Peter Shumlin

Peter Shumlin
81st Governor of Vermont
In office
January 6, 2011 – January 5, 2017
LieutenantPhil Scott
Preceded byJim Douglas
Succeeded byPhil Scott
77th and 79th President pro tempore of the Vermont Senate
In office
January 3, 2007 – January 5, 2011
Preceded byPeter Welch
Succeeded byJohn Campbell
In office
January 8, 1997 – January 8, 2003
Preceded byStephen Webster
Succeeded byPeter Welch
Member of the Vermont Senate
from the Windham County district
In office
January 3, 2007 – January 5, 2011
Serving with Jeanette White
Preceded byRoderick "Rod" M. Gander
Succeeded byPeter Galbraith
In office
January 6, 1993 – January 8, 2003
Serving with Jan Backus, Nancy Chard
Preceded byRobert T. Gannett
Succeeded byJeanette White
Roderick "Rod" M. Gander
Personal details
Born
Peter Elliott Shumlin

(1956-03-24) March 24, 1956 (age 68)
Brattleboro, Vermont, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouses
Elizabeth Preston Parsons
(m. 1981, divorced)
Deborah Holway
(m. 1989; div. 2013)
Katie Hunt
(m. 2015)
Children2
EducationWesleyan University (BA)
Signature

Peter Elliott Shumlin (born March 24, 1956) is an American politician from Vermont. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 81st governor of Vermont from 2011 to 2017.[1]

He was first elected to the office in 2010, and was reelected to a second term in 2012. In 2014 he received a narrow plurality in his race for reelection, but did not attain the 50% threshold mandated by the Constitution of Vermont. In such cases the Vermont General Assembly elects the winner.[2] The legislature almost always selects the candidate who received a plurality; this held true, and the General Assembly re-elected Shumlin to a third term by a vote of 110–69 in January 2015.[3] In June 2015, Shumlin announced that he would not seek re-election in 2016.[4]

He signed laws on physician-assisted suicide as well as the United States' first genetically modified food labeling requirement during his tenure as governor. He was chair of the Democratic Governors Association during his first two terms.

He was a member of the Vermont House of Representatives from 1991 to 1993, and represented the Windham District in the Vermont Senate from 1993 to 2003 and again from 2007 to 2011. He was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Vermont in 2002.[5][6]

  1. ^ Town Hall, 2010 candidate profile, Peter Shumlin Archived 2010-11-09 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Hallenbeck, Terri (November 5, 2014). "AP: Shumlin up 2,088 votes with all precincts reporting". Burlington Free Press.
  3. ^ Gram, Dave (January 8, 2015). "Vermont Governor Re-Elected After Failing to Win Majority". Associated Press. Archived from the original on January 13, 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
  4. ^ "Shumlin announces he will not seek another term as Vt. governor". WCAX.com. June 8, 2015. Archived from the original on June 11, 2015.
  5. ^ Burlington Free Press, The Shumlin Era Dawns This Week in Montpelier[permanent dead link], January 2, 2011
  6. ^ Remsen, Nancy; Hallenbeck, Terri (November 3, 2010). "Dubie concedes in Vermont governor's race". The Burlington Free Press. Retrieved November 3, 2010.[permanent dead link]