Scott Milne
| Scott Milne | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Scott Edward Milne March 10, 1959 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Alma mater |
University of Vermont University of Redlands |
Scott Edward Milne (born March 10, 1959)[1] is a businessman from North Pomfret, Vermont who was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for Governor of Vermont in the 2014 election for Governor.
Early life and education
Milne was the second of four children born to Donald and Marion Milne in the New York City borough of Brooklyn.[1] The family lived in the town of Barre, Vermont until 1964 then moved to the Orange County town of Washington. Their new home, Twin Brook Farm, had been a working sheep farm for much of the 1800s.[2]
His parents started Milne Travel American Express in 1975.[1] Milne himself was entrepreneurial as a child, "from selling newspapers and rabbits as a kid, to painting houses, to promoting concerts..." Additionally he has worked as a farm laborer, construction worker, grocery store clerk, bartender and waiter, political campaign aide, and investigator for a public defender as an unpaid intern.[2]
Business and civic life
Milne, who has spent almost three decades working at Milne Travel — started by his parents in 1975 — still operates the company.[1]
Milne currently serves as President of the Vermont Society of Travel Agents and as an advisory board member for the Australian company Travcorp. He is a former advisory board member of American Express and Avis. He is involved with the Vermont Chamber of Commerce and is a former president of the Vermont Association of Private and Non-Profit Organizations.
Through Milne Travel, Milne supports more than one hundred civic and non-profit organizations.[2]
Political family
Milne's paternal grandfather, Henry Milne, served in Vermont's state House representing Barre. He also worked for the late United States Senator George Aiken and as state employment commissioner. His father's cousin, Jim Milne, served as secretary of state from 1995 to 1999.[1]
His father, Don Milne, served one year in the Vermont House. He also worked as an assistant clerk in Vermont's House and Senate, and as House clerk after 1993. He made unsuccessful bids for the Legislature and for state's attorney. He was prior to his death a member of the select board for the town of Washington.[1]
Milne's mother, Marion Milne, served three two-year terms in the state House. In 2000, she cast a vote in favor of civil unions and lost in the primary. Running as an Independent in the general election, she fell short of winning back her seat by a thousand votes.[1]
Political life
When Milne was nine years old, he went to the Champlain Valley Fair. While there, the 1969 Republican candidate for Vermont governor, Deane Davis, offered him three dollars to put up campaign bumper stickers around the fairgrounds. As a young boy in the 1970s, Milne would hitchhike from Washington, Vermont—where his family lived—to Montpelier, the nearby state capital. Once there he would often ride the elevator of the Pavilion Building to catch a glimpse of then-Democratic governor Tom Salmon.
Milne worked on the 1980 U.S. Senate primary campaign of Republican Stewart Ledbetter, who was defeated by the Democrat incumbent, the still-serving Patrick Leahy. Decades later, he campaigned door-to-door for his mother, Marion, as she fought to retain her legislative seat.[1]
In 2006, Milne lost a bid for a Windsor County House seat by a hundred votes. He finished in second place in the popular vote with 87,075 votes (45.1 percent. Two-time incumbent Democratic governor, Peter Shumlin, came in first with 89,509 popular votes (46.4 percent). Libertarian candidate Dan Feliciano earned 8,428 (4.4 percent). Because no candidate received 50 percent of the popular vote, the decision was made in Shumlin's favor by the Vermont House and Senate. Milne was slow to concede defeat because 54 percent of Vermonters wanted a change in the governorship.[3] He has declined a recount request.[4]
"I have remained adamant throughout my campaign that I got into this race to best serve the interests of Vermont. I do not believe that a recount is the best way to spend taxpayer dollars, especially as the state's financial position continues to deteriorate under team Shumlin's leadership."[4]— Scott Milne
2014 Vermont gubernatorial election
According to uncertified results, Milne came within 2,434 votes of beating the two-term incumbent Democrat governor. A challenger had not removed an incumbent governor in Vermont since Phil Hoff in 1962 when, riding the popular wave of President John F. Kennedy, he became the first Democratic governor in the state since 1854.
