Racine to Run for Governor in 2010

Doug Racine is organizing early to build momentum for a gubernatorial run in 2010. Speculation began about a Racine candidacy after former Gov. Phil Hoff publicly mused about a Racine campaign in a recent op-ed column. Most recently, Hoff called an organizing meeting of past and present Racine backers to encourage Racine to run.

Doug Racine isn't wasting any time. “I’ve got some things to talk about,” said Racine in Seven Days Blurt blog, posted by Fair Game staff writer, Shay Totten. “I do not see a clear economic development strategy in this state, for starters. And, it's about broadband, it's child care, and it’s a health care system that works. Those are the things that make a state a community attractive and that’s not happening in our state right now," he said.

Hoff says Racine is tops.

Today, Vermont Public Radio's John Dillon reported that Racine does, in fact, intend to be a candidate in 2010. Here's an excerpt of the VPR story:

(Dillon) Racine chairs the Senate Health and Welfare Committee. He says he would build his campaign on job growth and improvements to the state's transportation and communication infrastructure.

(Racine) "And we need to stay focused on our kids. You know, the governor's own Next Generation Commission focused on the fact that a third of our kids are either not graduating from high school or are not getting the education they need to be part of the workforce. That's a huge issue for the future of Vermont's economy."

(Dillon) Racine served as lieutenant governor in the late ‘90s. In 1991, he was president of the Vermont Senate when the state faced an earlier fiscal crisis. He ran the Senate when Republican Governor Richard Snelling worked with Democrats to pass budget cuts and a temporary tax increase.

(Racine) "I feel very proud that we worked on a very difficult situation in a bipartisan way. And we had a really strong leader in Dick Snelling, he wasn't figuring out how to put the blame on somebody else. He was very statesmanlike. He sat down with legislative leaders, who happened to be the other party, and said, `We've got a problem to solve, so let's figure out how to work together to come up with a solution that we're all going to like a little bit of and we're going dislike a little bit of it.' And in the end we got Vermont out of its problems."