The Vermont Republican Party showcased some of its fresher faces Wednesday as it attempts to cut into Democratic domination of the Vermont House.
House Minority Leader Rep. Don Turner, R-Milton, introduced several members of the party’s “Freedom and Unity” campaign at a Montpelier news conference. With about four weeks left until the general election, the GOP is mounting a final push to expand its 44-member caucus in the 150-seat House of Representatives.
Backed by a dozen or so incumbents, six relative political newcomers took turns criticizing Gov. Peter Shumlin and the Democratic leadership.
“For the last six years, a supermajority has controlled the Vermont House of Representatives,” Turner said. “For six years this supermajority has had the grandest opportunity to make great improvements in Vermonters’ lives. Voters need to ask the very simple question: ‘Has this occurred?’”
The candidates who spoke said voters have expressed concerns about rising property taxes, the cost of Shumlin’s goal of a publicly financed health care system, and barriers to economic growth, all of which they blamed on Democrats.
Turner criticized the administration’s penchant for being first in the nation on social issues, citing Shumlin’s support for a GMO labeling law that could cost the state millions to defend in court.
“Is labeling food more important than having the ability to buy it?” he asked.
Valerie Mullin of Monkton, who is challenging incumbents Reps. Mike Fisher and Dave Sharpe in Addison County, told of an elderly woman who borrowed against her life insurance to pay her property taxes.
“She had hoped to have enough money to pay for her burial,” Mullin said, adding that the woman told her the government now “has it all.”
Others spoke of what they see as a lack of opportunity for young people to find work in Vermont.
Paul Dame of Essex Junction, who is making his second bid for a House seat, said many of his peers who used to work at IBM have left the state, though he failed to mention that changes in IBM employment seemingly have more to do with corporate strategy than with Vermont’s business climate.
“We all want our children to grow up here, to stay here and prosper with their families in this same place we call home,” Dame said. “But that picturesque reality is shattered for me, by the conversations I’m having with voters.”
The other candidates who spoke were Corey Parent of St. Albans, Michael Ly of Burlington, Kristin Sohlstrom of Barre, and Larry Fiske of Enosburg.
None of the speakers at the rally offered plans to address the specific concerns they raised.
Turner said Republicans are competing in 84 House districts this fall, 11 more than in 2012.
The group’s political action committee, Common Sense PAC, has raised $29,060 this election cycle and spent nearly $25,000 on races throughout the state, according to its latest campaign finance report.
