[D]ean Corren is seriously considering another run for lieutenant governor, but the renewable energy entrepreneur and former state representative says that before he can make a final decision, Vermont needs to address problems with its public finance campaign laws.
Corren, who lost to Republican Lt. Gov. Phil Scott in the last election, told VTDigger on Monday that, if upheld, an enforcement action brought by the Vermont Attorney General’s Office against his 2014 campaign would make a publicly financed bid for office untenable.
The Burlington Progressive, who also received the Democratic nomination in 2014, said he’s not interested in running without public financing. For that reason, Corren hopes a federal lawsuit he’s brought will strike down as unconstitutional the portions of Vermont’s public finance law that got him into trouble in the first place.
Corren said that a ruling in his favor will make public finance “a meaningful option” again for him and other potential candidates.
In the enforcement action, Attorney General Bill Sorrell alleges that an “email blast” from the Democratic Party on Corren’s behalf amounted to an in-kind contribution of $255. Candidates receiving public money are prohibited from soliciting or facilitating further contributions to their campaign. Sorrell cites emails between Corren’s campaign and the Democratic Party, which he says show Corren solicited the donation.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that limits Vermont placed on political parties’ donations to candidates were unconstitutional. The state then eliminated its regulations governing what parties could give to candidates.
The disparity that creates between publicly financed candidates — who can’t solicit further donations — and their opponents is unconstitutional, according to Corren’s attorney, John Franco. Candidates who take public money are “competitively under-resourced,” but also “hermetically sealed” off from the political parties that would otherwise support them, Franco wrote in a court filing.
That’s having a chilling effect on the 2016 election process, Corren said, because candidates like him, who would like to pursue public financing, aren’t sure whether it’s going to be a viable option.
“This has much broader implications, and the court needs to address them and address them now,” Franco said Monday. A hearing in Corren’s federal lawsuit is scheduled for Aug. 31.
Other states’ laws for public financing include trigger clauses that allow candidates who are being outspent to raise money on their own in order to remain competitive with candidates relying on traditional financing, Franco said.
In response to Corren’s situation, the Legislature made a last-minute change to the laws for how publicly financed candidates are penalized in the waning days of the 2015 session.
Instead of leveling fines equal to the total amount of public money remaining at the time of an alleged violation, as was the law when Sorrell filed suit against Corren, publicly financed candidates will now face a fine for the amount at issue in the violation.
For Corren that would mean the difference between $255 (the amount at issue in his alleged violation) and $52,000 (the amount remaining in his public campaign account when the alleged violation occurred). Franco said it’s still “an open question” whether Corren will benefit retroactively from the change.
Corren also faces two $10,000 fines because he allegedly solicited and accepted the Democratic Party’s in-kind contribution. The Democratic Party has paid a $10,000 fine as part of a settlement with the Attorney General’s Office in the matter.
Corren praised the legislative change, but he said it doesn’t go far enough to fix an ailing system.
The 2016 lieutenant governor’s contest could be for an open seat as Scott is being encouraged to seek the Republican nomination for governor. But while Corren might be running a race without an incumbent, he will already have to work harder for the Democratic nomination this time around — which Corren told VTDigger he would seek if he runs again.
A deep-pocketed political unknown already has entered the race as a Democrat, and the most recent campaign finance reports show he’s raised more than $100,000 — mostly from himself and his family. Publicly financed candidates receive $50,000 for a primary contest and $150,000 for the general election.
The newcomer is Brandon Riker, 28, of Marlboro, who works for a commodities trading firm and has also worked for several political campaigns, including that of President Barack Obama in 2008.
If the two were to face off for the Democratic nomination, Vermonters would have a choice between political experience and a commitment to public finance, “versus exactly the opposite,” Corren said.
Riker said he takes “umbrage” at being called a political novice, pointing to his experience with the Obama campaign, and the campaigns of two U.S. senators.
He said that he considered public financing, but doing so leaves candidates with a “very short window” to campaign and to build grassroots support. Riker said he didn’t want to wait until February — the beginning of the public finance period — to start a dialogue with voters.
The state would do well to consider expanding that timeframe, Riker said, because it generally favors incumbents or those with greater name recognition.
While he did raise a large amount, Riker said his campaign hasn’t taken money from PACs or corporations, and he’s received many small dollar contributions from individual Vermonters.