Shumlin for governor

The Burlington Free Press editorial board recommends Peter Shumlin, the Democrat from Putney, for governor of Vermont. The critical characteristic is that he will get things done. Shumlin’s promise to run state government in the most open way possible is the precondition for anyone who seeks the state’s highest elected office.

Vermont continues to struggle to rise above the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. A steady hand to maintain the status quo is no longer sufficient to move this state forward — socially and economically. This state can no longer afford a governor who would see blocking legislation as the major accomplishments of his tenure.

As Senate President Pro Tempore, Peter Shumlin has displayed considerable legislative skill in bringing about results on the biggest issues, an advantage he holds over his main competitor, Republican Brian Dubie of Essex Junction.

Shumlin was a driving force in Vermont becoming the first state to grant marriage equality to gay and lesbian couples without being told to do so by the courts.

Shumlin was a legislative leader in the 2009 budget fight with Gov. Jim Douglas that led Douglas to veto the budget and the Legislature to override that veto — both a first for a state budget in Vermont.

Shumlin can claim credit for the 26-4 vote this year that led the Senate to deny Vermont Yankee a chance to seek from the Public Service Board an extension of its operating license for 20 years beyond 2012.

Regardless of whether you agree with Shumlin’s agenda, there is no denying the senator from Windham County has built a record of bold action in the Legislature.

Shumlin’s platform is equally full of bold initiatives — from his proposal to reduce Corrections costs by focusing on keeping nonviolent offenders from returning to prison, to his push for a single-payer health care system for the state.

Shumlin’s platform shows a politician unafraid of controversy in his search for solutions to challenges facing Vermont. To shy away from trying new approaches to the state’s fiscal problems is to go back to simply cutting services the state provides to Vermonters to bridge the budget gap.

Shumlin will bring his experience gained in the Senate helping to build state budgets in an environment of reduced revenues to work with the Legislature on solutions that are fair to Vermonters.

In politics, the safe route is to stick to generalities and avoid leaving a public trail that could come back to haunt a candidate. In the general election campaign, Shumlin’s willingness to speak out on contentious issues and talk about specifics of his platform leaves him open to equally specific criticism. He has been direct. Again, this is part of being open and accessible as a representative of the people.

Shumlin exposes some weakness when delving into details of some of his proposals. He stumbles to make himself understood on his Corrections plan. He reached too far in claims of cutting taxes. And people will argue about how realistic his plan is to pay for his agenda without raising taxes, especially when he will face a $110 million-plus budget gap on day one as governor.

But throughout his campaign, Shumlin has been consistent on the issues and has remained the man Vermonters have come to know during his legislative career. With Shumlin, his legislative record and his willingness to delve deep into his proposals mean Vermonters know who they are getting as their next governor.

Shumlin pledges to look out for the interest of Vermonters who need help.

Shumlin offers a nuanced approach to Vermont’s budget challenges that avoids a simple-minded policy that more resembles hacking away at spending with a dull ax.

Shumlin’s platform recognizes the importance of investing in education as a way to boost the economy and tackle our social problems.

Shumlin has pledged to run an open administration, and work to reduce the barriers to public access that permeates Vermont laws. This is the only way to run state government, and the only way elected officials can be held accountable. Openness is the most important promise to Vermonters the next governor must keep.

Vermont needs a doer.

Peter Shumlin of Putney will be that governor.

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20101024/OPINION/101023016/Voice-of-the-Free-Press-Recommendation-for-Vermont-governor

There are many differences between Brian Dubie and Peter Shumlin. Our new ad, which you can see here, highlights their different stance on taxes.  Peter Shumlin is a small business owner who wants to build our economy from the ground up.  Peter plans to give tax breaks to the hard working middle class who need it the most and support our small businesses.  Brian Dubie, on the other hand, is a self described “George Bush Republican” who plans to give tax giveaways to the wealthiest 1,400 Vermonters and cut regulations for large, out of state corporations.

The Plans:

Peter Shumlin will continue his work to reduce taxes for the middle class and support our small businesses.  As governor, Peter will get health care off the backs of our employers, make credit more readily available to small business owners and get government spending under control.

