Richter won't run for office, cites pressure from practice
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By Louis Porter Vermont Press Bureau - Published: May 20, 2008
MONTPELIER – Deb Richter said Monday she will not run for lieutenant governor.
Richter, a family doctor, was considering a race against incumbent Brian Dubie. But in the final days before an expected announcement, she decided the strain on her medical practice would be too great, she said Monday.
"I was very close to running," said Richter. But the impact on her six colleagues at their Cambridge office – and on her patients – would have been too much, she said.
"I don't know how Howard Dean did it," she said, referring to the former governor who, as a physician, also served as lieutenant governor.
Richter has become well known in the Statehouse as an advocate for broad health care reform, and had hoped to use the position of lieutenant governor to advocate for the issue.
"The majority of Democrats agree with the position I have, that we should have a publicly financed health care system," Richter said.
But during a recent meeting about the possible campaign against Dubie, she received a call from a patient. That made her start wondering if such a campaign was possible without jeopardizing her practice."I felt very pressured. It was a defining moment for me to realize this would happen all the time," she said.
Although there was some speculation she might run as a Progressive, Richter said she would have run as a Democrat. She hoped to avoid "party politics," added Richter, 53.
"I got heat from every direction. I got lots of advice from everywhere, including Republicans," she said. However, Richter said she enjoyed the "brief encounter I had with politics" and expects to run some day.
Richter said she has been talking to Peter Freyne, former political columnist for Seven Days, who offered her advice on her campaign. On Monday, Freyne said he was sorry Richter wasn't going to run.
"Like a lot of people, I am disappointed. She is the most articulate and passionate advocate for health care reform that has ever crossed my path," Freyne said. "I suggest Brian Dubie is breathing a large sigh of relief."
Dubie, an airline pilot, was not available for comment Monday.
Democrats said they are concentrating right now on House Speaker Gaye Symington's gubernatorial run, not the race for lieutenant governor.
"A declaration of candidacy for lieutenant governor right now would be ill timed," said Ian Carleton, the party's chairman. "There is a plenty of time for a lieutenant governor candidate and campaign to get going."
Some wondered whether the first challenger to announce his race for governor, Progressive Anthony Pollina, would consider running for the number two job instead. Monday a member of his campaign said the idea was "preposterous."
Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin, D-Windham, said his first goal was to help his party find a candidate for governor, and his second to add to the Democratic majority in the state Senate.
Given that majority, there is little chance of tie-breaking votes to be cast by a lieutenant governor, Shumlin said.
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