Sen. Racine says he'll run for governor in 2010
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By Louis Porter Vermont Press Bureau - Published: January 6, 2009
MONTPELIER — Sen. Doug Racine said Monday he will run for governor in two years.
Racine, a Democrat and former lieutenant governor from Chittenden County, ran for the top job in 2002, losing by a very narrow margin to current Gov. James Douglas.
"I have been talking with folks about it, I have been thinking about it for quite a while," Racine said. "I am just not going to play the game, the usual game … I am just going to say it and feel good about it."
Racine added that the actual campaign will not begin until 2010, and he is currently concentrating on his work in the Senate, where he has been chairman of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee.
This is shaping up to be perhaps the earliest start for the governor's race in the state's history. Racine is the first candidate to say he plans on running. But he's not the first to be eyeing the race.
At least a half-dozen Democrats, including some prominent office holders, are considering running. That may well mean a primary for Democrats before the face-off against Douglas, if he runs for re-election.
"Like many other people I am exploring the idea," Secretary of State Deborah Markowitz said Monday. "It is really still too early to say."
"After the last cycle, when nobody made a decision until so late in the game … all of us in leadership are getting a lot of pressure to consider running and get in early," she said. "It takes a lot of work, it takes time to fundraise, it takes time to get around the state. It is not something that can easily be done a few months before the election."
But it is still too early to make a final decision about whether she will run or not, Markowitz said.
State Treasurer Jeb Spaulding said he plans on making a similar decision within the next few months. In any case, he expects there will be a primary among Democrats.
"I think it is important that Democratic candidates who are serious about running in 2010 get an early start," he said. "I think that means sometime early in 2009.
"I would be surprised if there were not a number of top-tier candidates giving that consideration," he added. "I have always anticipated a multi-person primary."
Another possible candidate, the head of the Vermont Senate, said he is focused on the 2009 legislative agenda right now, not politics.
"I am focusing my attention on the worst fiscal crisis in Vermont's history. It is taking all of my energy at this time," said Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin, D-Windham.
Some Democrats believe that House Speaker Gaye Symington's late start — she announced her unsuccessful campaign for governor on the Democratic ticket at the end of the 2008 lawmaking session, just a few months before the election — was part of the reason for her poor showing in the November election.
Douglas, who is beginning his fourth term, has not said if he will run for re-election in 2010.
"I think Vermonters are sick of politics right now," Douglas said recently when asked if he was running again. It is time to set politics aside in favor of governing, Douglas said.
University of Vermont political scientist Garrison Nelson said that fatigue with the sitting governor often seems to show up by the fourth term.
"The hope (for Democrats) is that Douglas fatigue has finally set in," Nelson said. "As tough as the third term is, the fourth is even more difficult. You are going to get blamed for everything.
"It is going to be a lousy two years for Jim," Nelson added. "They are counting on Douglas fatigue. They are counting on a lousy economy."
No candidates have filed with the Secretary of State's office — required once $500 or more is raised or spent — but which of the Democrats racks up the most money first will be a crucial factor in which one becomes the front-runner, Nelson said.
"Watch the primary money," he said. "That will determine who emerges."
For his part, Racine, who was elected lieutenant governor in 1996, said he will put off a formal announcement or a campaign.
"I was encouraged by the vote in Chittenden County this year," Racine said. Last election, having just returned to the Senate a little more than a year earlier, did not feel like the right time to run for governor, Racine said.
This time feels different, he said.
"I think a lot of folks are feeling that the governor might not run again or if he does he might be vulnerable after eight years," Racine said.
Contact Louis Porter at louis.porter@rutlandherald.com.
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