As both the Rockefeller Center's Associate Director of Training and Education and a Vermont state senator, Matt Dunne is used to balancing state politics and his career at Dartmouth. But now, while running for Vermont Lt. Governor, he plans take a leave of absence that could become permanent if he wins.
Dunne, a Democrat, said he is motivated to run for the position by his desire to change Vermont and act as a counterweight to the current governor, Republican Jim Douglas. Douglas is expected to be re-elected.
"I believe that the lieutenant governor can actually be a very positive force in bringing together Vermonters with different types of expertise and hoping to translate their ideas into actual policy," he said.
Unlike most states, Vermont holds separate elections for governor and lieutenant governor. Frequently, the lieutenant governor is from the opposite party of the governor. The official duties of the position are limited: The Lieutenant Governor presides over the senate and replaces the governor if he or she dies. Unofficially, Dunne said, the lieutenant governor acts as a check against the governor and promotes political ideas.
"Because it doesn't have a large number of formal responsibilities, there is a wonderful opportunity to be creative in putting together conferences reaching out to academic institutions for ideas and serving as a convener in general around challenges or opportunities in the state of Vermont," said Dunne, who helped orchestrate a conference on poverty held in Burlington, Vt., last week.
If Dunne defeats Rep. John Tracy, D-Burlington, in September's Democratic primary, he will face incumbent lieutenant governor Brian Dubie in November's general elections. Dunne said he considers Dubie too conservative.
"It is always a significant challenge to run against an incumbent. However, I believe that I am more closely aligned with the values of a majority of Vermonters."
For example, Dunne said, Dubie has not spoken out against the federal government's domestic wiretapping program.
"Vermont is a state that has historically opposed the federal government invading privacy or trying to suppress free speech, and I believe that those in statewide office, particularly the current lieutenant governor ... should make it very clear that Vermont is not OK with domestic wiretapping," he added.
In deciding to run, Dunne said he consulted political mentors and his family.
"I had my first child in June, so there was significant conversation with my wife that took place, but we both decided this was the right time [to run]," he said.
Dunne, 36, originally considered running for the U.S. House of Representatives but deferred to an older and more experienced Democrat, Sen. Peter Welch, D-Windsor.
At the Rockefeller Center, Dunne is responsible for training students in the center's Public Impact Program, which includes the Policy Research Shop, in which students conduct research for the Vermont and New Hampshire state legislatures, and the Civic Skills Training program, which prepares students for internships in Washington, D.C. He emphasized that his role at Dartmouth is distinct from his political life.
"To be very clear: My duties at the Rockefeller Center are completely and totally separate from my life as an elected official and as a candidate," Dunne said. "It's important that they be separate, because my job at the Rockefeller Center is to help prepare all students, regardless of their political persuasions, to be effective, engaged students in the public policy arena."
In 2004, two recent Dartmouth graduates worked on Dunne's campaign for the state senate. He also said he would be "delighted" to have Dartmouth students help with this campaign.
"If there are students who are interested in getting involved in the campaign, I certainly would be delighted to have a large number of young people get involved," Dunne said.
Dunne is by no means the first Rockefeller Center staffer who has simultaneously held political office. Frank Smallwood '51, a government professor and the center's first director, was elected to Vermont's state senate in the 1980s. Last year, Karen Liot Hill, student activities coordinator for the center, won a seat on the Lebanon City Council.
A graduate of Hanover High School, Dunne once commented that he "grew up in the basement of Silsby Hall." His mother, Faith Dunne, was the first woman at Dartmouth to go through the tenure track to become a professor, and the first chair of the education department.
"For those who knew her, there is no surprise that I chose to enter the political world at the age of 22."
Dunne has been a politician ever since he graduated from Brown University in 1992. He was immediately elected to the Vermont House of Representatives, where he served four two-year terms. He next served as the national director of AmeriCorps VISTA, a poverty reduction volunteer program. After his mother died in 2001, Dunne returned to his family's farm and ran successfully for the Vermont Senate. He began working for the Rockefeller Center in 2002.
If elected lieutenant governor, Dunne said he would continue working with the Rockefeller Center, but not in his current role.
"I believe very strongly in the work the Rockefeller Center is doing and the vision set out by Andrew Samwick," he said. "And if elected lieutenant governor, I would continue to volunteer my support to the center, but I would not be in a compensated capacity."