Brian Dubie intends to cut the top marginal rate, resulting in tax cuts for the 1,400 wealthiest Vermonters and slash regulations for large out of state corporations.   It is these types of George W. Bush policies that led us into the mess we are in today: skyrocketing deficits, rampant joblessness and bankrupt families.

The Records:

In 2009, the Douglas/Dubie Administration proposed the largest property tax increase in Vermont’s history in order to balance the budget.   In response, Peter Shumlin and Speaker Shap Smith asked the wealthiest to pay a little more – responsibly balancing the budget and reducing income taxes for the hardworking middle class by $6 million.

After listening to the small business owners up and down the Connecticut River, Peter led the effort to eliminate the sales tax on clothing and shoes.  When Peter was no longer in the Senate, the Douglas/Dubie Administration increased the sales tax from 5% to 6%.

As a young student in his native Putney, Shumlin’s dyslexia thwarted his classroom efforts. Much as he tried, he says, the letters wouldn’t cooperate.

Frustrated with the written word, he learned to excel at the spoken. The academic failings he endured as a youngster, he says, gave rise to the rhetorical aptitude that has made him one of the most skilled politicians in Montpelier.

On the Senate floor, at the press-conference dais or in Montpelier backrooms, colleagues say, Shumlin’s oratory skills are unrivaled in the Statehouse, where he’s served as Senate president for 10 years.

His powers of persuasion have been the driving force behind some of the state’s most controversial pieces of legislation. In the last biennium alone, Shumlin shepherded a same-sex marriage bill into law and orchestrated a legislative assault against Vermont Yankee that cast the nuclear power plant’s future into even greater doubt.

“He has an ability to state what the goal and the objective is and knock down all the doors and all the obstacles in the way to achieve it,” says Rep. Tony Klein, the Democratic chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources. “He doesn’t take any prisoners and does what he needs to do to get it done.”

His preternatural gift for politics is universally recognized, even among those who don’t necessarily admire it.

“He’s certainly a politician’s politician, in terms of wielding power,” says Rob Roper, former chairman of the Vermont Republican Party and still a member of its executive committee. “He’s not afraid to put his own agenda above that of other people.”

Longtime Statehouse observers say he plays in a different league. Retired lobbyist Steve Kimbell, who worked with Shumlin on gay marriage and against him on Vermont Yankee, falls back on a baseball analogy.

“In terms of raw political skills, if you’re talking about major league pitchers as a comparison, this guy throws a 100 mile-per-hour fastball,” Kimbell says. “Nobody else throws 90.”

Shumlin is a divisive figure, as revered in some circles as he is reviled in others. According to a June 17 Rasmussen poll, of the 38 percent of Vermonters who have strong feelings about Shumlin, nearly two-thirds of them view him “very unfavorably.”

Shumlin, not surprisingly, wears those negatives as a badge of honor. His towering presence on controversial issues, he says, has made him a lightning rod for Republican criticism.

“We’ve done some polling ourselves, and what we found was that among the staunch Republican voters, I tend to have higher negatives, because I fight so hard for things I believe in like marriage equality and shutting down Vermont Yankee,” Shumlin says. “People who never vote for my party feel more strongly about my name because I’ve gotten things done. And that’s why I can win this race.”

Shumlin says it’s also why he’s the only candidate who can deliver a single-payer healthcare system by the end of his first term, free childcare for every 3- and 4-year-old in Vermont and broadband service to every home and business in the state – all without raising a nickel in new tax revenues.

If it all sounds too good to be true, Shumlin says, just look at his record.

“When I say I’m going to get something done, it happens,” he says. “And I’ve got a record that proves it.”

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Shumlin’s early struggles with dyslexia, he says, have in many ways guided his adult life.

“We’re all formed by life experiences, and I tell people this part about me because my dyslexia, the fact that I learn differently, made me who I am,” Shumlin says. “It defines my strengths and my weaknesses.”

Shumlin, the son of a father who fought in World War II and a mother born in Holland, says his school-age years were marked by verbal compensation for academic failings.

