Monday, April 18, 2016
Dunne also released a list of his assets, which include five rental properties, retirement accounts, a savings account, three cars and a tractor.
Along with Sue Minter and Peter Galbraith, Dunne is one of three Democrats seeking the party’s nomination for governor. Two Republicans, Lt. Gov. Phil Scott and Bruce Lisman, are seeking their party’s nomination.
Minter and Galbraith released tax returns earlier this month. Lisman in December released his net worth and said he would file 2015 tax returns in October. Scott is expected to release his tax returns later this week.
Tags: Matt Dunne , Sue Minter , Peter Galbraith , Bruce Lisman , Phil Scott , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
“You feel like it’s time for fresh ideas,” Komline said. “It’s time for me to start what my next thing is.”
She said she’s not sure exactly what that will be, but she plans to move to Montpelier and expects to work on legislative issues in some capacity.
Tags: Patti Komline , Tony Klein , Tim Jerman , John Campbell , Vermont legislature , Image , Web Only
Caroline Bright, a Democrat who lives in the town of Georgia, said Tuesday that she’ll run for the House instead.
Bright, who ran for the Senate in 2012, would have faced at least a three-way race for two Democratic slots on the ballot — not to mention a competitive general election fight. Candidates are lining up in hopes of replacing Sen. Norm McAllister (R-Franklin), who was suspended in January after his arrest last year on sexual assault charges.
Bright, a 25-year-old flight attendant and former Miss Vermont, could have less competition for the House seat. She’s eyeing a single-member district that has been represented for the past 14 years by Rep. Carolyn Branagan (R-Georgia), who is vacating her seat to run for Senate.
Tags: Caroline Bright , Carolyn Branagan , Norm McAllister , Dustin Degree , Sara Kittell , Denise Smith , Image , Web Only
Monday, April 11, 2016
Pearce, whom Shumlin appointed to the treasurer job six years ago, has resisted the call for divestment, arguing that investment decisions should be based on financial considerations — not political ones.
Tags: Peter Shumlin , fossil-fuel divestment , Beth Pearce , Richard Dunne , Image , Web Only
Friday, April 8, 2016
Klein, 69, said he and his wife, Jennifer Boyer, want to spend more time traveling and visiting their grandchildren.
“I decided that being dedicated to the Statehouse from January to May was getting a little tiresome,” he said. “I’ve done it 14 years. I’ve loved it.”
Tags: Vermont elections , Tony Klein , Vermont legislature , Image , Web Only
Monday, March 28, 2016
Two more Democrats on Monday confirmed their plans to run in the two-seat district. That puts at least three Democrats and two Republicans in the running, with more than a month to go before the filing deadline.
Interest in the race is particularly strong, with incumbent Republican Sen. Norm McAllister facing criminal sexual assault charges. The Senate suspended McAllister until the charges are resolved. A trial is tentatively set for May. McAllister told Seven Days he has not ruled out seeking reelection.
Former state senator Sara Kittell, a Democrat who held the seat for 17 years before retiring in 2012, announced Monday she is making a second attempt to return to the Statehouse. She ran in 2014, and came in third behind Republicans Dustin Degree and McAllister.
Tags: Sara Kittell , Denise Smith , Norm McAllister , Dustin Degree , Caroline Bright , Carolyn Branagan , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Peter Galbraith, a former state senator and diplomat, outlined an unusual political platform Tuesday as he announced he’s running for governor.
The 65-year-old Townshend Democrat wants to ban wind turbines and raise the minimum wage, positions that could have him straddling a political divide.
“I am running to change a system in Montpelier that too often favors the special interest over the broader public interest,” he declared at a Tuesday morning Statehouse press conference. “We must have a fair state.”
Galbraith is the third Democrat in the race to replace retiring Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin. He’ll compete for the party’s nomination with former state senator Matt Dunne and former transportation secretary Sue Minter. Two Republicans, Lt. Gov. Phil Scott and retired Wall Street executive Bruce Lisman, are seeking their party’s nomination.
Tags: Peter Galbraith , Sue Minter , Matt Dunne , Phil Scott , Bruce Lisman , Peter Shumlin , Vermont elections , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a right wing icon who created the prison camp in 1993 and has ridden it to national fame, surprised Sanders by interrupting her press conference. He offered her a tour of the sprawling facility, where inmates live outdoors in temperatures that can exceed 100 degrees.
Arpaio further surprised Sanders by mentioning that he had Burlington ties.
"I was head of [the] federal Drug Enforcement [Administration] in Burlington, Vt.," he told her, explaining that he ran the unit between 1978 and 1982 — the year after Bernie Sanders was elected mayor of Burlington.
"I am a very big fan," Arpaio told Sanders, then paused for a while and resumed, "of Ben & Jerry's ice cream."
Tags: Senator , Jane Sanders , Joe Arpaio , Burlington , Bernie Sanders , presidential campaign , Image , Web Only
Monday, March 14, 2016
It was tough to discern differences that would help voters decide between them.
The Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce hosted a breakfast question-and-answer session featuring Sue Minter, former secretary of the Agency of Transportation, and Matt Dunne, a former state senator and Google manager. House Speaker Shap Smith (D-Morristown), who announced he was running, then suspended his campaign because of his wife’s cancer diagnosis, was in the audience.
The two Republican candidates for governor, Lt. Gov. Phil Scott and Bruce Lisman, a retired Wall Street executive, participated in a similar event in February.
Tags: Bruce Lisman , cannabis related , gubernatorial election , Matt Dunne , Phil Scott , Sue Minter , Image , Web Only
Thursday, March 10, 2016
U.S. District Court Judge William Sessions III ruled that several limits on Vermont’s public campaign financing law are constitutional. Those restrictions include barring candidates from taking public money if they begin campaigning before February 15 of an election year.
“It means David Zuckerman is disqualified from public financing,” said his lawyer, John Franco.
The Hinesburg farmer announced his candidacy last November, arguing at the time that waiting for the public financing window to open in February would put him at a disadvantage. Two of his rivals for the Democratic Party nomination, Marlboro businessman Brandon Riker and Rep. Kesha Ram (D-Burlington), had already declared their intent to run — both without the assistance of public financing.
Tags: campaign financing , David Zuckerman , Bill Sorrell , Dean Corren , Judge William K. Sessions III , Image , Web Only