Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin (D) announced Monday that he will not be seeking a fourth term, giving Republicans the opportunity to win another deep blue state in the upcoming election.
According to the Burlington Free Press, Shumlin said he will officially retire from politics and return to his family business in Putney, Vermont.
Eric Davis, professor emeritus of political science at Middlebury College, said in an interview to the paper that Shumlin would have likely lost had he ran in 2016.
His last six years of political life has been disastrous.
Electorally, Shumlin has never been loved by his Vermont voters. In two of his three elections he barely squeaked victories, receiving just 46 percent of the vote in his 2014 re-election against an unknown Republican challenger.
With no coattails to ride, Democrats in the state House lost 11 seats.
That inability to connect with voters proved contagious while Shumlin was the chair of the Democratic Governors Association. Analysts believed the DGA would make gains during the 2014 elections in Maine, Florida, and Kansas. Not only did the DGA fail to win in those states, but they also lost the heavily Democratic states of Illinois, Massachusetts, and Maryland.
His retirement creates an open seat and the potential to elect a Republican governor in the deep blue state.
Likely Republican candidate, Lt. Gov. Phil Scott (R-Vt.) won a double-digit re-election in 2012 and 2014. Potential Democratic contenders include Rep. Peter Welch and House Speaker Shap Smith.
If Republicans can pull off a win in Vermont as well as West Virginia, where the Republican candidate is leading in the polls, it will bring them to 33 governorships –breaking a national record.
