A lot of news on the electoral front to report. The first round of primary endorsements from a constituent interest group arrived this morning at 10 AM from Vermont’s AFL-CIO. They include:
- Governor: Sen. Doug Racine
- Lieutenant Governor: Rep. Steve Howard
- Secretary of State: Jim Condos
- Auditor: Doug Hoffer (who will run in the Democratic primary and seek the Progressive party endorsement as well)
- Treasurer: No one. Jeb Spaulding was not backed bacause of his support for lowering public employee pensions.
- Attorney General: No one. Union delegates reportedly expressed concerns about Bill Sorrell’s positions on IRV and campaign finance regulations.
- US Senate: Patrick Leahy
- US House: Peter Welch
Anthony Pollina also made it official; he is running for State Senate from Washington County. It is unclear from the report whether he will engage with what is shaping up to be a crowded Democratic Primary, but recent indications have suggested he will not.
In an active, primary-driven year, this AFL endorsement could make a difference – as could expected endorsements from other organizations in the coming days. Stay tuned.
…for Governor this year?
I must have missed that somewhere. Yeah, Doug!!
Not endorsing Spaulding is a good call. In 2007, Spaulding told state employees that if they made small changes to their pension system, the changes would, in turn, make the fund “sustainable.” State employees begrudgingly did what they were asked and three years later–“oh, sorry, it’s unsustainable again.” Spaulding will jump on Wall Street’s fun and games for an excuse, but that doesn’t mean much to the taxpayer who is already bailing out corporate America. Now state employees have to help again at the state level (after already forfeiting 3% pay?)?? Better and smarter investing (with some more foresight) might have prevented the monumental hit Vermont’s pension funds took, right? Who is really at fault for the pension system being screwed again? I guarantee you it’s not the plow driver or the game warden.
Anyway. good call.
I want to thank the Vermont AFL-CIO for their endorsement. I am running for Lt.Governor to create an economy in Vermont that serves all Vermonters, not just the wealthy at the top. I will use my nearly 20 years of experience as a grassroots organizer and the 12 years I have been honored to serve in the Vermont House of Representatives to get our economy back on track for working Vermonters. I will fight for a VT built and run Medicare for All health care system, I will fight to end our dependance on nuclear power and fossil fuels,putting Vermonters to work conserving energy and creating locally produced renewable energy and I will partner with our teachers and school boards rather than attack them in order to end the poverty gap that is leaving too many children behind. The fight for a Lt.Governor who is on the side of hard working Vermonters has begun, Join Us.
It’s great that Doug Hoffer is running against the unpredictable Salmon who is doing more harm than anything else. Doug has a far better grasp of the Vermont economy than Salmon or Douglas could even hope to understand. Great that Anthony is running for senator of Washington County. If he wins Washington will have a real strong senatorial contingent.
Doug Hoffer for Auditor: from everything I’ve read of his – especially his insistence on fact based decision making – I think he’ll make a great state Auditor.
Really glad to see IRV is still an issue of import! Maybe with a Democratic guv of good caliber we can finally move something forward.
Disappointed in their rejection of Spaulding. I hold him in high personal and formal esteem, and I think his proposals for the retirement funds are more of the “saving” type than molly coddling Wall Street.
for the kind words and support
and thanks to the AFL-CIO
If any of you run into folks who say “who is this guy and is he qualified”, I offer this (since I don’t yet have a web site):
1. I have a B.A. from Williams Collerge and a J.D. from SUNY Buffalo Law School.
2. I came to Vermont in 1988 to work for Bernie and Peter Clavelle in CEDO.
3. Left City Hall in 1993 and have been a self-employed researcher and policy analyst for the last 17 years (list of clients will be on the web site; people may know me as the author of The Job Gap Study).
4. Worked as a consultant / contractor for the state Auditor from 1995 to 2000 so I’m familiar with the Office. I was the principal author of numerous performance reviews (list will be available on the web site).
5. Having spent 22 years crunching numbers, I am comfortable with data (and the importance of letting the data speak for itself).
Beyond the core mission (now primarily managing a long-term contract with KPMG for the federal single audit and the annual audit of the state’s financial statements), the Auditor’s office should focus on performance reviews to the extent possible. Managers and policy makers need it and taxpayers deserve it. The lack of good performance data was painfully evident in the debate about Challenges for Change during the session. If elected, it would be a priority.
I’m pretty sure Pollina is leaning towards running in the Dem primary (talked to him about it last week).
This is very good news. As a Moretown Selectman and as an officer in the Washington County Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO, I stand 100% behind Anthony and will work very hard to help deliver the primary and general election vote to him both in Moretown and in the county as such. I have no doubt that as a Senator he will stand firmly for the interests of the farmers and working people of the county and for Vermonters as a whole.
-Dave Van Deusen,
District Vice President, Vermont AFL-CIO
Go Mr. Hoffer and Mr. Racine~!
Mr. Howard – more please…
IRV – sore issue here in BTV. Will be uphill to bring it back to BTV anytime soon. Perhaps something can happen statewide From what I’ve seen its loaded with anti Kiss sentiment, and anti establishment sentiment (ie Bernie and Dean coming out for it), and anti ‘fairvote’ conspiracy sentiment – some of it is fair, most not – and of course, here in the NNE it received its nail in the coffin.
Would love to see voting that offered choice, and got us away from minority rule, but protected us from the tyranny of the mob… I figure if we can find a way to stay in Afghanistan for an undetermined amount of time – we ought to be able to come up with a safe, fair, secure way to have run off voting that really reflects the people’s choice – and doesn’t put undue burden on muni’s and state government to recount and run multiple elections…
I don’t necessarily agree with all of Sands’ positions across the board, but he seems to be willing to listen to different opinions, give careful consideration to potential implications, and bring good solutions to the table when there are strong disagreements on important issues. You can’t ask for much more than that from the person in charge of law enforcement for the state.