Matt Dunne

MONTPELIER -- Although he's not facing a Democratic opponent right now, Republican Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie doesn't expect that his path to a fourth term will remain clear for much longer.

"I assume that I will have a strong, well-funded opponent," Dubie told PolitickerVT.com last week. "But competition makes you stronger and I'm looking forward to a spirited campaign."

There has been speculation over potential Democratic challengers for the state's No. 2 job but nobody has yet to make a formal announcement.

Last week, Democrat Matt Dunne announced that he would not be running for governor.

But as one high-profile Republican reminds us, the ambitious former state Senator has not said no to a run for lieutenant governor against Republican incumbent Brian Dubie.

Stay tuned.

Vermont Democratic Party executive director Jill Krowinski had kind words for Matt Dunne in an email to PolitickerVT.com today.

“Matt is a wonderful asset to the Democratic Party and the state,” Krowinski wrote. “We look forward to the work he will do in the future, both in politics and on all his other projects. As Matt said, we are excited about the potential candidacy of Ambassador Peter Galbraith and we're certain this will be an engaging race.”

Some watchers of the Vermont political scene don’t seem terribly shocked at the news Matt Dunne will be forgoing a run for governor.

“I don’t think there is a lot of surprise that Matt Dunne has decided not to run,” one such person tells us. “He campaigned very hard last election, and I assumed that if he wanted to run, he would have been in the race much earlier.” 

Peter Galbraith told PolitickerVT.com moments ago that he is pleased to have Matt Dunne’s support.

“Matt Dunne is an impressive public servant in DC and also in Vermont. He has a bright future. And I’m very pleased he thinks I would be a good governor of Vermont.”

Democrat Matt Dunne, a former State Senator, is announcing that he is not running for governor and that he is supporting potential candidate Peter Galbraith, the Burlington Free Press is reporting.  read more »

Former State Senator Matt Dunne will decide on whether to run for statewide office in the next several weeks, he told PolitickerVT.com Wednesday.

“There are a number of personal issues that need to be resolved,” he said.

Dunne is considering a challenge to Republican Governor Jim Douglas or Republican Lieutenant Governor Brian Dubie.

With the State of the State speech behind him and Progressive Anthony Pollina now certain to be running for his seat in November, Governor Jim Douglas’s election-year strategy is coming into view: focusing on achieving his legislative agenda.

With Progressive Anthony Pollina all but officially declaring himself a candidate for governor, the Vermont Democratic Party is staying quiet about its prospects in the race.  read more »

With Democratic chair Ian Carleton telling the Burlington Free Press over the weekend that Progressive Anthony Pollina is hedging on entering the race for governor, Pollina sources today are emphasizing that Pollina is, in fact, quite serious about jumping into the fray.