[D]emocratic gubernatorial hopeful Sue Minter earned the endorsement of one of the state’s top Democrats on Monday, a boost to a candidate who trails her primary opponents in name recognition early in the 2016 campaign.
“She can manage effectively and I think Vermonters are looking for that,” former gubernatorial candidate Doug Racine told VTDigger on Monday.
Racine, a former lieutenant governor and human services secretary, has mounted two competitive but unsuccessful gubernatorial runs in his time in Vermont politics. In his 2010 primary run against Gov. Peter Shumlin he lost by around 200 votes.
Racine said he had considered a run in 2016, but decided against it.
“I did mull it over when the governor announced he wasn’t going to run for another term,” Racine said. “I was feeling like it wasn’t my time, but I wanted to see a good, strong candidate.”
Racine said House Speaker Shap Smith, D-Morristown, and Google executive Matt Dunne – who are also running – sought his endorsement but that he decided to endorse the former transportation secretary.
Eric Davis, a retired professor of political science from Middlebury College, said Racine’s endorsement could boost Minter’s name recognition throughout the state, but said in a low-turnout primary, unions and environmental groups hold more sway in their endorsements.
“Racine’s endorsement won’t sway large numbers of voters, but it will legitimize her as a major player in the race to a few well-informed Democrats,” Davis said.
Racine and Rep. Mary Sullivan, D-Burlington, will host an event for Minter this fall in Burlington, and Racine has promised to help Minter in any capacity she requests.
“Behind the scenes or stumping, I will do whatever is most helpful to getting her elected,” he said.
Racine and Minter developed a strong working relationship following Tropical Storm Irene, when the two worked together to rebuild infrastructure and find housing for displaced Vermonters.
“We had an enormous task to try to help the survivors and the folks who were really impacted by the flood to get into safe housing,” Minter said. “We got to know one another well.”
In the first Castleton Polling Institute gubernatorial survey of the season, Smith was the top Democrat with 40 percent of those polled giving him “somewhat favorable” marks and another 20 percent recording “very favorable” responses.
Minter received a “very favorable” rating from 16 percent of respondents, but only 38 percent of respondents said they knew who she was.
Dunne, a former state senator who also ran two statewide campaigns, had a higher recognition rating than Minter, with 57 percent, but Dunne scored a lower favorability rating, with 8 percent giving a “very favorable” response.
