Shumlin is Re-elected Governor of Vermont

On Thursday morning, the Vermont Legislature voted on a secret ballot to decide which candidate in the 2014 Vermont Gubernatorial election would be named the governor of Vermont for the next two years.  Democrat Peter Shumlin beat Republican Scott Milne with a final vote of 110-69 among the legislature.  The decision was brought to Vermont lawmakers after incumbent Peter Shumlin won a plurality of the popular vote in the state, but did not receive a majority.  When this happens in Vermont, the vote is brought to the legislature, unless the opponent withdraws from the race.  Republican candidate Scott Milne, however challenged the vote to be brought to the state legislature after the final tally pronounced a too-close-to-call win for the incumbent.  Shumlin had 46.4 percent of the vote, barely edging out Milne’s 45.1 percent.

Shumlin has received much discontent from Vermonters in the last year.   Many constituents are disappointed with his repeated trips out of state to attend to other priorities as chairman of the Democratic Governor’s Association, as well as his failure to execute Vermont’s Obamacare exchange.  Other criticize his inability to make any dent in altering middle-class wages and high property taxes.  Shumlin’s most recent action was  ending his long-term plan to enact a single-payer health care system for the state.  This came as a disappointment to some and relief to others.  The timing of this announcement in December created some question as to whether he would be able to hold onto his governorship after the legislative vote.

His adversary Scott Milne, a travel-agency president from Pomfret has little political experience, but was determined to revive the Republican Party in Vermont.

Milne’s greatest hope to win the governorship was that Shumlin’s largest inflation of votes comes from Burlington, Vermont’s most populous area.  Milne, although not a favorite in Burlington, had won the most districts in Vermont.  Milne hoped that at Thursday’s vote legislators would vote according to their constituents’ desires, rather than voting for the overall top vote-getter.

Although nothing binds the legislators to vote for the plurality winner, the odds were stacked against Milne’s favor.  Democrats rule the majority of both the House and the Senate in Vermont.  Republicans only hold a third of the state’s total 180 seats.  Thus Milne would have needed to secure every Republican vote and a strong crowd of both Democrats and Independents.

The consequence of a secret ballot is legislators would not publicly be held accountable to their vote. Therefore, neither candidate could do much to lobbying for votes.

Multiple legislators weighed in on the different strategies of lobbying by both candidates, but almost all agreed that it was likely they and their colleagues would elect Shumlin.

Both candidates released statements after Thursday’s vote.  Milne acknowledged that although he did not prove to be victorious, “I was happy to be a part of it. I think the road that’s led us here has a lot of people feeling like one person can make a difference.”  Shumlin remarked, “It’s been an incredible honor to serve as Governor of Vermont, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to continue serving this state I love.”