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Explore our coverage of government and politics.

Shumlin Defends Lack Of DGA Support For Christie Opponent

Gov. Peter Shumlin got some national media attention on his trip to Washington, D.C. this week, including introducing President Barack Obama at a Democratic Governor's Association event Thursday night.

But as head of the Democratic Governors’ Association (DGA), Shumlin is taking heat from Dems in the state where his counterpart, Republican Governors' Association Chairman Chris Christie, won reelection last year.

The New Jersey gubernatorial election of 2013 was a tough one for Democratic candidate Barbara Buono; she lost by almost 500,000 votes. Christie’s victory over Democrat Jon Corzine in 2009 was by a much slimmer margin of 98,643 votes. Some say Shumlin’s DGA dealt Buono a losing hand in 2013 after reportedly contributing $3 million to Corzine’s bid.

The DGA’s contribution to Buono last year: $7,600.

Shumlin defended the decision in an interview with Politico:

Asked at POLITICO’s fourth annual State Solutions Conference whether he stood by the choice to invest only about $7,600 dollars in New Jersey Democratic challenger Barbara Buono’s campaign, Shumlin responded, “We made the right decision there.” His job, said Shumlin (D-Vt.) is to “reelect incumbent Democratic governors, and elect Democratic governors where we currently have Republicans serving, where we can win,” he said.

Apparently, the DGA didn't think Buono had a chance of victory, campaign funds or not.

Shumlin said in the interview that the DGA has its sights set on states with better odds of Democratic victory: Florida, Maine, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Ohio and Michigan.

Taylor was VPR's digital reporter from 2013 until 2017. After growing up in Vermont, he graduated with at BA in Journalism from Northeastern University in 2013.
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