Gaye Symington

Democratic gubernatorial candidate and House Speaker Gaye Symington this morning unveiled more details of her energy policy, "Roadmap to Energy Independence," which focuses heavily on developing and utilizing wind power technology in the near future.  

Symington made the announcement at the Hinesburg headquarters of wind power technology manufacturer NRG Systems, Inc.  

If elected governor, Symington said she would boost the state's reliance on wind power and renewable energy for electricity, reorganize the state's energy bureaucracy and call for a change in policy toward Vermont Yankee, among other reforms.

Independent gubernatorial candidate Anthony Pollina on Tuesday released his 2007 tax return and a list of his combined total assets. 

The tax return and the list of assets reveal personal financial information for Pollina and his wife, Deborah Wolf. They show the couple has about $650,000 in assets and have an annual income of about $92,000.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate and state House Speaker Gaye Symington hit the airwaves Monday with her first radio political ad.  

The 60-second clip, which will air this week on several radio stations across the state, focuses on the economy, the environment, Symington's proposed energy plan, and her tri-partisan approach to governance. The ad also takes a few jabs at Gov. Jim Douglas for what the House Speaker considers to be shifting blame for the Green Mountain State's economic troubles.

Gov. Jim Douglas' re-election campaign demanded Monday that his Democratic gubernatorial challenger, House Speaker Gaye Symington, release her husband's personal financial information to the public.  

Symington, a Jericho resident, released her personal financial information last Thursday afternoon with her campaign finance report, but did not include information for her husband Chuck Lacy, a former chief operating officer for Ben and Jerry's.  

Democratic gubernatorial candidate and House Speaker Gaye Symington has raised just over $205,000 since declaring her candidacy for Vermont's top job on May 12.  

Campaign finance reports filed today show the state house Speaker raked in a total of $205,309 in a little more than two months, with approximately $135,000 cash-on-hand after expenditures nearing $70,000.  

In a video posted on House Speaker Gaye Symington's (D-Jericho) Facebook group today, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate asks supporters for their financial support, saying "I am asking each of you to make a contribution of a hundred dollars to carry us through the next hundred days. That is just one dollar a day."

So far so good.

Earlier in the video, Symington criticizes her opponent's record as governor by saying that "job growth in the state is the slowest in New England."

That's in reference to numbers from the Federal Reserve of Boston, which show Vermont with the 5th slowest job growth rate out of six states. It's certainly nothing to brag about, but Rhode Island is even worse off, with a negative growth rate. The economy is arguably in bad shape, so there was no need to exaggerate the claim.

It's probably safe to assume she wasn't simply ignoring the existence of the Ocean State, so we'll give Symington an "A" for her division skills, and suggest a refresher course on negative numbers.

A minor controversy is brewing after the re-election campaign of Gov. Jim Douglas (R-Middlebury) Tuesday accused the campaign of his Democratic challenger, House Speaker Gaye Symington, of skewing economic figures in an attempt to exaggerate Vermont's economic struggles.

The disagreement has played out in a series of statements released by the campaigns.

On Monday morning, Douglas released a statement that said Symington (D-Jericho) had acted as a "road block" in the legislature to Vermont's economic progress as well as environmental initiatives.