Rep. Heidi Scheuermann will not run for governor.
The Republican from Stowe says she started her exploration of a gubernatorial bid too late, and she doesn’t have the time to build the kind of campaign she needs to run against Gov. Peter Shumlin, the two-term incumbent Democrat.
“It’s just a matter of timing and the ability to put together the kind of effort I wanted to put together for this,” Scheuermann said. “I wasn’t going to be able to do that. I’m a little disappointed, but I think it’s the right decision and I want to let others evaluate and consider their options.”
Scheuermann said it wasn’t about competing with Shumlin for campaign funds — the governor has $1 million in his war chest — she says she always knew it would be a different kind of race.
But her decision was financial to the extent that she needed enough money to hire someone to run her property management company in Stowe. When she wasn’t able to pull together those funds, she had to bow out.
Scheuermann said the Vermont GOP has been very encouraging and “helpful throughout this process.”
David Sunderland, chair of the Vermont GOP, said the party is disappointed to hear that Scheuermann will not be a candidate.
“I thought she would have brought a strong voice to the campaign and would have brought some alternative solutions to the problems Vermont has,” Sunderland said. “It’s totally understandable. Making a commitment to run for any state office is a huge commitment that involves people’s personal lives, families and jobs, and it is definitely a difficult thing for anyone to do.”
Yesterday, WCAX reported that Scott Milne, a Republican businessman from North Pomfret, is considering a run for governor. Milne, president of Milne Travel, is away on business in North Africa. Emily Peyton of Putney has also announced that she will seek the GOP nomination. Sunderland said the party will not endorse Peyton because she received less than 25 percent of the vote in 2012.
Other contenders include former state Sen. Randy Brock who ran against Shumlin in 2012.
Bruce Lisman, former head of global equities for Bear Stearns and founder of Campaign for Vermont, a political advocacy group, is also said to be considering a run as an independent.
Sunderland said it is possible the Republicans will have a primary.
The party chair said Republicans have an opportunity to address the status of the state’s economy, which he says has been stagnant since Gov. Peter Shumlin took office.
Job losses, in particular, he said, are of great concern. Though Shumlin touts the state’s low unemployment rate, which was at 3.4 percent in March, Sunderland says that number masks “the real issue.”
“About 8,000 people have dropped out of the workforce since he took office,” Sunderland said.
The shrinking workforce, he said, is the result of long-term unemployment, people leaving the state for work and older workers retiring who haven’t been replaced by younger workers.
Sunderland says the governor refuses to face the reality of what he calls a “chronic decline in the workforce.”
“Vermonters are looking for solutions for our economy and a way to get jobs growing again,” Sunderland said.
Sunderland said state taxes and fees continue to rise but paychecks are not increasing at the same rate. “As the Legislature closed, Gov. Shumlin and Democrats in the Legislature have pushed forward another $5 million in tax increases,” Sunderland said. “I think Vermonters are open to someone with different ideas who can help make Vermont a more affordable place to live and work.”
Editor’s note: This story was updated with more information from Sunderland and the letter from Scheuermann at 12:35 p.m.
Statement from Rep. Heidi E. Scheuermann follows:
After a great deal of thought and consideration over the last two months, I have decided that I will not run for Vermont Governor this year. Given the incredible support and encouragement I have received from Vermonters all over the state, this decision was a very difficult one, but it is simply not the right time for me.
As a native Vermonter, I have deep concerns about the direction in which this state is headed, and have worked diligently for 8 years in the House of Representatives to address those concerns. Unfortunately, instead of smoothing out the road for Vermont families and businesses by making things a little less costly and a little less complicated, the Governor and Democratic Supermajority in Montpelier does the opposite, creating frost heaves and putting up roadblocks to success.
We have a still stagnant economy with anemic growth; we are facing yet another $70 million shortfall in our state budget next year as projected increases in spending outpace our revenues; Montpelier continues to refuse to address the issue of skyrocketing property taxes; and, the anxiety Vermonters are feeling right now with regard to a $2.2 billion taxpayer financed, single payer health care system is palpable.
We need commonsense leadership that puts Vermonters first. We need a Governor who will listen and learn from Vermonters about their challenges and opportunities, and one who will put Vermonters first by leading with strength, conviction, and transparency. While I am certain that I would provide that kind of leadership, it is simply not the right time for me to run for Governor.
I will, instead, run for reelection to the House of Representatives and hope that I have the honor to continue to serve my hometown of Stowe in that capacity. I will continue my vigorous advocacy for a long-term strategy for economic growth, a comprehensive reform of our education and education funding system, and health care reform that works for all Vermonters.
We must foster an economy in which opportunities abound; in which we encourage investment in Vermonters and Vermont ideas; in which we celebrate and reward the success of our innovators and entrepreneurs; and in which we truly support the thousands of small businesses around the state providing good jobs to Vermonters.
We must work together to develop and education system that is student-focused; a system that provides a world-class education that prepares Vermont students for the 21st century global economy in which we now live. But, we must do it at a price Vermonters can afford, and in a way that reconnects taxpayers both to the budgets voted upon and money spent, and to the outcomes achieved.
And we must develop a health care system that focuses on the patient and not on politics. We must first make Vermont Health Connect work, and then do all we can to open up the Exchange to provide Vermonters with more and better health care options at lower costs.
I am privileged to serve my constituents and eager to continue fighting for our state. We can do better. We must do better.
