Gov. Peter Shumlin has ventured as far as Rome in his role as chair of the Democratic Governors Association.
But Friday and Saturday, he’s entertaining four governors and about 70 DGA members — some of them donors — on his home turf, at the Equinox Resort and Spa in Manchester.
It’s part of the DGA tradition for the chair to host an event each year, according to DGA spokesperson Danny Kanner.
The group will dine at Hildene on Friday evening — a Georgian Revival mansion built by Robert Todd Lincoln, son of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln.
Saturday, they will have a breakfast and a political forum for two hours and a closing reception for another two hours. The rest of the day is unscheduled.
The purpose of the event, Kanner said, is “to gather Democratic governors and DGA members to discuss job growth and the economy.”
Stephanie Cutter, a political consultant who’s worked for a number of high-profile Democratic officeholders, including President Barack Obama, is speaking at the event. Cutter was recently hired to co-host the political debate show “Crossfire” on CNN.
Shumlin, along with New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan and Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy will then dash up to Quebec in time to attend another annual affair — the Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers, which starts at 8:45 a.m. Monday.
DGA members will pay $350 for the three-day event in Manchester — unless they are also donors and fall into the top three tiers of giving (as of 2010, these categories ranged from $50,000 to $250,000), in which case they’re entitled to a certain number of fee waivers.
