Riding momentum from an Election Day that saw them gain 11 seats in the legislature, Republican leaders said they will press Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin to scrap Vermont Health Connect and focus on pocketbook issues in the coming weeks.

But they acknowledged their plans are in doubt until their nominee for governor, Scott Milne, finishes a campaign that he is threatening to take into January.

Unofficial tallies say Milne lost by 2,000 votes. He has refused to concede the race to Shumlin. He says he may seek a recount or ask legislators — who must elect a governor since neither candidate cleared 50 percent — to select him, despite his second-place finish.

Republican leaders made it clear they will allow their members to vote however they wish if Milne seeks a contested vote. Traditionally, lawmakers have rubber-stamped the candidate with the most votes, regardless of party, but Milne says he may try to rally support, especially from legislators whose districts gave him a plurality of votes. Milne this week said he is "confident," he will find a way to oust Shumlin.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Milne released his first television advertisement of the general election Tuesday, and it's a decidedly negative affair.

Milne spends the first half of the 30-second spot attacking Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin over jobs, taxes, poverty, health care and the incumbent's out-of-state travel. He spends the second half pledging to clean up the mess.

Milne's campaign posted the spot online Tuesday afternoon and said a two-week, $79,000 ad buy would hit Vermont's four network television stations on Wednesday. Here's what it looks like:

Gov. Peter Shumlin's reelection campaign spent nearly a quarter-million dollars in the past two weeks, according to a new report filed Wednesday — ten times more than his next closest competitor. 

The vast majority of the two-term Democrat's $236,000 in spending went toward television advertising. In the first 15 days of the month, he paid $160,000 to run the ads, $44,000 to produce them and another $22,000 on polling. 

Neither Republican Scott Milne nor Libertarian Dan Feliciano bought a single commercial. The former spent nearly $18,000 during the two-week period, while the latter spent just $3,451. 

The two leading candidates in the race for lieutenant governor also amped up their spending. Incumbent Republican Phil Scott spent more than $73,000 — $50,000 of which went toward television advertising and nearly $18,000 to mailings. His Progressive/Democratic opponent, Dean Corren, spent $45,000 — $35,000 of it on television, radio and online advertising. 

Last week, we profiled Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Milne in a story that explored some of the quirks of his campaign. The story showed Milne traveling without staffers and repeatedly declining to engage voters — even those who indicated they were supporting him — during a 14-hour day on the campaign trail.

In all, we deemed it a "novel approach" from a man "uncomfortable with many rituals of modern campaigning." 

We may have been underselling it. A lot.

This morning, the Milne campaign released via Twitter (its first tweet in nearly a month) a link to something that can be called a campaign ad.

Tongue firmly planted in cheek (lord, we hope so, anyway) the clip, dubbed "Milk Bowl Legend," shows Milne winning the World Cow Chip Throwing Contest at Thunder Road in Barre last weekend.

In all seriousness, before we go any further, we need to be clear about one thing: Scott Milne can seriously hurl cow shit.

The video captures his textbook form. Milne steps forward with his left leg and bends gracefully at the knee, while in perfect synchronization his right arm swings back. As if a pendulum, his arm sweeps forward. At the point where he can reach no farther Milne releases the cow pie, sending it floating through the brisk autumn air, soaring with the grace of a migrating songbird before reaching its destination — a bull's-eye in the middle of a tire.

Winner! 

The video, which appears to have been filmed from a cellphone, had 15 views as of this writing, and we're pretty sure we account for at least 12 of them. 

Milne wasn’t the only politician to test his accuracy in Barre over the weekend. Roughly 30 other office-seekers also participated, the Burlington Free Press reported. But Milne's throw was reportedly the best.

Our spy who witnessed Milne's triumph reports that he did a little dance-shimmy thing after his throw that sadly was not captured on this video.

The moment has already secured a place in Vermont political lore and the ad represents a devastating salvo as the campaign enters the home stretch.

Your move, Gov. Shumlin. 

Updated 10/14/2014 to include information about other participants in the event; and corrected to note Gov. Peter Shumlin did did not participate.