Milne declined to call for a recount of the vote—a right he earned by state law by coming with 2%—saying: "It is extremely unlikely, almost unfathomable, that a recount would put either candidate above the 50 percent mark."[4] With no candidate gaining 50% of the popular vote, the election was decided by 180 members of the Vermont House and Senate in January 2015.[5]
| Vermont gubernatorial election, 2014[6] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Democratic | Peter Shumlin | 89,509 | 46.36 | |
| Republican | Scott Milne | 87,075 | 45.1 | |
| Libertarian | Dan Feliciano | 8,428 | 4.36 | |
| Independent | Emily Peyton | 3,157 | 1.64 | |
| Liberty Union | Peter Diamondstone | 1,673 | 0.87 | |
| Independent | Bernard Peters | 1,434 | 0.74 | |
| Independent | Cris Ericson | 1,089 | 0.56 | |
| Independent | Write-ins | 722 | 0.37 | |
| Total votes | 193,087 | 100 | ||
Of Vermont's 275 "polling places" that report results separately—corresponding to the state's 255 towns and cities, with some larger municipalities broken into multiple precincts (Burlington has seven)—Milne won a plurality in 162 precincts, or 58.9%. His Democrat opponent won 112, or 40.7% (they tied in Woodbury). Shumlin won the state's biggest voting area, the city of Burlington (representing 9,604 gubernatorial voters), by a margin of 66% to 23%. He also won South Burlington. In three of the state's other five "top-voting municipalities"—Essex, Colchester, and Rutland City—Milne had more votes.[5]
Milne won 10 of the 20 "top-turnout towns and cities"—e.g., Williston, Barre Town, Milton, and Barre City. Shumlin won in Bennington, Montpelier, Hartford, and Middlebury. Of Vermont's 13 Senate districts, aligning roughly with the state's 14 counties, Milne won eight (61.5%) and Shumlin five (38.5%).[5]
Milne, and Vermont Republicans, believe state legislators should decide the election in line with how their individual districts voted.[7]
Determining winner
With no candidate receiving a majority of the vote, the Vermont General Assembly decided the election by secret ballot January 8, 2015.[8] Milne lost to Shumlin. Milne had said that if Shumlin won a plurality, he would support him, expecting Shumlin to do the same if the situation were reversed.[9] After the election, he said: "it's clear that 54% of Vermonters want a new governor, and a new path forward."[3]
The Assembly most recently reversed a plurality vote in the 1976 lieutenant gubernatorial election, when Democrat John Alden was "bypassed" in favor of Republican T. Garry Buckley.[10]
| 2014 Gubernatorial Election Results, Legislative Joint Assembly | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Democratic | Peter Shumlin | 110 | 61.5% | ||
| Republican | Scott Milne | 69 | 38.5% | ||
| Total votes | 179 | 100 | |||
Personal life
Milne currently resides in the unincorporated community of North Pomfret, Vermont and is a divorced father of two grown children.[1]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Hallenbeck, Terri (October 28, 2014). "Scott Milne: A complicated candidate". Burlington Free Press. Retrieved November 12, 2014.
- 1 2 3 "Biography". Milne for Vermont. Retrieved November 12, 2014.
- 1 2 "MILNE CALLS SHUMLIN'S CLAIM OF VICTORY PREMATURE". Rutland Herald. November 6, 2014. Retrieved November 7, 2014.
- 1 2 3 Burbank, April (November 12, 2014). "Shumlin leads in final tally, Milne declines recount". Burlington Free Press. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
- 1 2 3 Heintz, Paul (November 12, 2014). "Close Call: Seven Reasons Shumlin Nearly Lost". Seven Days. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
- ↑ "Unofficial Results - General Election - November 4, 2014". Vermont Secretary of State. November 8, 2014. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
- ↑ Krantz, Laura (November 6, 2014). "MILNE EXPLORING ALL OPTIONS". VTDigger. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
- ↑ "Shumlin defeats Milne in Legislature governor vote". Burlington Free Press. January 8, 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
- ↑ "Plurality or politics?". Barre Montpelier Times Argus. November 10, 2014. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
- ↑ "Close election recalls recent recounts". The Burlington Free Press. November 7, 2014. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
External links
- Milne-Governor official campaign website
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Randy Brock |
Republican nominee for Governor of Vermont 2014 |
Most recent |