Monday, July 13, 2020
"I do feel that I owe it to the competition, as well as to the process, to get myself involved in the last three or four weeks [of the campaign]," he said. "So it won't be a robust campaign by any stretch, but I will do some of the debates."
Acknowledging that the public health crisis is nowhere near over, Scott said he would no longer tie his campaign plans to the existence of a state of emergency in Vermont. "That could go on for months," he said. "I don't want to use that as an excuse to not campaign."
The governor first declared a state of emergency on March 13 and has extended it three times since. He said on Monday that he plans to extend it for another month before it expires on July 15.
Scott said he still plans to avoid most campaign activities for the foreseeable future. He does not intend to raise money, hire a campaign staff or put up lawn signs, for example. But in the interview with Seven Days, which he characterized as his first of the campaign season, he said he would take some questions from the press and take part in "two or three of the major debates."
Tags: Phil Scott , John Klar , Emily Peyton , Douglas Cavett , Glen Wright , Rebecca Kelley , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, July 7, 2020
The elaborate exercise is an attempt to allow Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman, who is running for governor, and state Auditor Doug Hoffer, who is seeking reelection, to win the nominations of both the Progressive and Democratic parties. State law prohibits candidates from running in more than one party primary, but they can be nominated by additional parties if enough voters write in their names — or if no other candidates run in a given primary and party leaders choose to nominate them.
As they have in the past, Zuckerman and Hoffer both chose this year to run in the Democratic primary, and both face competition for that party's nomination. At the same time, perennial candidate Cris Ericson of Chester is seeking the Progressive nomination for governor, auditor and every other statewide office on the ballot. Boots Wardinski, an organic farmer and horse logger who has run for office several times, is also seeking the Progressive gubernatorial nomination.
To prevent Ericson and Wardinski from winning the Progressive nod in the August 11 primary, the party is seeking 250 to 300 Progressive stalwarts to write in Zuckerman's and Hoffer's names in that party's primary, according to its executive director, Josh Wronski.
"It's definitely not an ideal system," Wronski said. "The whole primary system is not geared toward nontraditional parties."
Tags: David Zuckerman , Doug Hoffer , Cris Ericson , Boots Wardinski , Tim Ashe , Molly Gray , Debbie Ingram , Brenda Siegel , Web Only , Image
Monday, July 6, 2020
Rep. Linda Joy Sullivan (D-Dorset) issued a statement Monday that accused Hoffer, a Democrat in office since 2013, of issuing a July 1 health care report to coincide with the start of voting by absentee ballot.
But Hoffer struck back Monday afternoon, defending his office’s work and calling her statement “riddled with errors” and a “back-handed political stunt.”
The spat, the first significant salvo in the so-far subdued statewide race, illustrates the pressure some candidates for political office — and challengers of incumbents in particular — feel to attract attention to their campaigns during a pandemic with the primary now just over a month away.
Tags: Doug Hoffer , Linda Joy Sullivan , OneCare Vermont , Web Only , Image
Friday, July 3, 2020
"We expect that number will continue to climb," said Secretary of State Jim Condos.
The surge is almost certainly due to concerns over in-person voting prompted by the coronavirus pandemic. But according to Condos, it's too soon to say whether the shift means more Vermonters intend to vote this year or whether a typical number will vote but will do so in a different manner.
"I'm hoping there will be an increase because it's your constitutional right to cast your ballot, and typically a primary gets a lower turnout than a general election," he said.
At an equivalent point in the 2018 election — 40 days before the primary — only 2,603 voters had requested ballots, according to Condos' office. At the same time in 2016, when there were competitive primaries for open gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial positions, 4,885 voters had requested ballots. The 24,988 who had done so by the end of the day Thursday represented close to a quarter of the 107,000 Vermonters who voted in any manner during the 2018 primary.
Tags: early voting , absentee ballots , Jim Condos , Phil Scott , Rebecca Holcombe , Cameron Russell , R. Christopher Di Mezzo , Adam Roof , Web Only , Image
Thursday, July 2, 2020
Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman raised more money in the last two and a half months than any of his rivals for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, according to reports filed Wednesday with the Secretary of State's Office.
Zuckerman collected $130,328 in donations between March 13 and June 28 — more than the $101,276 reported by former education secretary Rebecca Holcombe.
Both candidates raised far more campaign cash than the incumbent Republican they hope to replace, Gov. Phil Scott. When he announced in May that he would seek a third term, Scott pledged to refrain from campaigning or fundraising until the coronavirus-induced state of emergency had been lifted.
The governor largely lived up to that promise, picking up a mere 30 donations worth a combined $8,155 in the most recent fundraising period. He did, however, spend $53,754 on his non-campaign — including paying just more than $50,000 to Washington, D.C.-based Optimus Consulting. That left Scott with only $49,893 remaining in his campaign account.
In a statement touting his recent fundraising success, Zuckerman noted that it had come during a period in which Vermont was largely on pandemic lockdown. “I am humbled by the outpouring of support from Vermonters during these difficult times,” the Progressive/Democrat said.
