Governor of Vermont

Vermont Governor
General information
Office Type:	Partisan
Office website:	Official Link
2010 FY Budget:	$1,603,815
Term limits:	None
Structure
Length of term:	2 years
Authority:	Vermont Constitution, Chapter II, Sections 1
Selection Method:	Elected
Current Officeholder
Name:	Peter Shumlin
Officeholder Party:	Democratic
Assumed office:	January 6, 2011
Compensation:	$142,542
Elections
Next election:	November 4, 2014
Last election:	November 6, 2012
Other Vermont Executive Offices
Governor • Lieutenant Governor • Secretary of State • Attorney General • Treasurer • Auditor • Superintendent of Education • Agriculture Commissioner • Insurance Commissioner • Natural Resources Commissioner • Labor Commissioner • Public Service Board

The Governor of the Commonwealth of Vermont is an elected Constitutional officer, the head of the Executive branch, and the highest state office in Vermont. The Governor is popularly elected every two years by a plurality and has no term limit.

As of May 2013, Vermont is one of 12 Democratic state government trifectas.

Current officeholder

The 81st and current governor is Peter Shumlin, a Democrat elected in 2010.

Authority

The state Constitution addresses the office of the governor in both Chapter II, Sections 1-5, the Delegations and Distribution of Powers and Chapter II, Sections 20-27, Executive Department.

Under Section I:

The Commonwealth or State of Vermont shall be governed by a Governor...

Additionally, under Section I:

The Supreme Executive power shall be exercised by a Governor...

Qualifications

A candidate for governor must be:

• a resident of Vermont for at least four years on the day of the election

Governors may not hold any legislative office or any other Constitutional office. Excepting positions in military reserves, they also may not hold any office under the federal government. Nor is the Governor eligible for any appointed position made by any branch of the Vermont government.

Elections

Vermont's Constitution address gubernatorial elections not in the section on the Executive but in Chapter II, Section 43-55, Elections; Officers; Terms of Office.

Vermont is one of only two states that elects governors biennially, that is, each even-numbered year. For Vermont, 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016 are all gubernatorial election years. Legally, the gubernatorial inauguration is always set for the first Thursday following the first Tuesday in the January following an election. Thus, January 6, 2011, January 3, 2013, and January 8, 2015 are inaugural days.

If the office of the Governor is not filled in the election, a joint session of the legislature shall cast ballots to choose among three candidates.

2012

See also: Vermont gubernatorial election, 2012

Governor of Vermont General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Peter Shumlin Incumbent	57.8%	170,749
	Republican	Randy Brock	37.6%	110,940
	Independent	Emily Peyton	2%	5,868
	United States Marijuana	Cris Ericson	1.9%	5,583
	Liberty Union	Dave Eagle	0.4%	1,303
	Independent	Write-in	0.3%	969
Total Votes				295,412
Election Results via Vermont Secretary of State.

Term limits

See also: States with gubernatorial term limits

Vermont governors do not face any term limits.

Partisan composition

The chart below shows the partisan composition of the Office of the Governor of Vermont from 1992-2013.

Vacancies

See also: How gubernatorial vacancies are filled

Details of vacancy appointments are addressed under Chapter II, Section 24

The Lieutenant Governor becomes Governor anytime the elected Governor is absent or unable to discharge the office and anytime the office is vacant.

The legislature is Constitutionally required to draft laws providing for the line of succession if the Lieutenant Governor's office is also vacant.

Duties

Vermont's Governor is charged to uphold and execute all laws, expedite legislative business as needed (§ 20).

According to the state Constitution the Governor has limited powers to grant pardons and reprieves and the power to call special sessions of the General Assembly when necessary (§ 20).

The governor is the commander-in-chief of the naval and militia forces, but may directly command those forced unless permitted to do so by the Senate (§ 20).

Other duties and privileges of the office include:

• Commissioning all officers of the state (§ 20)

• Making all appointments not otherwise provided for and making interim appointments to all vacant offices until the legal procedure for filling the office is performed (§ 20)

• Granting reprieves in all cases except treason and granting pardons in all cases except impeachment (§ 200

• Granting licenses as permitted by law (§ 20)

• Drawing upon the Treasury for sums already appropriated by the General Assembly (§ 20)

• Laying embargoes for up to 30 days when the legislature is in recess (§ 20)

• Commissioning a Secretary of Military and Civil Affairs at her pleasure. Such an officer serves at the Governor's pleasure (§ 21)

• Sealing and signing all commissions made by the state of Vermont (§ 22)

• Keeping and using "The Great Seal of the State of Vermont" (§ 22)

• Appointing a Treasurer when the office become vacant (§ 24)

State budget

The budget for the Governor's Office in Fiscal Year 2010 was $1,603,815.

Compensation

See also: Comparison of gubernatorial salaries and Compensation of state executive officers

2012

In 2012, the Governor of Vermont was paid an estimated $142,542. This figure comes from the Council of State Governments.

2010

As of 2010, the Governor of Vermont is paid $142,542 a year, the 15th highest gubernatorial salary in America.

Contact information

Mailing address:
109 State Street, Pavilion
Montpelier, VT 05609-0101
Phone: 802-828-3333
Fax: 802-828-3339

History

Partisan balance 1992-2013

See also: Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States and Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Vermont

Partisan breakdown of the Vermont governorship from 1992-2013

From 1992-2013, in Vermont there were Democratic governors in office for 14 years, including the last three, while there were Republican governors in office for eight years. Vermont was under Democratic trifectas for the last three years of the study period.

Across the country, there were 493 years of Democratic governors (44.82%) and 586 years of Republican governors (53.27%) from 1992-2013.

Over the course of the 22-year study, state governments became increasingly more partisan. At the outset of the study period (1992), 18 of the 49 states with partisan legislatures had single-party trifectas and 31 states had divided governments. In 2013, only 13 states have divided governments, while single-party trifectas held sway in 36 states, the most in the 22 years studied.

The chart below shows the partisan composition of the Office of the Governor of Vermont, the Vermont State Senate and the Vermont House of Representatives from 1992-2013.

See also

• Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin
• Lieutenant Governor of Vermont
• Lieutenant Governor Phillip Scott
• Vermont gubernatorial election, 2010
• Vermont state executive offices

External links

Suggest a link

• Office of the Vermont Governor