Peter Shumlin
Peter Elliott Shumlin (born March 24, 1956) is an American politician from Vermont. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 81st governor of Vermont from 2011 to 2017.
Peter Shumlin | |
|---|---|
| 81st Governor of Vermont | |
| In office January 6, 2011 – January 5, 2017 | |
| Lieutenant | Phil Scott |
| Preceded by | Jim Douglas |
| Succeeded by | Phil Scott |
| 77th and 79th President pro tempore of the Vermont Senate | |
| In office January 3, 2007 – January 5, 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Peter Welch |
| Succeeded by | John Campbell |
| In office January 8, 1997 – January 8, 2003 | |
| Preceded by | Stephen Webster |
| Succeeded by | Peter Welch |
| Member of the Vermont Senate from the Windham County district | |
| In office January 3, 2007 – January 5, 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Roderick "Rod" M. Gander |
| Succeeded by | Peter Galbraith |
| In office January 6, 1993 – January 8, 2003 | |
| Preceded by | Robert T. Gannett |
| Succeeded by | Jeanette White Roderick "Rod" M. Gander |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Peter Elliott Shumlin March 24, 1956 Brattleboro, Vermont, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouses | Elizabeth Preston Parsons
(m. 1981, divorced)Deborah Holway
(m. 1989; div. 2013)Katie Hunt (m. 2015) |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | Wesleyan University (BA) |
| Signature | |
He was first elected to the office in 2010, and was reelected to a second term in 2012. In 2014 he received a narrow plurality in his race for reelection, but did not attain the 50% threshold mandated by the Constitution of Vermont. In such cases the Vermont General Assembly elects the winner. The legislature almost always selects the candidate who received a plurality; this held true, and the General Assembly re-elected Shumlin to a third term by a vote of 110–69 in January 2015. In June 2015, Shumlin announced that he would not seek re-election in 2016.
He signed laws on physician-assisted suicide as well as the United States' first genetically modified food labeling requirement during his tenure as governor. He was chair of the Democratic Governors Association during his first two terms.
He was a member of the Vermont House of Representatives from 1991 to 1993, and represented the Windham District in the Vermont Senate from 1993 to 2003 and again from 2007 to 2011. He was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Vermont in 2002.