“I had to use my mouth to survive in the classroom at young age when other things weren’t working as well for me as they did for other kids,” he says.

Shumlin, a father of two teenage girls (he is separated from his wife), says these rhetorical skills often go misinterpreted.

“I sometimes come off as slick because I speak so quickly,” he says. “I learned a long time ago to use all the tools I had to compensate for the fact that I didn’t learn the same.”

His learning disability also bred his work ethic and, by extension, his political and professional success, Shumlin says. It also, he says, fostered an appreciation for the plight of the underdog.

“When you’re in a situation like that, where you have to work twice as hard to get to the same place, you never forget people who haven’t had the same opportunities as other people,” he says. “You never forget what it’s like to be discriminated against.”

Most importantly, he says, his condition forced him “to think outside the box,” an approach he says landed him at the prestigious Wesleyan University despite abysmal standardized test scores.

“I still have nightmares about spelling bees,” he says.

After graduating high school, he spent two years in a basic studies program at Boston University.

“It was mostly for inner-city kids,” Shumlin says.

He graduated with honors from Wesleyan, where he majored in English and government.

“My story is one of the reasons I so abhor No Child Left Behind, because you can’t just can’t judge a person’s potential with a standardized test,” says Shumlin, who says he’ll work to exclude Vermont from the landmark federal standards.

After college, Shumlin returned to Putney to work at his parents’ business, Putney Student Travel. In his 20s, Shumlin bought the business from his parents, with his brother, Jeff. The company now coordinates overseas educational experiences for more than 1,300 children annually.

The travel business, along with his numerous real estate enterprises, has made Shumlin a wealthy man. According to tax returns he made public earlier this year, Shumlin made more than $1 million in 2009. He’s poured $150,000 of his money into his campaign for governor.

Shumlin calls himself a “reluctant politician” who “got into politics by mistake” after waging a campaign against a jail proposed for his hometown.

“The local selectboard voted to have the Bureau of Prisons turn the bankrupt Windham College into a maximum-security federal prison,” he says. “I thought that was the wrong future for my hometown.”

After leading a successful charge to rescind the plan, Shumlin says, he was encouraged to run for the board himself, where, at 24 years old, he learned “it’s easy to say ‘no.’ It’s much tougher to solve real problems.”

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Well-manicured hair and sharp suits notwithstanding, Shumlin likes to describe himself in terms that evoke images of a rural farm boy.

“I’d rather be on a farm spreading manure than wearing suit,” says Shumlin, whose old Putney farmhouse adjoins the dairy farm at which he is a financial partner. “My favorite day of the year is opening day of hunting season. I’ll be the first governor in a long time that cuts own wood, splits it buy hand.”

For such a “reluctant politician” though, Shumlin – the longest serving Senate president in state history – has spent a lot of time in Montpelier. His Statehouse career began in 1990 when then-governor Madeline Kunin appointed him to fill vacant seat in the House. In 1992, Shumlin was elected to one of Windham County’s two Senate seats, and in 1997, he was selected by his Senate colleagues to serve as the chamber’s president.

He left the Senate in 2002 after a failed bid for lieutenant governor – a race he lost to Brian Dubie, but returned in 2006, when he was promptly reinstated as Senate president despite his official status as a freshman legislator.

As Senate president, Shumlin has been credited with guiding its pivotal votes, including civil unions, gay marriage, Vermont Yankee and the historic 2009 override of Gov. James Douglas’ budget veto.

“He’s just got a good political mind,” says Dick Sears, a longtime Democratic senator from Bennington County. “He’s able to see the forest through the trees and he understands the impacts of various moves way ahead of most other people.”

Colleagues say he’s a consensus-seeker generally but can resort to steamrolling when it suits his needs.

“I’m a person who’s dealt very heavily on some very big issues with him for the last four years, and while we were pretty much on the same page on where we wanted to go, we often disagreed on how to get there,” says Klein, a Shumlin supporter. “I’ve seen the good part of Peter but I’ve seen the bad part too. And it hasn’t changed my opinion of him. He got us where we wanted to go – and that’s the key. It’s about the end result, not how you get there.”

