The 2016 statewide campaign is off to an early start, and already, Secretary of State Jim Condos has had to field some tough questions about the definition of residency for potential candidates and the constitutionality of Vermont's public financing system.
When Gov. Peter Shumlin announced last June that he wouldn't be a candidate for a fourth term in office, it forced many potential candidates for governor and lieutenant governor to announce their intentions months ahead of the normal timeline.
One of these candidates is Garrett Graff, the 34-year-old son of former Vermont Life editor Nancy Price Graff and former Associated Press chief Chris Graff.
For the past nine years, Graff has worked in Washington, D.C., and recently came back to Vermont to seriously consider a run for lieutenant governor as a Democrat.
But questions have been raised about whether Graff meets the residency requirements for lieutenant governor. The requirements, spelled out in the Vermont Constitution, state that a candidate is not eligible until "he shall have resided in this State four years next preceding the day of the election."
Secretary of State Jim Condos doesn't think Graff meets the Constitutional requirement.
"I'm a Vermonter, I was born a Vermonter, I was raised a Vermonter. I've woken up every day of my life as a Vermonter." - Garrett Graff
"'Next preceding the day of the election' we assume – and the Attorney General agrees with me – that it means you have to reside in the state four years preceding the day of the election," says Condos.
But Graff has a very different take on this issue. He says he has never changed his voter registration, and points to Title 17 of Vermont election law which defines "resident" as a person who is domiciled in the state or has an intent to return if they were "temporarily absent."
"I'm a Vermonter, I was born a Vermonter, I was raised a Vermonter. I've woken up every day of my life as a Vermonter,” said Graff. “And I don't have any doubt that I meet the residency requirements."
Condos says he has no authority to rule on the case, and that the courts will have to decide the issue in the event another candidate challenges Graff's residency.
The state's public financing law is also under fire in the race for lieutenant governor. Under this law, a candidate seeking public financing cannot declare their candidacy or campaign until after Feb. 15 of the election year.
"You give up certain things when you want public money, and when the public is going to do that – put [that money] up to pay for your campaign – you did agree to do certain things." - Secretary of State Jim Condos
Condos thinks the law is pretty straight forward.
"You give up certain things when you want public money,” said Condos. “And when the public is going to do that – put [that money] up to pay for your campaign – you did agree to do certain things. It's not like someone is twisting your arm, you know [the law] ahead of time."
"Campaigns are starting earlier and people are spending more money, whereby it's an impractical law because of the playing field changing." -Chittenden Progressive Sen. David Zuckerman
But Chittenden Progressive Sen. David Zuckerman, who says he will run in the Democratic primary, thinks the law is unconstitutional. He says it caps how much money a candidate can spend in a primary and it unfairly limits the length of the campaign. He has joined a suit challenging the law.
“I recognize those caveats and they were reasonable when elections were run reasonably,” Zuckerman said. “But at this point, campaigns are starting earlier and people are spending more money, whereby it's an impractical law because of the playing field changing."
Zuckerman says he will run a traditionally funded campaign if he has to, but he hopes the lawsuit will lead to a stronger public financing law in Vermont for the 2016 campaign.
