Incumbent Democratic governor Peter Shumlin was eligible to run for re-election to a fourth term in office, but opted to retire instead.

In August, Vermont House Speaker Shap Smith announced that he would be a candidate,[5] but ended his candidacy in November 2015, after his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer.

[7] Also in September, former state legislator Sue Minter, then serving as Vermont's Secretary of Transportation, announced that she would resign her position in order to join the Democratic race.

[9] In July, H. Brook Paige was excluded from official Democratic Party events after making derogatory comments on social media.

[42] Scott was endorsed by most active Vermont Republican politicians, and held a strong lead in a February poll.