Reps. Heidi Scheuermann (R-Stowe) and Paul Ralston (D-Middlebury) spent four years sitting next to one another on the House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development, brainstorming ways to make Vermont more friendly to business.

Now, the bipartisan pair is launching a new political action committee focused on electing kindred spirits to the legislature.

"It's really important to bring more attention to economic development in Vermont and kind of move it away from being an also-ran in the Statehouse," says Ralston, who is stepping down from his House seat when his term concludes at the end of the year. "It certainly felt like there was a lot more energy and effort put into social issues. That's fine and everything, but I would like to see a little more of that energy and enthusiasm go into economic issues."

Greg Jenkins, a Burlington school commissioner representing Ward 7, has resigned, making him the third person in recent months to leave the 14-member board prematurely.

Jenkins gave word of his decision without much fanfare. He posted the following to Front Porch Forum, and declined to comment further.

Dear Ward 7

Effective 6/10 I have resigned from our school board for deeply personal, and philosophical differences. It is not in my nature to get gagged, but I was and well $225ish made it not our problem. This goes against the very nature of who I am. There are hopeful signs this board can rally. Please let us come together and fix the problem, and not bicker.

I look forward to doing something else.

Yours,
Greg Jenkins

The Vermont Senate's most outspoken member is calling it quits. 

Sen. Peter Galbraith (D-Windham) announced Monday that he won't seek reelection to the Windham County senate seat he's held for nearly four years. Instead, the Townsend resident and former U.S. ambassador to Croatia said he'll refocus on his career in international diplomacy.

"In recent months, I have become increasingly involved in an informal effort aimed at finding a political solution to Syria’s civil war, working with Syria’s Kurdish and Christian minorities to help them develop strategies to best protect their communities," Galbraith said in a written statement. "Reluctantly, I have concluded I cannot do this and still devote the necessary time to my work in Montpelier."

In the off chance you haven’t seen the hundreds of red "Vote Yes" signs (plus some blue ones, concentrated in the New North End, urging the opposite), here’s a heads up: The Burlington school budget is up for a second and final vote today.

This time around the total price tag is $67.4 million, which comes with a 7.2 percent tax increase. If residents reject it again, a default budget of $66.3 million will take effect, with a 5 percent increase in the tax rate.

Polls opened at 7:00 A.M. and will close at 7:00 P.M. A list of polling sites can be found here.

A lot has happened in the three months since voters struck down the school board’s first proposal, a $66.9 million budget with a 9.9 percent increase in the tax rate.

Supporters of the Burlington school budget gained a key recruit Monday. On a sun-soaked afternoon, standing under blossoming trees and in front of a crowd of parents and students, Mayor Miro Weinberger announced he'll be voting for the budget. 

In just two weeks — on June 3 — Burlington residents will decide whether to support a $67.4 million budget, which comes with a 7.2 percent tax increase. Until now, Weinberger withheld his endorsement, announcing in April that he wouldn't support the budget unless Superintendent Jeanne Collins was removed from her post.

Since Town Meeting Day, the school district has been embroiled in budget-related controversies, set off by the discovery that serious errors led to multi-million dollar deficits. 

On May 13, Weinberger got his way when the school board and Collins announced a settlement agreement that will send Collins packing on June 30, with $225,000 in severance pay. Now, one week later, he's decided to throw his weight behind the board's new budget. 

Rep. Heidi Scheuermann (R-Stowe) announced Tuesday she plans to sit out this fall's gubernatorial race and run for reelection instead.

"After a great deal of thought and consideration over the last two months, I have decided that I will not run for Vermont Governor this year," she said in a written statement. "Given the incredible support and encouragement I have received from Vermonters all over the state, this decision was a very difficult one, but it is simply not the right time for me."

The four-term state rep emerged as a leading potential candidate to challenge the two-term Democratic incumbent, Peter Shumlin. A former aide to retired U.S. senator Jim Jeffords, Scheuermann was viewed as a political moderate who, while lacking widespread name recognition and a deep donor base, could have run a strong campaign.