When voters tick their choice for Vermont governor next Tuesday, they have seven candidates to choose from.
Vermont’s ballot for governor lists incumbent Democrat Peter Shumlin, who is seeking a third two-year term, Republican Scott Milne, Libertarian Dan Feliciano, Independents Bernard Peters, Chris Ericson and Emily Peyton and the Liberty Union’s Peter Diamondstone.
It’s not unusual and not the most candidates to run for the state’s highest office.
Middlebury College Professor Emeritus of Political Science Eric Davis explains it’s easy to get on the ballot. “You only need 500 signatures to run for a statewide office and that’s a very easy threshold to meet. In fact there are some candidates who will be listed on the ballot who might not even get 500 votes on election day. Which means that some of these candidates got more people to sign their petitions than will actually vote for them. I think the three candidates who will be significant in terms of influencing the outcome of the race are Shumlin, Milne and Feliciano.”
Davis believes of the seven candidates, only three are viable. “Governor Peter Shumlin is favored to be re-elected. No incumbent governor of Vermont has been defeated for reelection since 1962. The Republican candidate for governor is Scott Milne. He is a small businessperson who owns a travel agency in Vermont and surrounding states. He has never held public office before. He has never run for public office at the statewide level before. Milne’s campaign got off to a shaky start. He’s got a little bit better in the last few weeks but he’s definitely being outspent by Shumlin. The third is Dan Feliciano, a Libertarian candidate. He ran in the Republican primary and got 15 percent of the vote. He is running mainly to present a conservative alternative to both Governor Shumlin and Scott Milne.”
The gubernatorial candidates have participated in numerous debates, some televised, some in town halls. Some featured all the candidates while others excluded the down ticket candidates.
In a debate on WCAX television earlier this month, Shumlin touted his successes over his two terms. “We must continue to grow jobs, economic opportunity, protect our natural resources, insure that we have a great education system and that we continue to grow out our renewables. We’ve made some mistakes I acknowledge that. We’ve made some great accomplishments.”
In the same debate, Republican Scott Milne admitted he was learning the political process. “If you believe that we need a more moderate direction and more balance in Montpelier then we can get Vermont changed in a very good way.”
Independent Emily Peyton says she’s running because she says new proposals to deal with the economy and environment aren’t being offered. Peyton has run three times for governor and ran in this year’s Republican primary. But she’s become disheartened by political wrangling. “To name one of the candidates a top tier candidate without any other justification than they decided it was very telling. I lost my interest in running in such an unfairly rigged race. So I’m looking to new ways.”
Vermont Digger, an on-ine independent investigative newspaper, has launched an election micro-site profiling Vermont candidates. Editor Anne Galloway says the gubernatorial election is a referendum on incumbent Governor Shumlin’s performance. “Milne and Feliciano are two fairly inexperienced weak candidates who have gained traction because of an enormous undercurrent of dislike for Governor Peter Shumlin. There are a lot of people in the Northeast Kingdom who are still very resentful of the way the wind projects were handled in their area. And then Vermont Health Connect has been a problem that has dogged him and as a result the governor has lost some support.”
Political scientist Eric Davis notes that in an off-year election, turnout averages between 55 to 60 percent in Vermont. He anticipates it will be about 10 percent lower this year.
If no candidate for governor receives more than 50 percent of the vote, the Legislature decides the outcome of the race when it convenes in January.
