Peter Shumlin

Peter Shumlin
81st Governor of Vermont
Incumbent
Assumed office January 6, 2011
Lieutenant	Phillip Scott
Preceded by	Jim Douglas
President pro tempore of the Vermont Senate
In office January 2007 – January 2011
Preceded by	Peter Welch
Succeeded by	John Campbell
In office January 1997 – January 2003
Preceded by	Stephen Webster
Succeeded by	Peter Welch
Personal details
Born	Peter Elliott Shumlin (1956-03-24) March 24, 1956 Brattleboro, Vermont, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Deborah Holway (1989–2013)
Children	Olivia Rebecca
Alma mater	Wesleyan University

Peter Elliott Shumlin (born March 24, 1956) is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who serves as the 81st and current Governor of Vermont and has served as chair of the Democratic Governors Association since December 2012. First elected Governor in 2010, he was re-elected by a large margin in 2012. In 2014 he received a narrow plurality in his race for re-election, but did not attain the 50 percent threshold required by the Vermont Constitution, requiring the Vermont General Assembly to select the winner in January 2015. He was subsequently re-elected to a third term by the legislature by a vote of 110-69. On June 8, 2015, Shumlin announced that he will not seek re-election in 2016.

He previously served in the Vermont House of Representatives from 1990 to 1993 and represented the Windham District in the Vermont Senate from 1993 to 2003 and 2007 to 2011. He was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Vermont in 2002.

Personal life, education and career

Shumlin was born in Brattleboro, Vermont. He went to high school at the Buxton School, and graduated from Wesleyan University in 1979. Shumlin served on the Putney Selectboard in the 1980s and helped found Landmark College, which was created to help people with learning disabilities gain a college education. Shumlin's father, George J. Shumlin, a third-generation American, was Jewish and descended from Russian immigrants; Shumlin's mother, Kitty A. (Prins) Shumlin, was from The Hague, Netherlands.

Shumlin has two daughters with his ex-wife, Deborah Holway, to whom he was married from 1989 to 2013.

On September 17, 2015 he announced his engagement to long time girlfriend Kate Hunt, and indicated that they plan to be married within the next year.

Early political career

Vermont Legislature

Shumlin was appointed by Governor Madeleine M. Kunin to fill a vacancy in the Vermont House of Representatives. He served part of one term plus one full term, and represented Putney from 1990 through 1993. In 1992 he was elected to the Vermont Senate, and he soon became Minority Leader. In the 1996 elections, Shumlin led his Senate Democrats to win back control of the chamber and in 1997 he became Senate President Pro Tempore.

Campaign for Lieutenant Governor

In 2002, Shumlin won the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant Governor, and lost the general election to Republican Brian Dubie of Essex in a three-way race that included Progressive Anthony Pollina of Middlesex.

Political hiatus

From 2003 to 2006, Shumlin returned to the family business, Putney Student Travel, an educational firm that allows students in middle and high school to travel to foreign countries, learn about different cultures and prepare for college.

Return to the Vermont Senate

In 2006, Shumlin ran successfully for his old seat in the State Senate upon the retirement of Rod Gander, who served from 2003 to 2007. Upon his return, Shumlin was once again elected President Pro Tempore.

Governor of Vermont

Vermont and New Hampshire are the only states whose governors do not serve four-year terms; rather, their governors are elected every two years, always in even-numbered years.

First term

2010 election

See also: Vermont gubernatorial election, 2010

On November 16, 2009, Shumlin announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Vermont. Shumlin placed first in the five-way August 24, 2010 Democratic primary with 18,276 votes (24.48%). The close election saw three other candidates come within 3,000 votes of Shumlin. Former Lieutenant Governor Doug Racine came in second with 18,079 votes (24.22%), Secretary of State of Vermont Deborah Markowitz came in third with 17,579 votes (23.9%) and former State Senator Matt Dunne was fourth with 15,323 votes (20.8%). State Senator Susan Bartlett came in a distant fifth with 3,759 votes (5.1%). Racine requested a recount, which confirmed Shumlin as the winner.

Shumlin was not opposed by a Progressive candidate for Governor. The Party had promised not to play a "spoiler" role in the election if he supported single-payer health care, which he did. Vermont Progressive Party Chair Martha Abbott won the primary election, then withdrew from the race, so the party did not have a candidate on the ballot.

In the general election on November 2, 2010, Shumlin received the most votes, 119,543 (49.44%) to Republican Brian Dubie's 115,212 (47.69%). Vermont requires candidates for Governor and some other statewide offices to obtain a majority of popular votes, otherwise the winner is chosen by the Vermont General Assembly. Dubie did not contest the vote in the General Assembly, which almost always chooses the candidate who obtained a plurality in the general election, and on January 6, 2011 the General Assembly elected Shumlin by 145 votes (80.6%) to 28 (15.6%).