Not everyone agrees. Roper, who, as head of the Vermont Republican Party, sparred with Shumlin from afar, says he speaks from one side of his mouth and legislates from another.

“He’s earned a reputation for not exactly being truthful and he has earned a reputation for saying one thing to one person and turning around and saying another thing another person,” Roper says.

Roper says Shumlin was among the first prominent Democrats to declare there was no more tax capacity left in the state of Vermont, only to turn around and push a $26 million tax increase into the fiscal year 2010 budget.

“Now he’s running for governor, and he says again we have no more tax capacity,” Ropers says. “We’re supposed to believe that now?”

Rep. Patty O’Donnell, a Republican lawmaker whose House district is in Windham County, says Shumlin’s tenure has coincided with a sustained period of economic decline in the county he represents.

O’Donnell faults Shumlin for investing more energy on his own political profile than the financial plight of his constituents. Specifically, she points to Shumlin’s “grandstanding” on Vermont Yankee, in which he’s demonized what she says is one of the region’s most important employers.

“On political issues you can be sure he’ll be right out front. But on issues that help Windham County residents live their lives and grow, he’s nowhere to be seen,” O’Donnell says. “And if that’s what he’s done in Windham County, what’s he going to do for the state of Vermont?”

Senate Majority Leader John Campbell says great leaders tend to have vociferous detractors. Shumlin’s success on divisive issues, Campbell says, has earned him enemies on the losing sides of those fights.

“When you look back at all the great leaders in history, I challenge anyone to find one that hasn’t had people say the same kind of negative things about them,” Campbell says. “Those enemies will always attack the integrity of the great leader. What I know about Peter is he’s a great leader. And I know his integrity stands up to scrutiny.”

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Shumlin is a self-proclaimed “fiscal conservative” who has vowed not to raise taxes.

“You won’t find anyone tighter with money than I am,” he says.

But critics – including a Democrat against whom he is competing in the Aug. 24 gubernatorial primary – say new revenues are the only way to fund the massive capital infusions associated with items on his ambitious five-point campaign platform.

Those campaign promises include single-payer healthcare by the end of 2014 and free childcare for 3- and 4-year-olds.

“Everything on his plan requires tax increases,” Roper says.

Shumlin assures voters they will not. Administrative reforms and the elimination of profit motive, Shumlin says, will more than pay for the health care overhaul.

“My plan does it cheaper than we do it now,” he says.

Emptying the prisons of non-violent offenders, he says, will cover the nearly $50 million price tag attached to his early childhood education plan.

The same qualities that have made him a successful businessman, Shumlin says, will guide his fiscally responsible turn in the governorship. Most importantly, he says, he’s the only person who can build the political will needed to achieve major reform.

“We don’t need anymore commissions. We’ve had enough studies,” Shumlin says. “I think we need an activist governor who’s going to get things done. We need vision. We need creativity. And that’s what I’m going to bring.”

http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100815/NEWS02/708159870/&template=printart

“As governor, I will market Vermont as I have marketed my own small business — with enthusiasm and pride,” said Shumlin, one of five Democrats vying for his party’s nomination to be governor in the Aug. 24 primary. Shumlin criticized Republican Brian Dubie for suggesting in some of his advertising that Vermont is a “bad place to do business.”

Shumlin’s proposals include an online business mentoring forum and a database for graduates of Vermont colleges who want to be notified about in-state job openings in their fields. He also promised to use social media such as Facebook and Twitter to promote Vermont.

Shumlin said he could carry out his marketing initiative without spending additional tax dollars. He would use existing money differently, such as advertising regionally rather than spending money on trade missions to Asia.

Read more: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20100804/NEWS02/8040312/Democrat-Shumlin-offers-marketing-plan#ixzz0ve6vg6i0

MONTPELIER — With Vermont health care costs
expected to rise by $1 billion during the next two
years, all five Democrats running for governor
say this issue is high on their list of things to
tackle as governor.

The candidates admit they sound an awful lot
alike on the issue. The phrase “quality,
affordable health care for all” reverberates as if
they’re in an echo chamber. They all put a lot of
weight on a pending report the Legislature
commissioned about how to solve the problem.

