A national Republican political action committee is launching a six-figure statewide media campaign this week in support of GOP legislative candidates in Vermont.
The Republican State Leadership Committee will begin airing television and radio ads as soon as today, urging Vermont voters to “vote for a brighter economic future” by choosing Republicans in the November election. “Vote for Republican candidates who can deliver on that future,” it says.
The video ad, shared with VTDigger by the RSLC, is entitled “Vermont’s Best Days.” It opens with iconic shots of Vermont landmarks and includes in the voiceover: “Vermont’s best days are always ahead.” It then segues into a series of slides with headlines citing Vermont media sources that say Democratic lawmakers in Montpelier increased property taxes by $50 million, raised spending by $62 million and cost the state 3,000 jobs.
The ad will air on most of the major network affiliates and many radio outlets throughout the state, said Jill Bader, communications director for the RSLC. She said the ad would begin today or Friday and run for “a few weeks.” She would not say how much the ads cost, but a mass media filing on the Vermont Secretary of State’s website shows an RSLC expenditure of $142,822 on Oct. 7.
The RSLC was founded in 2002 and focuses on electing GOP lieutenant governors, secretaries of state and state legislators. This is the first time the group has invested heavily in Vermont campaigns.
Bader said the effort is part of RSLC’s “50-state strategy,” reminiscent of the plan former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean instituted in the mid-2000s as chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
“We think there’s a real case to be made to remind Vermonters that there is a choice to exchange the old ways of the past for a new, bright future with Republicans,” Bader said. “Republicans are eager to go into traditionally blue states. There’s an independent streak in Vermont … that we believe would be open to less government, more personal liberties and less taxes.”
Republicans hold a majority in 27 state legislatures, Democrats hold 17 and five are split. Nebraska’s legislature is nonpartisan.
Rep. Don Turner, R-Milton, the House minority leader, said he welcomed the media campaign, but was unaware of it until VTDigger showed him the ad.
“Vermonters need to see compiled the things I’ve been trying to point out for the last four years,” Turner said. “I’m glad somebody has the money. The message (in the ad) is the truth … it’s not an attack ad; if it’s just laying out facts that are true then I’m happy to have the help.”
Turner said there are 83 or 84 Republicans vying for House seats in the Nov. 4 election and he hopes to grow the current 45-member caucus.
Turner said he has attended training sessions organized by the Republican Legislative Leadership Committee, a group affiliated with the RSLC, but said he had no idea that RSLC was planning to spend in Vermont.
Turner’s Common Sense PAC has raised about $30,000 this campaign cycle and he said most of it was spent on helping candidates learn how to organize and conduct a campaign.
The RSLC is an IRS 527 nonprofit and claims 100,000 donors in all 50 states. Its top donors include tobacco company American Reynolds, Blue Cross Blue Shield, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Koch Industries, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Its longtime chairman Ed Gillespie resigned this year to run for Senate. Its current chairman is former Florida Rep. Bill McCollum.
The Democratic Legislative Leadership Committee, RSLC’s Democratic counterpart, would not say whether it plans to spend in Vermont this election cycle. The secretary of state’s database shows no media buys to date by outside Democratic PACs.
“We are confident that Democratic legislative candidates in Vermont will do very well this cycle, and we’re happy to see the RSLC waste its money in a futile attempt to sell a national Republican brand that is out-of-step with mainstream voters in Vermont,” DLLC political director Kurt Fritts said in an email.
Vermont Democratic Party spokesman Ben Sarle said the media buy will likely have little effect.
“I think you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone besides the VTGOP who is happy about the insertion of national Tea Party politics into our state’s electoral conversation,” Sarle said by email. “Vermonters have already made it clear that this radical GOP agenda has no place in Vermont, and the hard working folks in our state will make it clear once again on November 4th.”
