Bill Sayre
Radio Host, Vermont Political Commentator
Bill Sayre is a prominent Vermont conservative commentator, economist, and business leader who is widely known as the host of Common Sense Radio on The Notch FM and formally was with WDEV, a public affairs program presented by the Ethan Allen Institute. A former Federal Reserve economist, Sayre has spent decades advocating for free-market principles, economic affordability, and fiscal responsibility in Vermont. Beyond his media presence, he has deep roots in the state's working landscape as a long-time partner in the A. Johnson Company, a historic lumber mill and timberland management firm based in Bristol, and has served as past chairman of the Associated Industries of Vermont and as a board member for the Vermont Woodlands Association.
TRANSCRIPT
It's mighty good to be here with so many friends and supporters—parents who believe in common sense. All of us are together this evening on such a beautiful Vermont evening, in the sunshine.
A few weeks ago, I got a call from someone that perhaps most of you know... Coach Rene. He says, "There's a young fellow that you've got to meet." And I said, "Okay." He told me he's very intelligent, he's very hard-working, and he's an excellent who knows how to use the microphone. But I said, "Sure, sure, I'd love to try to get him on the radio." And everything that Rene said was true. I've come to appreciate Javen’s qualities very much, and he would make a great Vermont senator.
Some people are going to say that he's too young and that he's not working his way up the ladder. I disagree. In fact, he puts me in mind of another man who went right out of college to the Vermont legislature. He's actually going to be the person speaking after the next two people, but you can ask him about that—he started right after college. That man is Jim Douglas, and I think he did all right for himself. He still does.
The qualities that Javen has—grit, hard work, careful thinking—are all of the qualities that we require if we're to get Vermont back on track. Most importantly, we've seen just in the last two years the benefit of having a more balanced legislature, which a couple of years ago got a little bit off track. Someone said way off track, passing legislation that didn't really have the support of the Vermont people. So the people spoke in the fall of 2024 and said they'd had enough, and important changes were made. We stopped them from passing bad legislation, and that's a good start. But now, we've got to start passing some good legislation, and that's what Jabin will do.
It's also important to remember that nothing comes easy. We are in a purple state at best, somewhat blue, or perhaps deep blue. That's not the end of the world; it just means we have to work a little longer and work a little harder to turn this around and get people thinking about what it takes to sustain a free society. We can do it here in Vermont, and Javen can help us do it. Thank you very much.
Bill Sayre
Tuesday, May 12th, 2026, Javen Sears’ Campaign Launch Party