Two new candidates are vying to lead the Vermont Republican Party as it seeks to claw its way out of “super-minority” status in the Legislature.
Current chair Jack Lindley is still contemplating whether he will try to hold onto his seat, which would bring the pool of contenders to three. Lindley has spent the past month at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center recuperating from a sudden illness.
Other Republicans aren’t waiting for him to make up his mind. During the past two days, a former Vermont legislator and a former Massachusetts legislator, each told respective supporters that they would enter the election, which takes place Nov. 9.
John MacGovern, the former Massachusetts representative, secured some name recognition in 2012, when he ran as a Republican against Sen. Bernie Sanders. Before that, the Windsor resident made two unsuccessful attempts at a state Senate seat.
Seven Days reporter Paul Heintz blogged the news Wednesday evening after he obtained an email that MacGovern had sent to supporters.
MacGovern did not return a request for comment.
Lindley’s other challenger is David Sunderland, a Rutland resident who spent five years in Vermont’s House before leaving politics to focus on his job as an engineer with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. Sunderland, who had been wavering about whether to run, made a final decision today.
A number of the party’s key leaders have lined up behind Sunderland, whereas MacGovern appears to face an uphill battle.
House Minority Leader Don Turner said he hadn’t “made up his mind fully” about who he will support, but he had plenty of positive things to say about Sunderland, with whom he served in the House. Asked about MacGovern, Turner confessed, “I don’t really know much about him.”
Lt. Gov. Phil Scott, a former state senator who also served with Sunderland in the Legislature, was similarly enthusiastic about his prospects.
“He’s somebody that I got to know a little bit when he was in the House and I was in the Senate, and I was always impressed with the way he conducted himself,” Scott said. “I think he has the skills necessary to bring people together and facilitate team building. I have a lot of faith in him.”
The Vermont Republican Party is struggling to maintain its relevance in state politics, which is overwhelmingly dominated by Democrats. Scott is the GOP’s only statewide official. There are 45 Republicans in the 150-member Vermont House and seven in the 30-member Senate.
Scott said Sunderland is part of an informal group he has led that has been “contemplating the party’s future,” and his name was on a list of potential candidates the group drew up.
And MacGovern? “We’ll get to know John a little better [during the chair election],” Scott said.
Senate Minority Leader Joe Benning said he knows both candidates, but he wasn’t aware that MacGovern had entered the race. At first blush, Benning said he was “leaning toward” Sunderland because they share the same vision for the Vermont Republican Party. That vision, according to Benning, is that “Republicans need to learn how to appeal to the average Vermonter, and we need to focus on our concern about getting people back to work, and keeping spending at a point where we know we can sustain it.”
Sunderland espoused a message very much in line with Scott’s goal of steering the party in a more moderate direction and creating some distance between the state and national parties.
“I think there is definitely a need for a new direction and a new energy in the Vermont Republican Party,” Sunderland said. “I think I can build a consensus among people of differing views. During my five years in the House, I was able to gain respect of people on both sides of the aisle.”
If elected, Sunderland plans to keep the party focused on state issues. “Vermont is a unique state, and Republicans in Vermont are unique as well. I think the focus of the state party should be what we need to do in the state to make it more livable.”
Jeff Bartley, who chairs the Chittenden County branch of the party and, as a 28-year-old, is one of the younger faces among the party’s leadership, announced his support for Sunderland on Twitter Thursday morning: “@DASunderland is a strong Conservative, a fmr Rep. from Rutland. He knows how to/has won. Is Young. Energetic. What @VTGOP needs.”
Turner, who described the 48-year-old former lawmaker as a mentor to him when he first entered the House, also said Sunderland would give the party a better shot at drawing in young people.
“David is a younger person, and I think we need younger people in the party,” Turner said. “As far as John goes, I’m not sure about his ability to reach out to young people.”
Vermont Republicans say they aren’t concerned that the competition for the chairmanship could bring the fissures within their party into full view.
Deborah Bucknam, the acting chair in Lindley’s absence, declined to comment on the individual candidates but said the fact that there’s more than one is evidence of the party’s health. “If the party wasn’t healthy, we’d be begging people for this job.”
“I am extremely excited that there is competition,” Turner said. “I hope it shows Vermonters that the Vermont GOP is a viable entity.”
Lindley, meanwhile, is improving quickly, according to Mark Snelling, the party treasurer, who visited him in the hospital Wednesday. “He is doing great. I was really thrilled. He’s making a lot of progress, and he is very determined to get back to work.”
Lindley is scheduled to move today from the hospital to a rehabilitation program.
