State Rep. Dave Zuckerman (P-Burlington) is officially mulling a run for higher office … as a Democrat.
Another politician making the leap à la Tom Salmon? Not exactly.
Zuckerman tells Seven Days he’s considering the run for either state senator or lieutenant governor with the hope of winning the primary as a Democrat and then earning the support of the Progressives — that way he’d be on the ballot as a Progressive/Democrat. Zuckerman can earn the dual label if he wins in the Democratic primary and also wins as a write-in in the Progressive primary. Or the Progressives could simply name him as their candidate after the primary — all major parties can fill empty slots on the ballot if no one emerges from the primary a victor.
“I’m talking with people, and in fact I had a sign up at the farmers market this past weekend that read: ‘What do you think David Zuckerman should do?’ said Zuckerman. So many people were asking him privately that he decided to make it more public. So far, folks have been encouraging.
“I do have to figure out if my farm and family can handle it,” said Zuckerman.
This fusion approach is modeled on the successful candidacy of State Sen. Tim Ashe (D/P-Chittenden). Ashe was a Progressive city councillor who ran in the Democratic primary for state senate in Chittenden County — and won. He then won a seat in the 30-member chamber.
“This is one way that a Progressive can run in the statewide race while removing the three-way conundrum that challenges some voters. If Democratic voters feel that Progressive views are similar to what they see the Democrats’ views as, then hopefully this would be met with a warm reception,” said Zuckerman. If not, he added, then he’ll consider it a lesson learned.
“It would be both an olive branch and a test, and it would leave the decision up to the voters instead of hard-core insiders from either party,” said Zuckerman.
Zuckerman was first elected to the House in 1996. He has served as chairman of the House Agriculture Committee and is currently a member of the House Ways & Means Committee.
Other possible Democratic candidates include Chittenden County State’s Attorney T.J. Donovan, former House member Tom Costello, State Sen. Ed Flanagan and former Vermont CARES Executive Director Tim Palmer.
This article appears in Sep 9-15, 2009.
Got something to say?
Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!
Sorry Ed, I should have put the 😉 in my post because it was just a joke.
Dear Ghost of Jim Douglas Past,
I have never posted an anonymous post or a pseudonym anywhere. As I indicated to Shay last night, I think that it would be great if Dave runs for either Senate or for Gov. Lite. If he wins the democratic primary, I will definitely support him. And as I responded to Shay's inquiry last night, I am not interested in running for his seat.
Best,
Ed Adrian
233-2131
eadrian@comcast.net
If Donovan is considering a run he needs to disqualify himself and his office in the Flanagan investigation and have it moved to a different county’s prosecutor.
Maybe Dave has learned over the years that Ds and Ps must work together if we both want to defeat Rs. Is that so difficult to understand?
After years of slamming the Democratic Party and arguing that the “spoiler argument” has no merit, I’m astounded that Dave would consider selling out his core principles and belief in the viability of the Progressive movement by running in the Democratic primary… then again, political ambition does lead individuals down strange paths. Best of luck Dave! It’ll be an interesting campaign year for sure..
So it’s true that Zuckerman will need another office to run for soon because he won’t be eligible to run for his seat again in 2012. I’m not sure why that FACT is so upsetting so some people, but I guess it is. And Zuckerman is different from Clavelle because Clavelle ‘switched’ parties but Zuckerman isn’t switching parties, he’s just running in another party’s primary … and that’s more ‘diplomatic’ ?? I guess I still don’t see the difference. But here is my big question: If Zuckerman runs in the Democratic primary and loses, will he run as an independent? Or will he endorse the winner of the primary??
Quick addition: Yes, Rep. Zuckerman is moving his home to the Hinesburg farm. But, not for three to five years.
Didn’t Clavelle try that? No, Clavelle did an outright switch and ran as a D. He may have ultimately ended up with the P endorsement but he sure did not handle this as diplomatically as Zuckerman currently is.Oh, and isn’t Zuckerman moving to Hinesburg soon? So he will have to run for a different office if he wants to keep his hand in the game. So, let’s see, you are artificially trying to create an issue when there is no issue. You are either Jake Perkinson, a friend of Representative Ram, or Ed Adrian? Pretty sure the post made it perfectly clear that he is running for another office so not sure why one would feel compelled to point out that Zuckerman is moving.
Zuckerman should run in the Chittenden County Senate race. His voice and vote is needed in the 2011 session as redistricting will be a major issue.
Didn’t Clavelle try that? Oh, and isn’t Zuckerman moving to Hinesburg soon? So he will have to run for a different office if he wants to keep his hand in the game.