Phil can stay in office for as long as he wants to keep running. VT generally love incumbents. Our last R governor, Jim Douglas stuck around for 4 terms (2 years apiece), and when he stepped down, he was replaced with a shitshow of a D governor who was even able to manage holding on for 3 terms before Phil took the office.

There are no other statewide R candidates that are competitive, mostly lately because they are strong social conservatives, which doesn't fly with the large part of the electorate.