Summary of term

After Shumlin's election in 2010, all of his primary opponents except Dunne subsequently joined his administration. Racine became Secretary of Human Services, Markowitz became Secretary of the Agency of Natural Resources and Bartlett became Shumlin's Special Assistant, with responsibility for oversight of education and other policy initiatives.

The defining event of Shumlin's first term was Tropical Storm Irene, which caused almost every river and stream in the state to flood, resulting in at least three deaths and one missing. The storm decimated multiple sections of U.S. Route 4 between Rutland and Quechee, making east/west travel through the southern part of state nearly impossible. Several towns were completely isolated from travel in and out for two weeks. Statewide, the cost of repairs for road and bridge damage alone was estimated to exceed $700 million. This required a substantial re-assessment of Vermont's budget.

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  Flood waters from Tropical Storm Irene on the Ottauquechee River in Quechee, Vermont.

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  Flood waters on the Ottauquechee River in Quechee scouring the approach to the covered bridge, opposite side.

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  Damage caused by flood waters to the Quechee covered bridge on the northern shore of the river.

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  Damage caused by flood waters on the Ottauquechee River to the Taftsville bridge.

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  Damage caused by flood waters on the Ottauquechee River to the Royalton, Vermont bridge.

2011 events

• April 26: Shumlin appeared on The Rachel Maddow Show via telephone where he discussed health care reform in his state, his belief in health care for all and that "health care is a right, not a privilege".
• May 26: Shumlin signed a bill to establish a state health care exchange under the Affordable Care Act and to develop future universal insurance coverage for all residents, making Vermont the first state to initiate a plan for single-payer health care.
• August 17: Shumlin became the first sitting governor in the United States to preside over a same-sex wedding ceremony.
• August 27: Shumlin declared a state of emergency, in preparation for the arrival of Tropical Storm Irene. In a joint statement, Vermont electric utilities announced that they planned to have extra staff on hand. The National Weather Service had forecast between 2–7 inches (51–178 mm) of rain in the state, with the risk of flooding near streams and rivers and an anticipated sustained wind speeds of 30–45 miles per hour (48–72 km/h) and gusts of up to 45–65 miles per hour (72–105 km/h), with expected significant tree damage and damage to power lines.

2012 events

• January 5: In his state of the state address, Shumlin touted Vermont's policies to promote job growth, claiming a 62% increase over the previous year to bring the state's unemployment rate down to 5.3% from a recession peak of 7.3%—both cited as low numbers in his speech.
• April 11: Shumlin was almost mauled by bears when he attempted to chase them away from raiding bird feeders on his property. Shumlin joked that Vermont "almost lost the governor," and added that he was within "three feet of getting 'arrrh."
• May 16: Shumlin signed a bill banning hydraulic fracturing ("fracking"), the breaking of underground rock formations by using pressurized chemical-laced fluid in order to access natural gas deposits. The bill made Vermont became the first state to pass a such a ban, and was signed in front of group of high school students who pushed for it.
• December 4: Shumlin was unanimously elected to serve as the chair of the Democratic Governors Association for the year, 2013.

Second term

2012 election

See also: Vermont gubernatorial election, 2012

The 2012 election took place on November 6, 2012. Shumlin, who again was endorsed by organized labor and the major environmental organizations, was unopposed in the Democratic primary and easily won re-election, defeating Republican Randy Brock by 170,767 votes (58%) to 110,953 votes (37.7%).

Summary of term

Shumlin has been an opponent of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant. His administration advocated its closure. However, on January 19, 2012, Judge J. Garvan Murtha of United States District Court in Brattleboro ruled that the state of Vermont could not force Vermont Yankee to close down, as the legislation that attempted to do so was based on radiological safety arguments that are the exclusive concern of the NRC. The judge also held that the state cannot force the plant’s owner, Entergy, to sell electricity from the reactor to in-state utilities at reduced rates as a condition of continued operation. However, on August 27, 2013, Entergy announced in a press release that it would close Vermont Yankee by the end of 2014.

Shumlin has also been an advocate of single-payer health care. In 2011, the Vermont Legislature created a single-payer plan, called Green Mountain Care, which caused Vermont to become the first state to explore this concept. While the bill also allows private insurers to operate in the state indefinitely As of January, 2014, Shumlin remained committed to full implementation of single-payer health care, starting in 2017. In the interim, Vermont has been a willing participant in the Affordable Care Act. As was the case with the federal health-exchange website, Vermont's website, VermontHealthConnect.gov, also experienced difficulties as the deadline for implementation approached in late 2013; it was the product of the same software vendor.

