Gov. Peter Shumlin says he is not lobbying lawmakers to vote for him on Jan. 8.
Next week lawmakers will cast secret ballots to elect the new governor. It is typically a pro forma exercise in which legislators vote for the candidate who is the top vote-getter.
Neither Milne nor Shumlin received more than 50 percent of the vote on Election Day, and under the Vermont Constitution, the Legislature must now decide who will be governor.
Scott Milne, the Republican challenger, has said he hopes the overwhelmingly Democratic Legislature will support his bid for governor, even though he did not receive the most votes on Nov. 4.
Milne’s supporters announced on Monday that they are launching television ads and a grassroots campaign to urge lawmakers to support the Republican candidate. Shumlin beat Milne by less than 2,400 votes on Election Day. Milne did not ask for a recount, nor has he conceded the race.
In remarks at a press conference on Tuesday, Shumlin dismissed the idea of lobbying for legislative votes.
“I think we compromise the democracy that we love if we ask candidates to run two campaigns — one for the office they wish to seek and another for a legislative vote, so I won’t be campaigning,” Shumlin told reporters. “I deeply believe that the right thing for any candidate to do is to abide by the people’s will and those who get the most votes should win and those who don’t should concede.”
Legislators have traditionally supported the top vote-getter, Shumlin said.
“We know that the precedent has been for both Republicans and Democrats for years that the person who gets the most votes is honored and that’s the person we elect,” Shumlin said.
The governor told reporters that he has not lobbied individual lawmakers to vote for him (although he did ask the House and Senate Democratic caucuses for support several weeks ago).
Shumlin says he has talked to lawmakers about the issues the Legislature faces in the upcoming session. No. 1 on his list is the “structural” budget gap the state must resolve. In fiscal year 2016, the gap is roughly $100 million. Bending the cost curve on education spending is also a priority, he said.
A new advocacy group, Vermonters for Honest Government, led by Bill Round, a retired U.S. Navy captain, hopes to persuade lawmakers to vote for Milne because he says Shumlin is not fit to continue in office.
Round is running television ads on WPTZ, WCAX and Local 22. He is also organizing volunteers who will be pressuring lawmakers to vote for Milne.
Round says legislators should vote against Shumlin because “he’s promised a lot and failed to deliver.” The issues the retired Newport Center resident is most exercised about include “skyrocketing” property taxes, “out of control” education spending and state budget deficits.