[V]ermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan is eying a run for governor in 2020, according to three sources familiar with his thinking.
Donovan has yet to make a final decision on a gubernatorial bid, but he has discussed his candidacy as a serious possibility within Democratic party circles.
The attorney general is still weighing whether to mount a campaign against the popular Republican Gov. Phil Scott, who is yet to announce a reelection bid, but who Democrats expect to run for a third term.
One source familiar with Donovan’s plans said he is “exploring very seriously” what a campaign in 2020 would look like, and has expressed concerns about Scott’s approach as governor.
“He’s frustrated at some basic Democratic issues that Phil is in the way of, and he thinks he can campaign on those,” the source said.
At the Curtis-Hoff Awards dinner, a yearly fundraiser for the Vermont Democratic Party held in April, Donovan delivered what some attendees said sounded like an early campaign stump speech.
He discussed the importance of electing a strong Democratic governor in 2020 who can enact key party priorities, like a minimum wage increase and a paid family leave program — policies that fell to inter-party squabbling this past legislative session.
Scott has opposed many top Democratic priorities in recent years, including these two key economic initiatives. He vetoed paid leave and minimum wage bills in 2018, but then cruised to re-election over the untested Democratic candidate, Christine Hallquist.
In an interview Wednesday, Donovan said he was “nowhere near in terms of making a decision one way or the other,” but that he has been discussing a possible 2020 run. “I’ve had conversations, but that’s what I would chalk it up to, conversations,” he said.
“I love being attorney general, it’s a great job. I love the state of Vermont and I care about its future,” Donovan added. “So I would just say people are asking me, I’ve had a couple conversations and that’s the extent of it.”
There is pressure on the Vermont Democratic Party to roll out a strong candidate in 2020 to take advantage of the blue wave that is expected to vote against President Donald Trump, regardless of who comes out of the Democratic field (but especially if it’s Sen. Bernie Sanders).
“I definitely think he has a shot,” said a Democratic insider. “I think 2020 in Vermont is going to not be a good year to have an R after your name.”
Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman, a Progressive/Democrat, has also been mulling a possible bid for governor in 2020, sources say. Zuckerman is a former senator and Sanders acolyte who won a tough Democratic primary against former House Speaker Shap Smith in 2016 to become lieutenant governor.
Donovan and Zuckerman have been in direct communication about possible gubernatorial runs and both have been reluctant to challenge the other in a primary contest, according to two party sources.
Zuckerman declined to discuss his 2020 thinking or his conversations with Donovan about their future plans.
“I feel little pressure to make any immediate decision and have very large—life, family, spouse, child—factors to consider and right now would rather focus on organizing on important issues like minimum wage and paid leave to get more momentum on those for next year,” he said.
Donovan said discussions with Zuckerman on the matter, if they happened, would remain private.
Rep. Johanna Donovan, D-Burlington, TJ Donovan’s mother, said a primary contest between the attorney general and the lieutenant governor was a real possibility.
“If its a primary it’s going to a be a tough primary. Both TJ and David are from Chittenden County and it will be a very lively, I hope respectful, campaign if that happens,” she said. “And I think that too will also kind of get the Democratic voters out early and interested early.”
But Donovan said she wasn’t certain of her son’s 2020 gubernatorial ambitions.
“Traditional Democrats are looking for TJ to step up, and 2020 will be a big year,” she said. “I don’t know what your relationship with your mother is like, but I don’t think I’m the first person he consults with on political decisions.”
TJ Donovan has served as attorney general since 2016, after the longtime incumbent, Bill Sorrell, stepped aside. Donovan lost to Sorrell in a fierce Democratic primary in 2012, but immediately returned to his job as Chittenden County state’s attorney, because elections for that office are held in off years.
If Donovan ran for governor in 2020, he would have to open the way for a new attorney general, and would be out of a job if he loses. He briefly worked in private practice before going to work at the county prosecutor’s office.
Since taking office, Donovan has frequently joined other states in mounting legal opposition to President Trump— suing the administration over decisions including an emergency declaration to build a wall along the southern border, the Environmental Protection Agency’s rollback of federal emissions standards, and attempts to make seeking asylum illegal.
Donovan has been open about using the attorney general’s bully pulpit to advance Democratic political priorities, such as standing up to Trump’s efforts to roll back rights for the transgender community.
“Oh, yes, I’m going to oppose that,” he said during a 2018 campaign interview. “And I’m gonna do everything I can to fight it. Because the message is more powerful sometimes than the legal argument.”
