It’s not often that we run across family histories of state-level politicians in our newspapers or on their Internet websites. However, this afternoon I ran across an interesting and detailed article about the intertwining family histories of two men squaring off in a run for the office of Attorney Geneeral in Vermont. The article is complete with some pretty terrific charting.
Following is a teaser from the article by Andy Bromage, dated May 23, 2012, posted at http://www.7dvt.com.
Tracing the family histories of Bill Sorrell and T.J. Donovan is like one big game of political connect-the-dots. Both are the products of prominent Democratic families from Burlington and they will face off this August in a closely watched primary for attorney general.
Sorrell is the baby-boomer incumbent, first appointed by then-governor Howard Dean in 1997. He hasn’t faced a serious reelection opponent in 15 years.
Donovan is the Chittenden County state’s attorney, an ambitious and politically savvy Gen Xer who isn’t waiting for Sorrell to step aside before making a run for his job.
Over the last half-century, the Catholic families of the two candidates have intersected and intertwined like a Celtic knot — connections both men play up and down on the campaign trail.
