Gov. Peter Shumlin was re-elected as chairman of the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) on Monday.
The DGA, whose stated mission is to elect Democratic governors, held its annual meeting in Washington, D.C. According to Politico, the members sanctioned Shumlin’s bid for a second term during their annual meeting.
Next year will be Shumlin’s second in the post, and it will be much busier than his first. Shumlin oversaw two elections during 2013 — an unsuccessful race in New Jersey and a successful one in Virginia.
Shumlin has said that he identified the New Jersey race, in which Republican incumbent Chris Christie emerged victorious, as a lost cause from the start. The DGA chose to focus exclusively on the Virginia race, spending more than $6 million to assist the winner, Terry McAuliffe.
In 2014, there will be 36 gubernatorial elections, including Shumlin’s. He recently confirmed to Seven Days that he plans to run for a third term. Although he won’t formally start campaigning until Labor Day, Seven Days reported that the governor engineered a fundraiser with prominent donors in November, on his own behalf.
According to Politico, the Republican Governors Association (RGA), which recently elected Christie as its chair, raised $24 million during the first half of 2013 to the DGA’s $15 million, and is expected to continue to outperform the DGA on the fundraising front.
