Pomfret businessman Scott Milne has easily won the Republican gubernatorial nomination. Unofficial results show that Milne received roughly two thirds of the vote in yesterday’s primary election. Milne says he’s ready to challenge incumbent Democrat Peter Shumin in the fall campaign.
It was a Primary election where very few Vermonters cast their ballots and it’s possible that voter turnout will be the lowest in state history.
With a majority of precincts reporting, it was clear that Milne had won the election by a large margin.
Second place went to Libertarian candidate Dan Feliciano who urged voters to write his name on the GOP ballot. It appears that he received between 15 and 18 percent of the vote.
Emily Peyton and Steve Berry trailed with less than seven percent each.
"The top issue that we have been hearing about everywhere is the economy and rapidly raising property taxes that people can not afford." - GOP Gubernatorial winner Scott Milne
Milne said he was very pleased by the strong support he received in the primary election.
“I stuck to my guns in the primary, I stayed practical,” said Milne. “I didn’t take a poll to figure out what I need to say to try to please people and I’m extraordinarily pleased that people seemed to buying that.”
Milne enters the general election race with far fewer financial resources than Shumlin. So far he’s raised roughly $40,000, while Shumlin has more than a $1 million in the bank.
Milne wants to turn this funding disparity into a positive aspect of his campaign.
“I think it’s going to turn out to be an asset for us, I believe Vermonters are sick of $3 million governor’s races,” said Milne. “I think they want new ideas. They want somebody who is going to stand on principle and talk about what’s practical versus always coming up with some political solution to try to win an election.”
Milne says there’s no question that a broad range of economic issues will be the central focus on his campaign:
“The top issue that we’ve been hearing about everywhere is the economy and clearly the knee bones connected to the thigh bones of that are rapidly raising property taxes that people can’t afford,” said Milne. “And to me health care is a big deal but what it highlights is the incompetence of the management of the people’s money by the current administration.”
A statewide canvassing committee will formally certify the election results next Tuesday.
