This playlist: three clips from CCTV’s Town Meeting TV, Vermont’s Associated Press Candidate Debate at Saint Michael’s College, https://www.cctv.org/watch-tv/programs/vermont-press-associations-secretary-state-debate.
Clip 1: Deb Markowitz’s Secretary of State’s Office had a very good reputation for making great progress with the Professional Regulation Division of the Office. Toward the end of her tenure there started being rumbling online – the ‘I can’t stand her” type, without any clear reasoning as to why – similar to the unexplained/unjustified hatred toward Kate McCann and Nancy Pelosi – just pouncing, sudden and in your face. When Markowitz didn’t run in 2010 it was because she was running for governor. From my perspective, she easily had the best chance of winning. She had very current positive relationships with much of the state. Instead she came in third in the primary behind two men (with Shumlin @#1) – well known in the political realm in Vermont but not as much among the citizenry in general (though Racine had a chance as well). A recount was conducted. State government has been lacking strong female leadership ever since.
Clip 2: Early in the full video Condos mentioned two things, he’d been recruited by Shumlin and Dean to run for Senate and that he’d been ‘encouraged’ by Markowitz to run for Secretary of State. In this video Jason Gibbs (who is now Phil Scott’s Chief of Staff) states that he’d “also been recruited by a former Secretary of State”. Condos hadn’t said that he’d been recruited by a former Secretary of State. Whatever he meant (because he was noticeably didn’t refute that comment), citizens want their votes back.
Clip 3: He also noticeably equates health, safety, and welfare with the licensing of professional service providers in the state – not with much if any need for regulation beyond that because he “wants to protect Vermonters”.