By Anne Galloway, VTDigger.org
House Speaker Shap Smith and Matt Dunne, a Google executive, have both registered paperwork as candidates for governor with the Secretary of State’s office. Smith has served seven terms as a lawmaker, and became speaker in 2009.
Smith has only said he didn’t see himself “running for the House again.” The speaker registered his candidacy with the Secretary of State on Aug. 11.
“I do plan to make an announcement next Wednesday in Morrisville [Aug. 19] about what my future plans are,” Smith said. “I wanted to talk to Vermonters, and spend time talking to family about what the future holds. I want to think deeply about what Vermonters are looking for in their next governor and whether I would have the skill set to do that.
“There’s a feeling within Vermont I think that we could and need to do better, and I wanted to think about whether I could be part of that,” Smith said.
Dunne has also refused to say whether he is running. He registered as a candidate for governor on July 14.
