

Official campaign website
* , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Brock, Randy 1943 births 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American politicians 21st-century American politicians African-American people in Vermont politics African-American state legislators in Vermont Living people Middlebury College alumni Military personnel from Philadelphia Politicians from Philadelphia State Auditors of Vermont United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War Republican Party Vermont state senators Yale University alumni