Three days before the Vermont Republican Party is scheduled to choose its chair for the next two years, Jack Lindley, the current holder of that position, let it be known that he won’t seek re-election. Instead, Lindley will throw his weight behind one of his two challengers ‘ John MacGovern.
MacGovern, a Windsor resident, ran against Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, in 2012, receiving 25 percent of the vote. He has also run for a state senate seat twice, both times unsuccessfully.
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Vermont GOP at crossroads.
Vermont Republican Party Chairman Jack Lindley at campaign headquarters on election night in 2012. Photo by Nat Rudarakanchana
Lindley’s decision likely makes the race a showdown between MacGovern and David Sunderland, a former state legislator, who is backed by Lt. Gov. Phil Scott and other Republican leaders in the Legislature.
The latter group wants to distance the Vermont GOP from the national party platform. MacGovern and Lindley strongly oppose that approach.
‘I don’t want those people taking over the party. The instinct of incumbents is to stop talking about issues that are difficult,’ MacGovern said during an interview last week. ‘Those issues can activate the base, which is essential to winning the election.’
Sunderland, Scott and the lawmakers who support them say the party should shelve contentious social issues that are in play at the national level. MacGovern, meanwhile, says Republicans shouldn’t clam up about those topics.
‘I’ve not focused about social issues during my campaigns, but people always ask you about and you have to talk to them,’ he said. ‘The fight over marriage is an important fight. And ‘right to life,’ ‘ you can’t throw those children overboard just because it’s controversial.’
MacGovern entered the race before he knew whether Lindley would run for election. MacGovern said last week that he was seeking Lindley’s position not because he disagreed with the chairman’s views, but because Lindley hadn’t done enough to develop voter databases and other election resources. ‘I like Jack Lindley, I like him a lot, but I think there are things that can and be should done better,’ MacGovern said.
Lindley, who is recovering from a serious illness, cited his health as the reason he’s not seeking a second term. At the end of last week, he was still undecided about whether he would enter the race.
The Vermont Press Bureau first reported the decision Wednesday evening, based on an email Lindley sent to party members.