Editor’s note: This article is by Matt Hongoltz-Hetling of the Valley News, in which it was first published Nov. 11, 2014.
POMFRET — Republican Scott Milne, whose campaign for governor outperformed pundit predictions and outlasted voting day, is driving around New England, tending to family and business matters as he weighs his next move in a bid for Vermont government’s top spot.
As election night came to a close on Nov. 4, it became clear that Milne’s deficit of what later turned out to be 2,434 votes, and the lack of a majority vote for Democratic incumbent Gov. Peter Shumlin, would unexpectedly send the race to the Legislature.
If it does, Milne may soon be back out on the campaign trail, except this time he’ll be looking for votes from elected representatives rather than the voting public.
“We’re just trying to understand all the fundamental things,” he said, “and then all the technical and strategic things will follow.”
And so, with a legislative vote still two months away, Milne is trying to shift his focus to those things that he didn’t have time for during his campaign.
Over the weekend, he drove to Rochester, N.Y., with his father, Donald Milne, to celebrate his aunt’s 90th birthday.
Milne said his 80-year-old father, who serves as clerk of the Vermont House, is being “pretty careful not to cross those boundary lines” in conversations between the two.
“Mostly, we’re talking about family stuff,” Milne said. “He’s not really getting into telling me what to do with the Legislature.”
On Monday, Milne, who owns a travel agency with offices throughout New England, including in West Lebanon, was in Waterville, Maine, working on a potential business deal with Colby College.
In some ways, Milne said, his time in electoral limbo has brought him more fame than his campaign ever did.
“A few more people recognize me than they did last week,” he said.
Milne said he isn’t acting any differently now that he’s officially off the campaign trail.
“It’s funny,” he said. “I was criticized for never getting into campaign mode. Now, I haven’t even noticed I’m out of it.”
For a candidate who was not known for having a dramatic presence, Milne suddenly finds himself involved in the center of a drama with enormous stakes: If he can somehow eke out a win, it would be an enormous coup for Republicans — and for the conservative values they espouse — in a state known for trending blue.
He has suggested that lawmakers should consider voting how their districts did, rather than who won the plurality of votes.
Still, other leading Republicans in the state haven’t quite made up their mind about whether to support Milne with what would undoubtedly be a controversial, albeit secret-ballot, legislative vote.
“I’ve been going back and forth with this,” Senate Minority Leader Joe Benning, R-Caledonia, said.
Benning, whose Caledonia Senate district includes several Bradford-area towns, said he hasn’t made up his own mind about whether he should vote for Milne, as the majority of his constituents did, or whether he should follow tradition, which since 1853 has seen every similar situation end with legislative support for the top vote-getter.
He said that it will come down to the relative weight he should assign to those two factors, as well as his conscience about who he thinks can best govern the state
Benning said he is meeting with other Republican caucus members on Nov. 19 to talk about the issue, and emphasized that members will be encouraged to make their own decision.
“I’ve made it clear I’m not going to arm-twist anybody,” he said.
Democrats, even those in districts where Milne won a majority, said they were less conflicted about how to cast their legislative votes for governor.
In the Caledonia Senate district, where Milne earned more than 59 percent of the vote, Sen. Jane Kitchel, D-Caledonia, said that to upend tradition with a vote for Milne would destabilize the electoral system and create a sense of unease among voters.
“We’re talking about a statewide office and we should respect the popular vote,” Kitchel said.
She said that when she thinks of the upcoming legislative session, her mind is more occupied by policy than politics.
“My efforts are going to be around how are we going to get the budget balanced, and get the exchange to where we need it to be, and to protect the children of the state,” she said.
Rep. Sarah Buxton, D-Tunbridge, said she has “been thinking a lot” about the pending vote, what with Milne carrying Tunbridge with 50.2 percent of the vote and Royalton with 49.1 percent.
Buxton said that the state system is different than the national electoral college system, which expects electors to vote with their constituencies.
“To give leadership to the person who didn’t receive the greatest number of votes seems to me to be a very unconscionable exercise of our legislative powers,” she said.
To convince enough lawmakers in the Democrat-controlled Legislature that he should be seated as governor is an uphill battle for Milne.
But if there’s one thing the underdog has learned from the election, it’s how to come from behind in the face of long odds.
Despite indicators that it would be a very good year for Republicans nationally, there were few signs that Milne would be able to ride the red tide; Shumlin outspent him by a 4-to-1 margin, and Milne trailed by double digits in most election polls prior to election night.
Milne said he was unlikely to pursue a lengthy legal challenge, despite his personal connection with a man who knows a thing or two about close elections.
David Boies III, a friend of Milne’s since their college days and a business partner in a realty development firm, is the son of famed lawyer David Boies II, who represented former Vice President Al Gore after Gore won the popular vote but narrowly lost the electoral college vote in the 2000 U.S. presidential election.
While Milne acknowledged a close friendship with the son of the man he called “arguably America’s greatest living lawyer,” he said he wasn’t planning on becoming his latest client.
“I think the perspective is, we don’t want this to be settled in the courts,” he said. “We want this to be settled in a way that will be easily processed, and is in the best short-term and long-term interests of Vermont.”
Matt Hongoltz-Hetling can be reached at mhonghet@vnews.com or 603-727-3211.
