Sheldon Prentice '72 announced late last week that he was not planning to seek the Republican nomination in the Vermont gubernatorial race.
Prentice, who is the senior vice president at Chittenden Trust Company, was considering entering the race about two weeks ago because no Republican candidate had emerged to challenge the Democratic incumbent Howard Dean.
But he said in a press release that he decided that he would not be able to raise the necessary funds to compensate for his lack of name recognition. He did say that in four days he had received $50,000 in pledges.
"I truly appreciate the many expressions of support I received and I wish that I could continue the campaign," he said.
In an interview with The Dartmouth last week, Prentice said he had been thinking about running for governor sometime in the future, after his three daughters had grown up.
In his letter announcing his non-candidacy, Prentice urged Vermont residents to support big business in the state by not forcing larger business to pay additional taxes.
"Vermonters, we need more of these employers, we should not take the ones we have for granted and we certainly should not go out of our way to make doing business more costly," he said. "Whatever short-term gain you may perceive will surely produce long-term instability."
Prentice said his message "transcends party loyalty." He said the state's future does not depend on the number of Democrats or Republicans.
Instead, it depends on "making wise choices which promote excellence in education, incentive to earn a high standard of living and prudence in the management of our resources," he said.
