Hot on the heels of Monday’s announcement that Chittenden County State’s Attorney TJ Donovan will challenge incumbent Attorney General Bill Sorrell in the Democratic primary, comes the first open rumbling from another rumored challenger: House Speaker Shap Smith. Both VTDigger and the Burlington Free Press have received the same e-mail from Smith:

“A number of people have encouraged me to run for Attorney General,” Smith wrote in an email Monday evening. “I’m giving it careful consideration, and I will be making a decision soon.”

The Freeps also has Sorrell talking up child pornography as a key issue. This may well be a big problem, but I wonder if (a) it’s really the biggest unmet legal challenge in Vermont, and (b) it isn’t a stereotypical tough-talking chest-pounding sort of issue for an AG candidate.

(Could also lead to interesting debates, since Sorrell differs with the State’s Attorneys on how to tackle the problem. They want more computer experts, he wants more regular staff. Even though he acknowledges a huge backlog of computer forensic work in child-porn investigations.)

And hey, the frequently ethically challenged Vince Illuzzi is still out there, too. Still hasn’t made up his mind.

“I’m still leaning toward running,” Illuzzi said Monday in an interview with the Burlington Free Press. “A number of people have asked me to consider running as an independent.”

I trust that it’s not the same “number of people” talking to both Shap and Vince. That’d be awkward.