The numbers are in, and Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie, the Republican candidate for governor of Vermont, is the winner in the money race. Dubie has raised nearly three times more money than his Democratic opponent in the last campaign finance reporting period.
Dubie’s supporters donated $150,215 to his campaign in the last month; Sen. Peter Shumlin, D-Windham, who recently emerged as the winner of a five-way Democratic primary race after a two-week recount, has raised $58,964 in the last 30 days.
The primary election was the most costly in Vermont history. The price tag? $1.86 million. Together, Dubie and the five Democrats have spent $3 million so far.
The General Election may also surpass the fund-raising record. Dubie has raised a total of $1.186 million, so far; Shumlin has raised $650,000 ($225,000 of that total comes out of his own pocket). In 2002, Jim Douglas, Con Hogan and Doug Racine set the high water mark at $2.2 million.
In a press release, Dubie said: “Vermonters are supporting my campaign because they see a clear difference between my opponent and me. They have seen my plan to control spending and cut taxes and red tape to grow jobs in Vermont. They see that my opponent has a record of supporting job-killing tax increases and failing to support job creators, and that he is doing everything he can to distract voters from this one important issue of growing our economy. The choice is clear.”
As of Sept. 15, Dubie had $410,269 in cash, and Shumlin had $61,965 on hand. About 14 percent of Dubie’s money comes from small donors who have contributed $100 or less; six percent of Shumlin’s comes from small donors.
Shumlin’s campaign manager, Alex MacLean, said in a release: “While raising money during the recount was challenging, since Peter accepted the Democratic nomination, the campaign has seen an outpouring of financial support. We are incredibly encouraged by the fact that in the final two days of the filing period, the campaign received over $34,000.”
Total expenditures by the four candidates who lost the Vermont Democratic Primary nomination, according to the latest filings:
Susan Bartlett: $69,345.01
Matt Dunne: $335,876.17
Deb Markowitz: $630,571.18
Doug Racine: $253,581.79
For information about the Aug. 17 and July 15 reporting periods, see Vtdigger.org’s previous reports:
July 15, 2010, “Dubie banks on large donors, contractors, GOP activists
July 15, 2010, Dems donations are more Wall Street than Main Street
Aug. 17, 2010, Shumlin and Markowitz are neck and neck in race for contributions
Here is a rundown of Dubie’s largest donations in the last reporting period:
Political action committees
Vermont Republican State Committee, $7,271
IBEW, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Washington, D.C., $3,000
Republican Governors Association, $3,000
Out-of-state businesses and individuals, $2K, unless otherwise noted
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America ($1,000)
Juniata Terminal, Philadelphia-based railroad switching operator
Bennett Levin, CEO of Juniata Terminal
Vivian Levin, wife of Bennett ($1,600)
Eric Levin, Juniata manager
Christopher DeMuth, senior scholar for the American Enterprise Institute ($1,000)
Sophie Guite, Vtel “researcher,” New York City.
Diane Guite, Greenwich, Conn.
Eva Guite, Greenwich, Conn.
Editor’s note: Michel Guite, CEO of VTel, which recently won a $115 million broadband grant from the federal government, donated $2K to Shumlin previously.
In-state businesses and individuals, $2K donations each, unless otherwise noted
Aviatron, Burlington
Jay Peak Resort
Stratton Mountain Resort
Rock of Ages Corp. ($1,000)
Hugh Kemper, investment banker
Lisa Pizzagelli ($1,000)
Handy’s Hotels and Rentals ($1,000)
Biggest expenditures
GOPshoppe.com, $14,321. for “collateral.” Political memorabilia wholesaler for the GOP, based in Glen Burnie, Md. http://www.gopshoppe.com/cgi-bin/gop/
Public Opinion Strategies, $17,500, for polling. A national political and public affairs research firm, based in Alexandria, Va. http://pos.org/
Harris Media, $5,000. Online advertising firm based in Austin, Texas. http://www.harrismediallc.com/
OnMessage, Inc. $81,365 for campaign media. http://onmessageinc.com/ OnMessage, based in Alexandria, Va., has worked with the Republican Governors Association, the National Rifle Association, and Republican Sen. Scott Brown, who recently beat Democrat Martha Coakley in a special election for Ted Kennedy’s seat in Massachusetts.
SCM Associates, Dublin, N.H. $16,815 direct mail. http://www.scmassoc.com/ From the Web site: “SCM Associates is a Republican fund-raising and direct-response firm that offers direct mail, telemarketing and e-mail services for fund raising and political purposes.”
Here is a rundown of Shumlin’s biggest contributors:
Political action committees
Patient Choices at End of Life, $1,000. http://www.patientchoices.org/about.htm
Patient Choices of Vermont Victory Fund, $3,300.
Donations of $2K
Scudder Parker, former Democratic candidate for governor
Donations of $1,000, unless otherwise noted
Dr. Nils Daulaire, former president and CEO of the Global Health Council, now the U.S. Health Human Services director of the Office of Global Health Affairs
Scott Gardner, founder of Building Energy, http://www.buildingenergyvt.com/about-us/
Kathy Hoyt, former secretary of the Agency of Administration under Gov. Howard Dean. She now sits on the boards of Green Mountain Power, Mascoma Savings Bank, Vermont Community Foundation and the University of Vermont.
Jerome O’Neill, Burlington attorney
Paul Bruhn, executive director of Preservation Trust of Vermont
Jeffrey Wolfe, CEO of groSolar
Richard Rubin, $1,200, personal injury lawyer
Vermont donors of note
George Hamilton, $500, president of the Institute for Sustainable Communities, http://www.iscvt.org/who_we_are/staff/
Gov. Madeleine Kunin, $250
Donald Hooper, $250, former Secretary of State
Gil Livingston, $500, president of the Vermont Land Trust
Avram Patt, $250, general manager of Washington Electric Co-op
Elizabeth Ready, $325, former state auditor
Richard Sedano, $200, former commissioner of the Department of Public Service
Businesses
New England Cable and Telecommunications, $500. Based in Selkirk, N.Y.
Pike Industries, $500. Paving corporation based in Dublin, N.H.
Biggest expenditures
Media Strategies, $4,473. Advertising firm based in Fairfax, Va.
Laguens Kully Klose Partners, $20,746. Consulting firm based in Washington, D.C., that has worked for Planned Parenthood; Bill Ritter, Democratic governor of Colorado; and Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn. http://www.lkkpartners.com/