Burrow down, though, and voters will find
differences among the Democratic candidates,
and much greater differences between them and
the Republican that the winner of their primary
will face in November.

Democrats all say they would push the federal
government to offer coverage to more
Vermonters and to control costs. Meanwhile,
Republican Brian Dubie of Essex contends the s
tate’s hands are tied until 2017 by recently
passed federal legislation, and candidates who
say otherwise are being unrealistic.

“The best thing I would do is work to leverage
the federal law,” Dubie said, citing a requirement
for states to establish health insurance
exchanges by 2014 that would allow consumers
to shop for health insurance as one place he
would focus his energy. “I’m realistic. I’m going
to focus on where I can make a difference.”

Democratic candidate Matt Dunne of Hartland,
in a view echoed by his fellow Democratic
candidates, said the next governor can’t afford
not to pursue health-care reform, even if the
federal government has said it won’t grant
permission — in the form of waivers — for states
to experiment.

Read the entire article here: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20100725/NEWS03/100724013/Health-care-and-the-governor-s-race#ixzz0uhC92fQ0

Former Senator Cheryl Rivers (D-Windsor)

NEAL P. GOSWAMI
Bennington Banner

Wednesday July 7, 2010

BENNINGTON — Democratic gubernatorial candidate Sen. Peter Shumlin snagged endorsements Wednesday from Bennington County Sens. Dick Sears and Robert Hartwell.

Shumlin,the president pro tem in the Vermont Senate, faces four others — Secretary of State Deborah Markowitz, Sens.Susan Bartlett and Doug Racine, and former Sen. Matt Dunne — in a primary Aug. 24. Endorsements from Democrats in the Legislature had been slow to arrive for the five candidates, but have picked up with the primary date fast approaching.

Sears, the county’s senior senator and chairman of the Senate JudiciaryCommittee,and Hartwell, who is seeking a third term in November, were unequivocal in their support for Shumlin in a brief news conference at theBennington Town Office.

Sears said all five Democrats in the race to succeed retiring Republican Gov. James Douglas were “terrific candidates.”

But Shumlin stands out for several reasons, Sears said, most importantly is his ability to win.

“I believe Peter can win in November, and I think that’s tremendously important as a Democrat,” said Sears, who has served with Shumlin in the Senate for 14 years.

Shumlin is the “best candidate of the five to lead Vermont out of our recession-induced budget gap,” according to Sears. “That’s a tremendous problem that we’re facing in the state and throughout the nation,” he said. “Peter understands that we can’t do that by either
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… raising taxes or cutting services. He realizes we need to that through economic development.”

Hartwell said Shumlin was an effective “manager as well as a legislator.” The Putney Democrat has guided fellow lawmakers through several challenges, including an override of a vetoed state budget and passing same-sex marriage, Hartwell said.

“In my four years with Peter he’s been confronted on a number of occasions with tough management decisions and guiding the Legislature through tough issues,” Hartwell said.

He said he, too, was swayed because “Peter can win this in the fall.”

Sears also said Shumlin has “the temperament to lead.” While he can be “overly aggressive” on issues, Sears said he has watched (Shumlin) grow in the position of president pro tem.” He demonstrated after the tragic killing and sexual assault of a 12-year-old girl in 2008 the ability to approach hot-button issues in an even-keeled way, Sears said.

“There was all kinds of calls for this, for that, but at the time Peter was the leader, in my view. He said, ‘No, we’re not going to jump to special sessions. We’re not going to suggest that Vermont isn’t a safe state. We remain as one of the safest states in the union,’” Sears said. “Peter … set in motion, I think, one of the best examples of leadership this state has ever seen.”

Bennington County would benefit from having a governor from Southern Vermont, Sears said.

“Peter understands southern Vermont. It’s interesting. I have candidates call me and say, ‘What are the issues down here,’” Sears said. “He understands that and he understands what it’s like to be forgotten.”

Shumlin pledged to bring more attention to the southern part of the state and said he hoped to “make Bennington County Sears, Hartwell and Shumlin county.”

