*** Updated below with news of a second challenger, former Rutland representative David Sunderland, who has drawn the support of Lt. Gov. Phil Scott. ***

A month after Vermont Republican Party chairman Jack Lindley was hospitalized with a serious, unspecified illness, he's well on his way to recovery, according to a close friend and party official. 

"He's doing great. It's just a spectacular recovery. He's not ready to run any under-four-minute miles, but it's really wonderful," says party treasurer Mark Snelling, who visited Lindley (pictured at right) Wednesday at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. "It's just unbelievable."

Lindley's family and party officials have declined to discuss the nature of his illness since he was admitted to DHMC's intensive care unit last month, but Snelling says he expects the chairman to make a full recovery. Lindley's doing so well, Snelling says, he's hoping to attend the Vermont GOP's state convention next month, when he'll be up for reelection.

"I know he hasn't decided whether he's going to run for chair or not, but I know he's considering running," Snelling says. "He's having talks with his family. The recovery is occurring at a rate faster than anyone would've expected."

Prior to Lindley's illness, several party members were considering challenging him, though most have stayed quiet as the incumbent has recovered. One, however, announced Wednesday that he plans to run for the post at the party's November 9 meeting.

Windsor Republican John MacGovern, who unsuccessfully challenged Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) last year, emailed friends and supporters to say he would seek the party chairmanship because, he wrote, "We need a new approach."

After a dozen years at the helm of the Vermont Progressive Party, chairwoman Martha Abbott (pictured at right) says she's stepping down to pave the way for younger leaders.

"Twelve years is plenty long enough," the Underhill resident says. "Fortunately we have some wonderful young people who've gotten involved in the party, have a lot of ideas and have a lot of abilities — and we're very excited about that."

One of them is former Burlington city councilor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak, who plans to run for Abbott's position at the party's state convention on November 9. A labor organizer for the Vermont-National Education Association, Mulvaney-Stanak left the council in April 2012 when she moved to Winooski. 

"When I was thinking about what my next move was in politics, this seemed to be a good fit," she says. 

Updated at 6:14 p.m. with more comment from Sorrell.

Vermont's Democratic attorney general, Bill Sorrell, said Thursday he plans to run for a ninth full term as the state's top prosecutor next November.

In an appearance on WDEV's "The Mark Johnson Show," Sorrell first said he was "intending to run" for reelection. When pressed further, he said, "I'm going to run."

Sorrell's intentions have been a topic of great speculation since he narrowly survived a primary election challenge in August 2012. The AG, who was first appointed to the post in 1997, defeated Chittenden County State's Attorney T.J. Donovan by just 714 votes. Sorrell went on to easily defeat Republican businessman Jack McMullen and Progressive activist Ed Stanak.