The Dems’ state chair, Terje Anderson, noted that the party was looking for someone with Vermont experience because the transition is coming in the middle of campaign season. Massey is a past chair of the Washington County Democratic Party and headed the Dems’ 2014 coordinated campaign — the party’s central effort to support the entire ticket.
“He’s been around the track here,” Anderson said of Massey. “He’s ready to come in without needing a ‘Welcome to Vermont’ primer.”
“Vermont is a very special place that can be an example on social justice,” said Massey. “We have a huge responsibility to write our own future.”
When asked about his priorities in the new job, he said, “We want to win this fall. We want a veto-proof majority [in the House] and to win back the governorship.”
The 40-year-old Massey is a native of Kentucky. After living in Vermont and working for the state party for a few years, he and his family moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, in 2015 where he worked for the Progressive Housing Society, an organization that found housing for homeless people.
Regarding his move to Canada, he said, “We thought the blue wave would continue, and either Bernie [Sanders] or Hillary [Clinton] would be elected. On Election Night [2016], I realized that to run away from a challenge isn’t a good way to solve anything.”
So, when some were contemplating a move to Canada, Massey did the reverse.
He and his family settled in Winooski this past February. His wife, Melissa, is a yoga instructor. They have three children: 20-year-old Eden (who is a restaurant manager in Denver, Colo.), 11-year-old Clayton and 9-year-old Yemaya.
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While there are difficulties and compromise is needed when governmental power is divided between parties, it is far better than what happens either in Washington D.C. or Vermont when one party is completely dominate. The value of Mr. Massey’s goal of a veto proof House is questionable.
We are still recovering from the excesses and poor policy choices made during the Shumlin Administration when one party controlled everything in Vermont. Likewise damage being done by an ideologically driven Administration in Washington, where there are not the needed checks and balances, will require years of recovery for our nation.
Will Mr. Massey be civil and constructive, or will he be the hyper-partisan attack dog that his predecessors have been.
Will the Party recognize and represent and speak for the thousands and thousands and thousands of Democratic moderates like me, or will it be a shill for the Progs, as it has in the past, and continue to push us out, just as the national Republican have done on their side.
This is a fantastic choice! Having met Mr. Massey when he was last in Vermont, I saw how hard he works for Vermonters. Unlike, Conor Casey, Massey will allow the People to lead the VDP not the other way around and he certainly isn’t a partisan attack dog!