“Having been born and raised in Southern Vermont, I will never forget my roots or where I come from. I am going to be the governor that creates jobs equally across the state, not just in our central population base,” Shumlin said.

“Bennington desperately needs jobs. We need to grow the opportunities in composites and other areas where we’ve been extraordinarily innovative.”

Contact Neal P. Goswami at ngoswami@benningtonbanner.com

http://www.benningtonbanner.com/ci_15462118

This week’s question for the major party candidates running for governor has to do with the social services safety net. As the recession forces Montpelier to cut spending, the budgeteers are faced with this  conundrum: People need help from the government most precisely when tax revenues fall and government has less money to spend. Read this week’s complete package here.

First up is Democrat Peter Shumlin.

After the series of budget cuts, does the state have an adequate social service safety net to meet the needs of Vermonters?

State government has been operating on an unsustainable track. As a Vermonter, I understand the importance of taking care of one another’s neighbor. But we must have the resources to do so. At a time when Vermont’s most vulnerable have needed services more then ever, the Douglas/Dubie administration has cut them to the bone. At the same time, Vermonters have hit their tax capacity. We cannot rely on higher taxes to provide the necessary social services. It is time for state government to reorganize our priorities.

As governor, I will focus on reducing costs in the top two areas of our budget’s growth — health care and corrections. By reducing the skyrocketing costs in both of these sectors we can lower costs for Vermonters and reinvest a portion of the savings into services.

Health care costs are consuming more and more of our economy. In the next two years, the cost of health care in Vermont is estimated in increase by $1 billion. That translates into a $7,000 annual increase for the average Vermont family of four. These costs are crippling our economy, hampering business growth, driving up property taxes and bankrupting too many Vermonters. As governor, I will bring these costs under control by implementing a single payer health care system. Such a system will get the private insurers out of the way, reward doctors for making people better, not ordering more tests and eliminate the millions of dollars spent on chasing money around.

The second largest area of growth in the state’s budget is our corrections system. We are spending $138 million a year on locking up Vermonters. We have the sad distinction of locking up more non-violent offenders than any other state — often locking up people for offenses like writing bad checks or for the crime of having no other place to go (on any given day, Vermont locks up 150 people for the lack of an appropriate place to live). As governor I will work with community providers to integrate these non-violent offenders back into society. Doing so will save the state $40 million a year. These savings will be reinvested into mental health and substance abuse, transitional housing and early childhood education to prevent future generations from such a fate.

Reorganizing our priorities will not be easy. I ask that you therefore look not only at my rhetoric but at my record. I am the only candidate who sponsored a single-payer health care bill. I worked with other Senate and House leaders to launch the Justice Reinvestment program — an initiative that has begun the process of moving our non-violent offenders into society and reinvesting the savings into services. I have a record of getting tough things done and as governor will ensure that Vermonter’s tax dollars reflect our values and are being invested as wisely and as efficiently as possible.

Burlington Free Press

Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Peter Shumlin released an economic-development plan Wednesday in which he said he would boost the economy by implementing a single-payer health-insurance plan, expanding Internet coverage, and expanding early education and higher-education opportunities.

Shumlin, one of five Democrats seeking the party’s nomination for governor in this year’s election, is the second to release an economic-development plan. Deb Markowitz outlined her ideas in a plan called JumpStartVT a week earlier.

Shumlin, of Putney, who is leader of the state Senate, unveiled his “Vision for Vermont” at a small company called Dreamlike Pictures in downtown Burlington that makes television commercials and films for clients around the world. Shumlin touted it as the sort of business he wants to see more of and an example of the need for better high-speed Internet access.

Owner Art Bell said although he is across the street from City Hall, he lacks access to Burlington Telecom and sometimes sends large files from his Burlington home, where he does have Burlington Telecom.

Among Shumlin’s ideas:

• HEALTH CARE: He promised a single-payer health care plan that would free businesses from providing insurance plans. He said he would await the results of a pending report the Legislature has commissioned that will outline how it would work and how to pay for it.

