Senate President Pro Tem Tim Ashe, D/P-Burlington, announced his potential candidacy for lieutenant governor on Tuesday.
The political development comes a day after VtDigger reported that the current occupant of the statewide office, David Zuckerman, a Progressive/Democrat, is expected to announce his run for governor next week. Seven Days first reported that Ashe informed colleagues of his decision during a meeting of Senate committee chairs Wednesday morning.
In an interview, Ashe said that he will run for the position only if Zuckerman moves forward with his reported intentions to run for Vermont’s top office. The lieutenant governor said he won’t make an official announcement about his 2020 plans until Jan. 13.
Ashe said he informed leaders of the Senate of his plans on Wednesday because he wanted to be transparent about his political ambitions.
“If he does leave, I’m determined that I’m running,” Ashe said of Zuckerman. He added that he didn’t want to be “cagey” about the plan with fellow senators, and make it seem like he was using his position as a political platform.
“I told them that if at any moment you feel that my actions on your behalf reflect something that’s more related to a candidacy, I hope you will come confront me with that immediately so we can put it to rest,” he said.
Ashe, who has served in the Senate for 12 years, said he has been thinking about seeking the lieutenant governor’s office for the last few months and that his time in upper chamber is coming to an end.
“As I’ve been thinking about whether there is a place or venue to further the issues that I care about, lieutenant governor is in some ways a natural one,” he said.
“Same issues, but a broader platform, freed from the day-to-day management of the Senate, and able to get out of the Statehouse far more often to bring people’s perspectives in and solve issues,” he added.
Zuckerman’s decision to run for governor has opened up an avenue for politicians across the spectrum seeking to hold statewide office.
Several other Vermont politicians are considering running for lieutenant governor in 2020. Former House Speaker Shap Smith, of Morrisville, is considering a second bid for the office. He ran in 2016 and lost to Zuckerman in the Democratic primary. He said that he would be making a final decision by Friday.
Sen. Debbie Ingram, D-Chittenden, is mulling a bid for the office and said she will make a decision next week.
Rep. Sarah Copeland Hanzas, D-Bradford, chairwoman of the House’s Government Operations Committee, and Sen. Corey Parent, R-Franklin, also confirmed Wednesday that they were thinking about running for the position.
The lieutenant governor’s office is widely viewed as a stepping stone for Vermont politicians with larger political aspirations.
Republican Gov. Phil Scott held the position before he was elected in 2016 and former lieutenant governors Doug Racine, a Democrat, and Brian Dubie, a Republican, also both ran for governor, but lost.
Howard Dean was lieutenant governor before he became governor in 1991, after then-governor Richard Snelling’s sudden death.
Ashe, on Wednesday, denied he was seeking the position because he had plans to seek an even higher political office.
“I’ve never been someone who has some political future mapped out,” he said.
Senate Majority Leader Becca Balint, D-Windham, said that Ashe has been thinking through where he “can have the biggest impact” in Vermont as he feels that his “cycle” in the Senate is coming to an end.
“When you realize you’re ready to do something else, it’s very scary to take that big leap, and I’m excited for him that he figured that out,” she said.
Balint said that she will consider running to replace Ashe as the leader of the Senate later this year.
Senate Minority Leader Joe Benning, R-Caledonia, said he learned of Ashe’s plans Wednesday morning. Benning, who is chair of the Senate Institutions Committee, said he could support Ashe in an election, if there wasn’t a “competent” Republican alternative.
“I think Tim has done a very good job running the Senate as pro tem,” he said. “If I find a Republican who is not competent, then I would come to the conclusion that Tim is very well-positioned and would do a good job.”
Ashe, 43, has been the Senate president pro tempore for three years. He has been in the Senate for more than a decade, and narrowly lost the 2011 Burlington mayor’s race. He was previously a Burlington city councilor.
Zuckerman called Ashe “one of the smartest people in the building” on Wednesday. “And I think if I choose to run for governor, then it will be a robust primary I’m sure,” he said.
“I think a lot of surprises are happening for a lot of people in these last few days and I think there’s a lot to smooth out over these next couple weeks,” he added.
Ashe, who worked for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders early in his political career, has been a leading champion for a $15 minimum wage in the Statehouse.
His inability to strike a deal with House Speaker Mitzi Johnson, D-South Hero, at the end of the last session meant that Democrats were unable to deliver minimum wage and paid family leave bills to Gov. Phil Scott’s desk.
Meg Hansen, of Manchester, Vt., is running for lieutenant governor in 2020. Courtesy photo
Both Ashe and Johnson have said they plan to pass those bills early in the session, though it remains unclear if their chambers will find common ground on issues including a taxed and regulated marijuana market, climate change initiatives and criminal justice reform.
Parent has been hailed as a rising star in Vermont’s GOP. On the current Republican candidates for the lieutenant governor post — Meg Hansen and Dana Colson — he said: “There are a lot of names, but I don’t think there is a viable Republican candidate at this point.”
“We’re all going to have a conversation on who potentially could fill that seat,” Parent added. “I think clearly if the Democratic ticket is Zuckerman/Ashe, you’ll see a pretty broad difference in what the future of Vermont might look like.”
Ashe’s exit from the Senate, where he was the top vote-getter in Vermont’s most populous county, also opens the way for new candidates to the upper chamber.