In his January, 2014 state of the state address, Shumlin emphasized a single theme: the rise of opiate addiction in Vermont. He framed the challenge of opiate abuse as greater in scope than the recovery from Tropical Storm Irene. He offered a four-point plan to address opiate growth:

• Fund more treatment to shorten wait-times for those willing to accept help.
• Allow drug offenders to quickly enter treatment programs when they are ready to change their behavior, bypassing the normal judicial process to allow rapid treatment.
• Tougher punishments for drug-runners and armed burglars.
• Crowdsourcing new ideas to prevent addiction.

Shumlin observed that, “It’s when the blue lights are flashing and cold reality sets in that we have our best shot [at persuading opiate users to seek treatment]”.

2013 events

• January 10: Shumlin gave a state of the state address that emphasized improving education from kindergarten through college in Vermont in order to make the Vermont labor force more appealing to prospective employers.
• May 22: Shumlin signed a bill making physician assisted suicide legal throughout Vermont.
• June 6: Vermont became the 17th state to decriminalize marijuana. Shumlin signed a bill that made possession of less than an ounce of the drug punishable by a small fine rather than arrest and possible jail time.
• December 9: He was re-elected in December 2013 to be chair of the Democratic Governors Association for the year, 2014.

2014 events

• January 8: Shumlin gave a state of the state address with a single theme—the rising rate of opiate abuse in Vermont.
• January 15: A Shumlin administration official, Mark Larson, announced that the Vermont Health Connect website implementation of the federal Affordable Care Act was unavailable to small businesses enrollments, requiring direct enrollments with insurance companies until further notice.

Third term

2014 election

Shumlin was the Democratic nominee for a third term. Republicans nominated businessman Scott Milne, whose mother Marion Carson Milne served in the Vermont House of Representatives, and father Donald is the longtime Assistant Clerk and Clerk of the Vermont House.

In the November 4 election, Shumlin took 46.4% to Milne's 45.1%, with Libertarian nominee Don Feliciano taking 4.36%. The rest of the votes were scattered among other minor candidates. The Constitution of Vermont requires that the 180-member Vermont General Assembly choose the winner when no candidate receives over 50% of the popular vote. On January 8, 2015, the Assembly chose Shumlin over Milne by 110 votes to 69.

Decision not to run in 2016

On June 8, 2015, Shumlin announced he would not seek a fourth term in 2016.

2015 events

Following the November 2015 Paris attacks, Shumlin stated that Vermont would continue to welcome individuals fleeing Syrian Civil War violence. At the same time, several other U.S. governors declared their opposition to receiving Syrian refugees.

Political positions

Shumlin is adamantly pro-choice, and drew a contrast between himself and his 2010 Republican gubernatorial opponent Brian Dubie, who would not answer the question of whether or not he would cut funding for low-income abortions when pressed by Shumlin during the two candidates' televised debates. Shumlin held a pro-choice rally two days prior to the election, prompting his opponent to host a pro-jobs rally on the same day to draw a contrast between the two candidates' priorities.

In 2011, Shumlin expressed his support for "Team Kale" in its trademark dispute with fast food restaurant Chick-fil-A and said it sends the message "Don't mess with Vermont."

Shumlin supports same-sex marriage.

On May 8, 2015, Shumlin signed a genetically modified food (GMO) labeling bill. The legislation would mean that some products that are sold within the state of Vermont must have labeling that says that the product "may be partially produced with genetic engineering.”

Controversy

In May, 2013 Shumlin was involved in a real estate transaction, which generated controversy. A neighbor, who owned a house and land adjacent to Shumlin's East Montpelier home, owed back taxes and risked losing the property in a tax sale, asked Shumlin to consider buying the property. Shumlin bought the property, had the assessed value reduced because the house was in disrepair, paid the back taxes, paid the neighbor's back child support, and allowed the neighbor to continue living in the house for several months. The neighbor then had second thoughts about the transaction. After some criticism in the press, Shumlin agreed for the neighbor to repurchase the property.

External links

• Governor Peter Shumlin official Vermont government site

Political offices
Preceded by Stephen Webster	President pro tempore of the Vermont Senate 1997–2003	Succeeded by Peter Welch
Preceded by Peter Welch	President pro tempore of the Vermont Senate 2007–2011	Succeeded by John Campbell
Preceded by Jim Douglas	Governor of Vermont 2011–present	Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by Gaye Symington	Democratic nominee for Governor of Vermont 2010, 2012, 2014	Most recent
Preceded by Martin O'Malley	Chairperson of the Democratic Governors Association 2013–2014	Succeeded by Steve Bullock
United States order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by Joe Biden as Vice President	Order of Precedence of the United States Within Vermont	Succeeded by Mayor of city in which event is held
		Succeeded by Otherwise Paul Ryan as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Gina Raimondo as Governor of Rhode Island	Order of Precedence of the United States Outside Vermont	Succeeded by Steve Beshear as Governor of Kentucky