Holcombe, who entered the Democratic primary a full six months before Zuckerman, has raised far more money since the start of the race: $481,365 compared to Zuckerman's $288,818. She also reported having $104,979 cash on hand, more than his $69,701.
Tags: David Zuckerman , Rebecca Holcombe , Phil Scott , Patrick Winburn , Molly Gray , Tim Ashe , Brenda Siegel , Debbie Ingram , Scott Milne , John Klar , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, June 30, 2020
The ad, titled "Betrayed," features a one-minute presidential takedown from Dan Barkhuff, a former Navy SEAL who is now an emergency room doctor at the University of Vermont Medical Center.
"Any commander in chief with a spine would be stomping the living shit out of some Russians right now — diplomatically, economically or, if necessary, with the sort of asymmetric warfare they're using to send our kids home in body bags," Barkhuff says in the video, which has amassed more than 214,000 views since it was published on Tuesday.
Tags: President Trump , Betrayed , Viral ad , Dan Barkhuff , Web Only , Image
Friday, June 26, 2020
Ingram, who announced her candidacy back in January, has spent the last three months in the Senate focused on crafting legislation related to the coronavirus pandemic. Her campaign launch came on the same day that the legislature was working to adjourn for the session; lawmakers would return to work in late August to craft a budget.
The break will give lawmakers running for office a chance to finally shift their focus to the campaign trail ahead of the August 11 primary.
"I am running for lieutenant governor to give a fair chance to every Vermonter," Ingram said in the video, standing before the College Street Congregational Church in downtown Burlington, where she is a member.
Ingram, of Williston, is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and the executive director of Vermont Interfaith Action. She was first elected to the Senate in 2016 and previously served on her town’s selectboard.
Tags: Debbie Ingram , lieutenant governor , campaign , kickoff , Web Only , Image
Thursday, June 25, 2020
"Molly Gray is the most exciting thing to show up on the Vermont political scene in a long time," Shumlin told Seven Days in a phone interview.
"We have consistently struggled to elect young women to high office in this state," he continued. "She's a born and bred Vermonter, grew up on a farm, incredibly bright, dedicated, honest. And she understands Vermont. My view is, we couldn't ask for a more exciting candidate."
Tags: Molly Gray , Peter Shumlin , endorsement , Tip Ashe , lieutenant governor , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, June 23, 2020
A national political organization devoted to electing pro-choice women to public office announced Tuesday that it has endorsed former education secretary Rebecca Holcombe in the Democratic primary for Vermont governor.
"Rebecca is a tireless advocate for education who understands the importance of investing in Vermont’s children and working families," EMILY's List president Stephanie Schriock said in a written statement.
The endorsement hardly comes as a surprise. Even before she joined the race last July, EMILY’s List was advising Holcombe from afar. According to Mairead Lynn, a spokesperson for the organization, it has already provided strategic guidance to the campaign, as well as budgeting and fundraising support.
The formal endorsement could yield additional resources for Holcombe as she competes with Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman, Bennington attorney Patrick Winburn and several others for the Democratic nomination. A super PAC affiliated with EMILY’s List called Women Vote! could choose to make independent expenditures, such as television ad campaigns, on behalf of Holcombe.
EMILY's List has not had a winning record in Vermont in recent years. In 2016, it endorsed Kesha Ram for lieutenant governor and Sue Minter for governor. The former lost in the Democratic primary and the latter lost in the general election. In 2010, Deb Markowitz garnered the group's endorsement before losing to fellow Democrat Peter Shumlin in the party's primary.
Corrected June 23, 2020, at 3:15 p.m.: An earlier version of this story inaccurately described EMILY’s List’s actions in Vermont’s 2018 gubernatorial race. It did not endorse a candidate that year.
Tags: Rebecca Holcombe , Emily's List , Stephanie Schriock , David Zuckerman , Patrick Winburn , Phil Scott , Sue Minter , Deb Markowitz , Web Only , Image
Monday, June 22, 2020
Other senators told Seven Days that they viewed Rodgers' words as sexist or homophobic — and certainly intolerant. Members of the Senate's Committee on Committees, meanwhile, said they expected to meet in the coming days to determine whether Rodgers should be sanctioned for his actions — first reported by VTDigger.org — though it appeared unlikely that they would strip him of his committee assignments.
The Senate drama began last week when Rodgers and fellow Northeast Kingdom Sen. Bobby Starr (D-Essex/Orleans) criticized the leaders of the Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee for working to reform Act 250, the state's landmark land-use law, while legislating remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic. Rodgers, a member of the committee, said his professional obligations and spotty internet service had made it difficult to take part in the deliberations — and alleged that the committee's leadership and Statehouse lobbyists had "largely worked behind the veil in crafting" the legislation.
"It's not transparent. It's not friendly to the public or people who want to participate," Rodgers told his colleagues last Wednesday during an all-Senate caucus meeting. "I'm extremely frustrated."
Tags: John Rodgers , Tim Ashe , Brian Campion , Chris Bray , Debbie Ingram , Becca Balint , Bobby Starr , Web Only , Image