Word is that former State Auditor and current Chittenden Senator Ed Flanagan will announce at a brunch tomorrow that he will be a candidate for Lieutenant Governor.
Flanagan would enter a Democratic field that has already begun to fill, with House Majority Leader Floyd Nease reportedly already fundraising and putting together the fundamentals of a statewide campaign.
In addition, there continues to be speculation about current State Auditor Tom Salmon‘s ambitions. Junior Salmon has been keeping a high political profile of late, going as far as to attempt to insert himself into the recent budget battle between the Governor and the Legislature. Salmon has contracted with the nascent consulting firm of Theseus Advisors, which is the collective shingle of Burlington-area political usual suspects Selene Hofer-Shall and Jake Perkinson. That strikes many as a lot of firepower early in the election cycle for an Auditor re-election campaign.
So it seems likely that there will be a primary for Lieutenant Governor as well. The question remains as to whether the winner would face incumbent Republican Brian Dubie, or whether the rumors are true and Dubie will opt not to run again, passing the Republican institutional blessing to Barre Mayor Thomas Lauzon as his heir apparent.
Flanagan was, of course, the subject of an unflattering piece in Seven Days which lead with an extensive, generally anonymously-sourced indictment of his competence in office since his brain injury years back. While the latter part of the piece presented much on-the-record defense of Flanagan’s performance, it was clearly the intention of the article to raise the very doubts and concerns it could not meaningfully corroborate. It was not the usually dependable Ken Picard’s finest reporting hour.
What I hear from the other side is that Sen. Brock is pretty unhappy as a senator in a chamber where his vote doesn’t matter. He’d like to get back to a statewide office.
Question is, will it be Secretary of State (in which race Senate candidate Baruth has already anointed Republican Chris Roy as a worthy and civil opponent), where he will likely face the amiable master of detail Charlie Merriman?
Or might Mr. Brock take a shot at Lt. Governor? His support of the sitting officeholder is solid, although, Brock might face some snarling and teeth-baring from current Republican attack dog, Mr. Lunderville. Lunderville’s been at least verbally somewhat muzzled lately, and Dubie is nowhere to be heard, so maybe that’s where Brock will put his ahem, money (most repeated, least intelligent campaign comment during debates and forums: “I’m gonna go down to Montpelier and have the Vermont taxpayer declared an endangered species”).
It’s always fun to speculate …
NanuqFC
Better the occasional faults of a government that lives in a spirit of charity than the consistent omissions of a government frozen in the ice of its own indifference. ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
I remember some of Flanagan’s shenanigans from long before his accident.
His political opportunism at the expense of innocent others really turned me off.
There must be a better candidate out there.
PJ
I don’t have anything against Ed Flannigan, I just have a really hard time getting that friggin “hey, bulldog” image out of my head. The incessant radio spots, television ads and city bus photos, ewww. That was quite possibly the worst branding campaign of a local candidate in my lifetime.