June 14, 2013; Alicia Freese; VTDigger
The Vermont Progressive Party isn’t chomping at the bit to make a run for the governor’s seat in 2014, but party leaders say their displeasure with Gov. Peter Shumlin might leave them no choice.
“We’ve stayed out [of the past two elections] in sort of mild support of him,” said Rep. Chris Pearson, P-Burlington, who leads the Progressive caucus in the House. “I would say he is making it harder and harder for us to maintain that level of support.”
The last time the Vermont Progressive Party threw their weight behind their own candidate was in 2008, when Anthony Pollina, now a state senator, swept up more than 20 percent of the vote
Shumlin’s pledges to set up a single-payer health care system and to shutter Vermont Yankee helped cement the party’s support for him in the past two elections.
Shumlin undercut that allegiance during the 2013 legislative session, Progressives say, and they are weighing a challenge in 2014.