“We are very pleased to have Governor Kasich visit and speak to Vermonters,” Vermont Republican Chair David Sunderland said in a statement. “His performance in the debates has sparked interest and enthusiasm among Republicans, Independents and even Democrats concerned about the economic future of our Nation. As someone who has fought for balanced budgets, job growth and affordability, we have no doubt his message will be warmly received by Vermonters.”
The event, scheduled for Oct. 9 at the Hilton Burlington hotel on Battery Street, will include a private reception before a sit-down dinner and a speech by Kasich. Tickets are $100 per person, or $150 per couple and all of the money raised will go to the Vermont GOP, Sunderland said.
The event comes on the heels of the GOP’s summer barbeque in Essex Junction, which featured remarks by presidential hopeful Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.
Sunderland told VTDigger that it has taken a lot of work to attract presidential candidates to Vermont, which is a traditionally blue state with an inessential primary.
“There isn’t much interest historically for candidates to come and visit us,” Sunderland said. “We have had some success this election cycle because we’ve worked really hard to get them here.”
Paul and Vermont Republican leaders spoke at the summer barbecue about the potential to elect more Republicans in the Green Mountain State in 2016. Sunderland said he thought his party’s active organizing to get more Republicans in office helped attract Kasich and Paul to the state.
“I think they see a change in the Republican party in Vermont,” Sunderland said. “There was a close gubernatorial race last time around and with the open seat for governor in 2016 it may have weighed in their decisions, maybe not.”
Sunderland said he and others are in the process of courting other Republican candidates to speak at GOP events in the state, but that “no one has committed yet.”
