TJ Donovan has bagged another union endorsement in his bid for Attorney General, and it’s a big one: The Vermont State Employees’ Association (VSEA), which has more than 6,000 members. And the endorsement came with a slap at incumbent Democrat Bill Sorrell:
“For too long Vermonters have gone without an Attorney General who understands what working and middle class Vermonters go through day in and day out, and who appreciates the essential role state workers play in our state,” said John Reese, President of VSEA.
As for Donovan, Reese portrayed him as “an unflinching supporter of worker’s rights; an active watchdog of government contractors; and a vocal advocate for the labor movement in an era of nationwide attacks on public employees and unions.”
For those keeping score, Donovan now has the backing of the Fire Fighters union, the state troopers’ union, the AFL-CIO, and the Building and Trades union. Plus the Vermont Sheriff’s Association. Total membership: 15,000. If the rank and file go along with leadership, Donovan has gone a long way toward winning the Democratic primary.
After the jump: Hey, Bill’s got some supporters too!
AG Sorrell has announced some endorsements of his own this week — basically continuing his parade of retirees. Per vtBuzz, the latest Sorrell backers include…
…former Burlington Police Chief/state Public Safety Commissioner Tom Tremblay, along with a string of other Vermont law enforcement types. Also on the list were A. James Walton, one of Tremblay’s predecessors as public safety commissioner, retired state police Col. John Sinclair and Majors James Dimmick and Nick Ruggerio, former University of Vermont Police Chief Gary Margolis and former Burlington deputy chiefs Steve Wark and John Sonnick.
Does it just seem like virtually all of Sorrell’s high-profile backers are people who used to be something? Of course, the senior vote is nothing to sneeze at in a Democratic primary. And hey, I’m AARP-eligible myself. But the list does have a distinct air of ex-ness about it.
James Rigor, spokesperson for the Vermont Association Of Zombies, Vampires, The Undead, And Near-Dead, said today his group will be backing Bill Sorrell for Attorney General in the upcoming Vermont Democratic primary.
“Bill’s our kind of guy. He’s sort of Near-Dead himself, and we know if Bill’s re-elected there will be more folks joining our group. Like, Macadam Mason just joined us, and we figure we’ll pick up some more missing folks next year, and maybe two or three of those abused elderly folks, at least a couple of migrant or immigrant farm workers, and maybe some drug gang related deaths. I’ll tell ya, we can count on Bill not to get all bent about untoward deaths and missing folks and outright murder. With Bill in office, I think in a couple of years we’ll be able to unionize and have a good sized membership. We especially liked it when he turned his attention to soda and sweet drinks. I mean, how many people have you heard of dying from drinking a Pepsi? But crime</i> deaths–that’s were Bill’s our bread and butter boy. Keep up the good non-work Bill. If every state had AGs like Bill, we’d be able to put up a Presidential candidate in 2016.”
And…A mysterious comment on Facebook was signed by someone calling him/herself The Connecticut Valley Killer. The comment read: “I’m still out here, people. Hello, Bill. Thanks for not following up on me. I’ll be back. Good Luck in August. I don’t like that TJ fellow. He sounds like the kind of young punk who would get on some goddamn crusade about me and other killers. Some of these drug gang members from Mass are friends of mine. We don’t put Pepsi in our Jack. We’ve got Meth. Thanks.”