The second-place finisher in last month’s gubernatorial election called on the legislature Monday to name him governor in January.
Emerging from a month out of the limelight, Republican Scott Milne called his near-victory over Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin a rebuke of the incumbent’s four years in office. He told reporters during a morning press conference at the Statehouse that he would press on in his bid to become governor, despite falling 2,434 votes short.
Since no candidate received a majority of the votes cast in last month’s election, Vermont’s constitution dictates that the legislature choose a governor from among the top three contenders. Shumlin won 46.4 percent, Milne 45.1 percent and Libertarian Dan Feliciano 4.4 percent.
Milne told reporters he believes legislators “will place the best interests of Vermont ahead of what is good for themselves or their political interests.”
“If I were one of them,” he continued, “I would very seriously consider a vote for Scott Milne.”
Though Milne has previously floated the notion that legislators should support the candidate who won a plurality in their district, he did not make that argument Monday. Instead, he characterized next month’s vote as one of “conscience.” He said legislators should also take into consideration Shumlin’s performance as governor.
“I would consider the record of the incumbent in judging whether his record justifies the blessing of a vote for the office,” Milne said. “I would weigh his promises against his performance. No one earns another term, but performance must serve as a measure of fitness.”
Milne said he had considered waging a “political campaign” in the legislature, hiring a lobbyist to make his case and busing supporters to the Statehouse to demonstrate enthusiasm for his bid, but he opted against those approaches.
“I don’t think it should be a big P.R. campaign,” he said. “I think what Vermonters like about my humble campaign is we didn’t try to sell people things. This is for people to talk to their legislators about and for legislators to decide what they think is best for Vermont.”
As such, he said, he will not spend the next month lobbying lawmakers to support his candidacy.
“I am not proactively going to be trying to convince legislators to vote for me,” he said, adding that his “door is open” to those who hope to discuss the election with him. “But I don’t think … it should be something I should be twisting arms for.”
“I ask only fair consideration in the vote for governor,” he said.
Throughout Vermont’s history, the legislature has chosen the top vote-getter in 20 of the 23 times in which no gubernatorial candidate has won a majority. But Milne disputed the notion that the second-place finisher ought to concede.
“All this mumbo jumbo about how there’s a precedent of people conceding is simply not true,” he said. “It’s [the legislature’s] job to decide who’s going to be best for Vermont.”
Asked what he had done to prepare for the immense challenges he’d face the moment he became governor in January, Milne replied, “I’ve run for office.”
“People laughed off my credibility as a governor when I got into this,” he continued. “Many people did. Many people didn’t, obviously. What I said when I got into it is running for office is a pretty good test of whether you can be governor. I think I passed that test.”
Milne said he would be ready to govern if elected and would accept help from those interested in joining his hypothetical administration.
“Anybody listening, watching, interested in helping get Vermont back on track, whether you’re a Progressive, an independent, a Republican — I guess we don’t want any Bolsheviks — you know, reach out to me,” he said. “Let me know.”
In a written statement provided to reporters after the press conference, Shumlin said he was confident the legislature would elect him governor and that he was focused on “the challenges facing our state.”
“I am honored to have received the most votes in this election and would not want to serve as governor if I did not,” Shumlin said. “I continue to believe that the legislature will honor the long democratic tradition of electing the candidate who received the most votes.”
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So the guy with the least votes thinks he should be the Guv???
Classy. Jeez, so much for losing with dignity.
I think many eligible Vermonters did not bother to vote because there appeared to be no contest for the top job and a respectable turnout would have easily resulted in more than 50% for Governor Shumlin. There is no justification for deviating from tradition in this case.
I appreciate the sentiments of Scott Milne, however, I will not be voting for him when I am asked to cast my vote in the race for Governor. If there were a large turnout that reflected a groundswell of support for change, that might signal a push for change. If there was a huge majority of combined votes between two candidates that clearly “split” the ideology of the voters then I would consider the second place finisher. For instance, if a 38% or 42% candidate was the plurality winner, but clearly the strong majority (58%-62% in this example) were supporting a similar agenda split between two candidates, then it would appear that a wave for change occurred and was split.
But neither of those scenario’s are in place in this election.
In fact, most reasonable observers (Vermonters) have expressed to me that many refrained from voting because they had personality issues with the Governor. But in hindsight, they would have voted for him if they thought it was going to be this close, as they supported his general positions on issues, more than they did his opponents.
I respect my colleagues who will be voting otherwise, but I think it is a stretch to say that this election was a clear signal for change. When such a clear signal is given, it would be through a high turnout election, not a record low turnout in a generation.
Even Shumlin admitted when he was giving his speech at City Park, that the closeness of the race sent a clear message to him that Vermonters were not happy with his “reign”. I for one, did not support Shumlin, not only because I think he is pompous, but clearly, has used the past years as a personal platform to further his own future ambitions, whether it be obtaining personal property, his numerous trips out of Vermont, his soapbox stance for drug control, while still approving budget cuts to the agencies that would combat this problem OR approving the F-35’s coming to our neighborhoods and NOT listening to the thousands of families it would impact (and who are not his business cronies) his failure to bring sustainable, secure jobs to Vermont, etc. WHAT HAS HE ACTUALLY DONE FOR US? I personally think Milne is more in touch with listening to the needs of Vermonters and isn’t tainted yet with the “I’ll scratch your back, if you scratch mine” political wheel that Shumlin is on but will Milne be elected Governor? I think not…too bad!
The 1st 4 posters did not mention the obvious here. That is that Milne, who spent a quarter for every dollar that Shummy spent and was the late underdog prevailed in the majority of counties and came very close in the popular vote. Whew! That is a precedent that suggests the current Gov just ain’t cutting it. Scott Milne is a valid contender and based on Gov-performance to date, why fear change? Leading and big change is the 802 way, right?
The Real Story at the News Conference!
The real story at today’s Milne news conference was Paul Heintz acting like a spoiled child. After blurting out a series of four rapid fire questions which were answered by Milne – he became angered when Milne cut off his fifth question in an attempt to give the dozen or more other journalist an opportunity to speak.. “Little” Paul started to shout out random questions like “Why don’t you concede?”, “Don’t you believe in democracy?”, “Do you think we still need elections?” and the like! The child-like tantrum was certainly a new low for Heintz – who has acted badly in interactions with Milne before, specifically at the October Milne news conference on Education in Barre!
If Heintz is trying to make Milne look poorly, he is not succeeding as Milne effectively puts him in his place without looking disrespectful! We all understand that Heintz is one of Shumlin’s most loyal “back door” buddies! Grow-up Paul – Shumlin will probably be returned to office, so you and his other big supporters will be left trying to explain why our great state has wound up in the “dumper” thanks to Shumlin !
H. Brooke Paige
Washington, Vermont
postscript: Paul, even if Milne had conceded, as Feliciano did, he would still be on the January ballot, as Feliciano is, and the Legislature would still be required to select the next governor from the three highest vote-getters. What was your point in asking Milne, “Why don’t you just concede?” ?