Campaign finance reports filed today with the Secretary of State revealed the sole generous donor behind the mysterious Republican Super PAC Vermonters First.
Lenore Broughton, a prominent conservative political donor and founder of True North Reports, donated $100,000 to Vermonters First on Aug. 27, state records show.
Broughton also donated $34,000 worth of research and consultation for the group.
Vermonters First founder Tayt Brooks said Broughton’s research involved “raw information, just dealing with overall themes, with issues in Vermont.” He declined to provide more specifics. Broughton couldn’t be reached.
Brooks formed Vermonters First a day after Broughton’s donation, on Aug. 28, the day of the recent statewide primaries, he said. Although Brooks had met Broughton a few years ago, he said he didn’t have a particularly close professional or personal relationship with her.
“Because Lenore donated,” Brooks said, “we then started the PAC. But I’m not going to get into the details of those conversations.” The PAC’s mission, he said, is to bring “balance” back to the political debate in Montpelier at a time when Democratic dominance threatens to become “single party rule.”
He described Broughton as a “very private individual.” According to filings with the Secretary of State, Broughton is associated with various advocacy nonprofits, including Vermonters for a Better Education, Defenders Council of Vermont, and We Stand with Israel.
The former two groups lobby for “educational freedom” and a better understanding of the radical Islamist threat to America respectively, while the latter is sponsoring a talk at UVM by a former editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post this Sunday.
Broughton has also donated over $453,000 to mostly Republican candidates over the years, such as Rep. Michele Bachman, Rep. Paul Ryan, and former candidate Christine O’Donnell, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
Vermonters First today aired an ad criticizing Gov. Peter Shumlin’s single payer efforts for failing to specify how the reforms would be funded until after the November elections. Although this is a campaign point constantly brought up by candidate Randy Brock’s campaign, Brooks said the ad didn’t support or attack specific candidates.
As for the similarities, he said: “I guess Brock is making that point, and he’s free to make that point. But it’s an important point to make: We’re just trying to highlight that. I’m not going to get into who the ad may help or hurt.”
But, Brooks then quickly added: “It helps Vermonters. There are Vermonters out there to this day who are not aware that this proposal is out there.”
