VT-GOV: Lt. Gov Zuckerman will run for governor; announcement coming next week
Lt. Gov David Zuckerman has decided to run for governor in 2020 and is expected to formally announce his candidacy next week.
Zuckerman has been seriously considering running against Republican Gov. Phil Scott for months. Two Democratic insiders familiar with his announcement plans said this week that he has decided to run for Vermont’s top political office.
The lieutenant governor, a Progressive/Democrat, will announce his candidacy on Jan. 13, a few days after the beginning of the 2020 legislative session, and Scott’s State of the State address on Jan. 9.
Zuckerman declined to say Tuesday whether he will run, but said that he has finalized his plans for 2020, and will be announcing them next Monday.
“A decision just has to be made and so I have made that decision,” Zuckerman said. “Monday will come.”
In an interview Tuesday, Zuckerman said he didn’t want the announcement of his 2020 plans to distract from the first week of the legislative session.
“Most people I think would like the focus to be on the policies that are impacting their day-to-day lives, and I so I certainly didn’t want it to be this week,” he said.
Zuckerman, a disciple of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, will join former education secretary Rebecca Holcombe, who announced she was running for governor in July, as the only two candidates in the Democratic field.
Holcombe, for her part, says she has already raised $250,000 for her campaign and has criticized Scott for falling short on his pledge to make Vermont affordable.
https://vtdigger.org/2020/01/07/zuckerman-will-run-for-governor-announcement-coming-next-week/