Galbraith and Pollina met twice about a joint ticket

During two meetings last November and again in January, Peter Galbraith, a former state Democratic Party chair, and Anthony Pollina, the vice chair of the Vermont Progressive Party, discussed mounting a combined effort for statewide office.

Pollina, currently the Progressive Party's candidate for governor, proposed the idea of running for lieutenant governor on a ticket led by Galbraith, a former diplomat.

"This was not my idea, it was Anthony's," Galbraith told PolitickerVT.com. The conversation ended with no hard commitment but with an agreement that they'd be in touch, according to Galbraith.

Though Galbraith says state Democratic Party officials were open to the idea of Pollina running for lieutenant governor, he felt it was not appropriate to force the proposal. Pollina has since made a campaign issue out of the reluctance of party officials to meet with him, but according to Galbraith, Pollina's account is overstated.

By January, Pollina had quietly abandoned a run for the lieutenant governor post and was already preparing his gubernatorial candidacy. But he still requested a second meeting with Galbraith, and the two met uneventfully in Montpelier. "Frankly, I didn't know why he wanted to meet," said Galbraith.

Galbraith withdrew his name from the gubernatorial race after former House Speaker Gaye Symington announced her candidacy in mid-May. When asked about a future candidacy, Galbraith says, "I won't rule it out."

Though Republican Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie remains unopposed, don't expect to see Galbraith jump in the race. "If I'm not a candidate for governor," Galbraith says, "I won't be running for lieutenant governor."

Pollina dispelled speculation last week that he would abandon his gubernatorial campaign to run for a lower office.