They are part of a national trend. Delegates are expected to pay their own convention-related expenses. Many are resorting to crowdfunding sites such as GoFundMe and Plumfund, where people can raise money in small amounts from their friends, relatives and strangers. According to the volunteer site FundBernieDelegates.com, of the 1,831 delegates pledged for Bernie Sanders, more than 800 have set up crowdfunding campaigns, and that number continues to rise.
First-time Vermont delegate Aster O’Leary, 18, of South Burlington, said she is happy to represent Vermont’s youth at the convention.
“When I was campaigning, I didn’t realize that a trip to the convention was not, in fact, all expenses paid,” she said. With college on the horizon, O’Leary said she could not afford the trip on her own. So in the beginning of June, she set up a GoFundMe page. Having received 53 donations, she has reached her $2,000 goal.
“It’s been overwhelming, the support that I’ve received so far,” she said.
Noah Detzer, 25, from White River Junction, is also a first-time delegate who chose to use GoFundMe.
“As a teacher with a lot of student loans to pay, I thought the best way to do that was to reach out and see if anybody was willing to support, and I obviously am humbled and very grateful to anyone who is going to donate,” he said.
He estimates his trip will cost $2,000 to $2,500, and he hopes crowdfunding will cover most of it. In the couple of weeks since he began fundraising, he has received $585 in donations. He hopes to get $2,000.
Sanders won all 16 of Vermont’s pledged delegates in the March 1 primary. Delegates using GoFundMe include Maria Rinaldi, Claudia Pringles, Brian Pine, Arshad Hasan, Kevin B. Christie and Matthew Birong. Another delegate, Ashley Andreas, is using Plumfund.
At least one Republican delegate, Jace Laquerre, of Colchester, is using GoFundMe to raise money to attend the GOP convention in Cleveland.
Detzer, O’Leary and their peers appear to be the first group of Vermont delegates to use crowdfunding to defray the national convention expenses. To attend the 2012 Democratic convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, only a handful of delegates used GoFundMe, and none from Vermont.
Christina Amestoy, communications director for the Vermont Democratic Party, said Federal Election Commission rules allow the Democratic Party to cover delegate expenses. But she said the Vermont party cannot afford to. “We unfortunately don’t have the sort of resources or the sort of large donors that we would be able to use to pay our delegates’ way, or to really help our delegates get (to Philadelphia),” she said.
Amestoy said delegates who couldn’t afford the trip were encouraged to use crowdfunding.
Last week the Sanders campaign sent an email to its supporters seeking money to help delegates who can’t afford the trip.
“Our delegates are not wealthy campaign contributors,” campaign manager Jeff Weaver wrote in the email. “They’re not party insiders or establishment elites. They’re working folks, and it’s not easy for many of them to fly to Philly and stay in hotels for a week.”
O’Leary and Detzer said the Sanders campaign sent an electronic survey to ascertain their financial need, but the email did not indicate whether they will receive money.
Delegates are subject to FEC fundraising regulations.
The Sanders campaign did not respond to numerous interview requests.
Detzer said the Sanders campaign’s willingness to help delegates is impressive. “So many of the personalities is about ‘me, me, me,’ and Bernie’s whole campaign has been ‘not me, us,’” he said. “He doesn’t really have to make any extra effort to get his delegates into the convention, and he actually is doing that.”