“I will deliver the first single-payer health care in the country,” Shumlin said, arguing that it would attract businesses to locate in Vermont so they don’t have to deal with providing coverage themselves. Shumlin said although a consultant the Legislature is in the process of hiring is slated to produce three health care models, he has his sights set on the single-payer plan.

• INTERNET: Shumlin said he would expand high-speed Internet service across the state by 2013. Retiring Gov. Jim Douglas promised it by 2010 but has since acknowledged it won’t happen. Shumlin said he would use state bonding to work with private entities to build the infrastructure.

Read more: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20100701/NEWS03/100630033/Vermont-governor-candidate-Shumlin-unveils-economic-plan#ixzz0suuq8D58

In a break from their union brothers and sisters, the Teamsters Local 597 — a 1,000-member union headquartered in Barre — endorsed Senate President Peter Shumlin in the Democratic primary for governor.

Three of the state’s largest labor unions are backing Sen. Doug Racine (D-Chittenden).

At a midday press conference in front of Champlain Cable in Colchester, Teamsters Principal Officer and Treasurer Ron Rabideau said the union chose Shumlin because the senate leader had been a true friend to labor groups throughout his career.

“Over the years I have personally appreciated Peter Shumlin’s leadership as he is a straight-forward politician. With Peter, you always know where you stand,” said Rabideau of the Windham County Democrat.

The Teamsters met with Shumlin about a month ago to talk about an endorsement. Rabideau said Shumlin’s support for a variety of labor issues — from worker misclassification to state-focused version of the so-called employee free choice act — were crucial to their members.

“I welcome this endorsement,” said Shumlin. “I am the only candidate in this race who has both business experience and as a leader for 10 years in the senate with a track record of getting tough things done.”

This past session, Rabideau noted, Shumlin helped shine a light on the fact that the administration of Gov. Jim Douglas didn’t want to sign onto a public “project labor agreement” as part of the Champlain Bridge reconstruction. The PLA gives preferential hiring to local, union workers and the unions estimated it would save taxpayers almost $3 million by helping to keep the project on schedule.

“He called for public hearings on the issue and even though we didn’t get the PLA, it did get people’s attention and put enough public pressure on the issue that we’ve recently signed a private PLA with the construction firm,” said Rabideau.

A private PLA means any of the savings realized from the contract will flow to the contractor’s bottom line, not to the taxpayers. But, it does mean that if the contractor — Flatiron Construction out of Lafayette, CO — has to hire skilled labor they must do so through one of the local unions, said Rabideau.

That said, the local workers who do get hired over the next 18 months will earn high wages and received top-notch benefits — and that money will stay local. The firm will not have to import much skilled labor.

“People have this impression that politicians at the statehouse are working for the ‘big labor bosses’, but there are lots of issues that we work on that help every worker in the state,” said Rabideau.

The Teamsters endorsement is Shumlin’s first from a labor group. The previous three major union endorsements have gone to Racine, who has picked up the backing from the Vermont AFL-CIO, of which Teamsters 597 is a member, the Vermont chapter of the National Education Association and the Vermont State Employees Association. Combined, those three unions represent about 30,000 workers.

Two other major unions — the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Professional Firefighers of Vermont — are also determining whether to endorse in the primary.

This week, too, Racine earned the endorsement of the Vermont League of Conservation Voters. The endorsement surprised political observers who thought Shumlin was a shoe-in for the support given his push to close down Vermont Yankee in 2012 and his legislative focus on climate change.

Shumlin has been endorsed by a number of “green” business leaders, including Jeffrey Hollender of Seventh Generation, Jeff Wolfe of GroSolar and David Blittersdorf of AllEarth Renewables.

This isn’t the first time the Teamsters have broken ranks with other labor groups when it comes to a gubernatorial endorsement. In 2008, the union backed Democrat Gaye Symington over Progressive-turned-Independent Anthony Pollina in the general election.

The Teamsters do plan on endorsing in other races, but not until after the primary.

In a five-way primary that may only lure 50,000 voters to the polls, union endorsements can provide candidates with needed volunteers as they ramp up door-knocking and get-out-the-vote efforts.