Speculation ran high on election night that the governor’s race would end up in a recount, or in the hands of the Vermont Legislature if neither candidate attained the constitutional minimum of 50 percent of the vote.
While results of the gubernatorial election were still too hazy in the wee hours of Wednesday morning for declaration of a winner, the smoke cleared in the light of day. At about 9:30 a.m., Republican Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie announced he would concede the race to his Democratic rival, Sen. Peter
Shumlin.
In the wake of seven weeks of vitriolic campaigning, Dubie pledged to “work with Sen. Shumlin and offer any support I can as lieutenant governor in helping him assume his new responsibilities.”
Shumlin, in turn, thanked Dubie for his commitment to public service.
At a press conference held at his campaign headquarters, Dubie told reporters he wouldn’t seek a recount. He asked his supporters to unite around Shumlin in the transition period as the governor-elect comes to terms with the state’s $112 million budget gap.
Dubie said: “I want to reiterate my appreciation for the 111,000 Vermonters who supported my candidacy for governor and trying to help me make Vermont … an even better state, the time now is to accept the will of the voters … and to call for Vermonters to unite around our new governor.
I think the best thing for me to do as a fellow Vermonter … is to say how can I help.”
With his wife, Penny, standing by his side, Dubie defended the tenor of his battle with Shumlin, which led to complaints about undue negativity.
The lieutenant governor said he knew from the beginning it would be a close race, and he said he had no regrets. He declared: “We ran an issue-oriented campaign.”
Two and a half hours later at a victory rally, Shumlin gave a shout-out to his opponent: “We were friends before this campaign, and we’ll be friends going forward, and I thank him for his service.”
Shumlin told an audience of more than 100 well-wishers that he would work with Vermonters from all parties.
“Mostly, I want to thank Vermonters … who invited us into their living rooms, who talked to us on Main Street, who met us across this state and talked about their dreams and their visions for a better future,” Shumlin said. “Those are the folks I promise I will work for every single day. We do not care if you are a Democrat, a Republican, an independent, a Progressive or any of the above.”
On Thursday, Shumlin will announce his transition plans, and he is expected to name his transition team.
The governor’s race was one of the most expensive in history, with hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on advertising by out-of-state entities, including the Republican Governors Association, which spent more than $500,000 on ads for Dubie, and the Democratic Governors Association, which purchased $1 million in advertising for Shumlin.
Around the country, Democratic gubernatorial candidates fared poorly.
Republicans gained 10 new governorships. The GOP now holds 34 out of 50 seats, The New York Times reported.
As of Wednesday evening, Shumlin had 117,105 votes, and the number of ballots cast for Dubie was 113,227, with 97.7 percent of polling places reporting, according to WCAX.
Official results won’t be available until Nov. 9, according to the Vermont Secretary of State’s office.
Excerpts and video from Shumlin’s speech follow.
You all have done extraordinary work. I cannot tell you how humbled I am to be the governor-elect. There is no state better than Vermont.
I received a call from Brian Dubie this morning. I want to think Brian for his commitment to Vermonters.
We were friends before this campaign and we’ll be friends going forward, and I thank him for his service.
I am extraordinarily grateful to have parents who taught us that you always keep trying, you always reach out to help others. The more you reach out the more you can do and giving us the confidence to do that.
Mostly I want to thank Vermonters … who invited us into their living rooms who talked to us on Main Street, who met us across this state and talked about their dreams and their visions for a better future. Those are the folks I promise I will work for every single day. We do not care if you are a Democrat, a Republican, an independent, a Progressive or any of the above. I have worked hard all of my life to get tough things done. We have tough things to do and today we begin that effort for every single Vermonter, every single day to make your future better — that starts today.
I think of the two women that we saw … in Rutland at the Halloween parade. I started working the sidelines and in my way I started talking to Vermonters and as we stopped, there were two women that told the story of this campaign — why we have worked so hard to be where we are right here at this moment. They were two women roughly 45. One of them said to me, what are you going to do for me? I’ve lost my job. I’ve lost my hope. I’ve lost my financial security. I want to know what you’re going to do for me. Her sister said, and I want to know what you’ll do for me. I want to start a new business. I have an idea but I have no capital, and every time I turn for capital I am told no. What will you do for me?
Across this state as we have traveled and talked and listened … the story has been continuous and consistent … the middle class has been kicked in the teeth, watched their incomes drop, their bills mount. They can’t keep up. They’re fearful that they cannot send their kids to college that they cannot pay their mortgages that they cannot retire. That their dream to succeed in Vermont may not happen in the way that they had hoped. That’s why we’re going to fight for every single day for the next two years to make their lives better.
Let’s close the door on those who are doom and gloom about Vermont’s future.
I know there is no better place in the world to run a business, to raise a family, to live. Our opportunity is extraordinary, and it’s our responsibility to seize that opportunity.
It’s in jobs, it’s in building our small businesses. It’s in lifting the incomes of those who have been kicked in the teeth. It’s about harnessing the opportunity as we get off our addiction to oil. It’s about building manufacturing, it’s rebuilding our farms.
It’s making Vermont the efficiency state and keeping those dollars in the state. … It’s about renewable energy. It’s about biotech. It’s about technology. We’re going to get there by making Vermont the state that tackles the real problems small businesses and Vermont families face. Health care costs? We’re going to tackle it. Internet access to every last mile? We’re going to deliver it. A tax structure that grows wealth and grows jobs? We’re going to get it done. A workforce that is second to none to anyone else in the world. From early childhood education to higher education that’s our responsibility, that’s our mandate, that’s how we’re going to work better to get it done.
Only in the Green Mountain state, in a sea of discouraging news nationally, would Vermonters come together and say, we believe it, we have hope, we think we can manage our own destiny. We believe we can beat the other 49 states to the economic opportunity for a better future for our children, to a better future for the two women in Fair Haven who talked to us on Saturday night.
Let’s do it together. We start today.
I’ve worked hard all my life. Today I go to work for every single Vermonter, every single Vermont family, every single Vermont small business. Let’s do it together. Thank you so much.
