Gov. Jim Douglas (R-Middlebury) and Independent gubernatorial candidate Anthony Pollina have eased criticisms for the time being of opponent Gaye Symington (D-Jericho) for refusing to disclose her husband's personal financial information in addition to her own. Instead, their campaigns say, they want to focus on issues affecting Vermont residents.

Pollina’s campaign wants to move forward with the race and get back to talking about tangible issues such as how Vermonters will pay heating bills this winter, Pollina campaign manager Meg Brook said.

“I think we have said very clearly what we thought about it,” Brook said. “She released something different and it’s not really being accurate and truthful to the voters. We want to get back to the issues and I think that’s what Vermonters want to do.”

Douglas’ campaign manager also called Symington’s refusal a distraction from issues that Vermonters care about. Vermonters care a lot about the issue of trust and personal relationships they can create with candidates which can transcend party lines, Dennise Casey said.

Douglas’ re-election campaign is unsure what the next step will be one day after calling on Symington to campaign without using personal funds in the race.

Casey said they did not expect a response from Symington. They are unsure of how to proceed because it depends how she responds to the request and what they learn from Symington’s financial dealings, Casey said.

Symington, the speaker of the Vermont House, refused to release her joint filing tax returns from 2007 which discloses information about her spouse, Chuck Lacy, a former top executive with Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. She submitted “pro-forma” documents which showed she filed separately as a married couple and did not include Lacy's financial information.

“The questions have been asked and Vermonters haven’t really gotten the answers,” Casey said. “It certainly doesn’t bother us if that’s the way she chooses to handle it. Vermonters are on the losing end of this discussion.”

Since her refusal last week, Douglas has repeatedly criticized her. Independent candidate Anthony Pollina and Douglas both released financial information for themselves and their spouses.

Vermont does not require state candidates to submit personal financial information, but it is a common practice for candidates to do so.

PolitickerVT.com reported last week Symington said Douglas' focus on her personal financial information was a ruse to distract voters from his record on substantive economic issues.

The Symington campaign could not be reached for comment today.