Another piece of political flotsam leftover from the 2010 gubernatorial race between Democrat Peter Shumlin and Republican Brian Dubie has been resolved. The tight race spawned thousands of dollars worth of ads funded by political action committees, some of which ran afoul of several of the state’s campaign finance laws.
Attorney General Bill Sorrell announced Wednesday that Green Mountain Future (GMF), a political action committee financed by the Democratic Governors Association, has reached a settlement with the state, agreeing to pay $20,000 for neglecting to list its address on its website and on the ads it ran attacking Dubie.
The penalty, ordered by the Vermont Superior Court, comes on top of a $10,000 penalty GMF was ordered to pay in September for a separate violation — failing to register as a PAC with the Secretary of State.
GMF paid for roughly $500,000 worth of ads during the 2010 election. Sorrell explained the significance of Wednesday’s settlement in news release.
“Voters are legally entitled to know who is seeking to influence them. PACs need to obey the laws. They cannot hide. They must disclose their identity, including their address, their donors, and their expenditures, to the extent required by law,” the statement read.
This latest penalty concludes GMF’s court saga. However, penalties have yet to be assessed on a second PAC — this one financed by the Republican Governors Association (RGA) — which also failed to register with the Secretary of State and exceeded contribution limits. The attorney general won this case, but the penalty has not been finalized.
The RGA, which ran ads for Dubie and against Shumlin, spent close to $1 million on the 2010 race, funneling in money from the association itself and its PAC. In April 2013, a Vermont Superior Court judge ordered Dubie and the RGA to pay fines for illegal campaign coordination.
