The loans, first reported by Seven Days, were made by Dunne to his campaign in two chunks: $50,000 on Tuesday and $45,000 on Wednesday, according to filings with the Secretary of State’s office.
A section on Dunne’s campaign website promises “I will personally be adhering to the contribution limits set for an individual Vermonter, and will not be self funding the campaign above those limits.”
Following an inquiry to the campaign about Dunne breaking the pledge, Communications Director Jessica Bassett sent a statement that did not address the pledge.
“Matt made a bridge loan to the campaign that we expect will be repaid from outstanding contributions and ongoing fundraising,” she said.
Throughout the primary season, Dunne has derided candidates who self-finance campaigns, including during a Thursday candidate debate on VPR when he openly questioned the roughly $200,000 that competitor Peter Galbraith has spent on his run.
On Friday, Galbraith fumed at Dunne’s hit on him about self-funding, pointing out that it was made hours after the former Google executive loaned himself the $95,000.
“The man is so desperate to be governor of Vermont that he just has a tendency to be selective with the truth,” Galbraith said. “He has a very flexible set of ethics and does not have the integrity to be the governor of Vermont.”
Dunne had followed his campaign pledge not to infuse the campaign with large amounts of his own money for much of the campaign, loaning himself the maximum individual limit, $4,000, up until this week. He loaned himself $2,000 in March and another $2,000 in July, according to filings with the Secretary of State’s office.
In total, Dunne has brought in $918,425. Galbraith lent his campaign an additional $20,000 Thursday, notching his total campaign loans to $205,643 out of the $350,891 he’s raised. Sue Minter, the third Democrat in the race, has not lent her campaign any money, and has raised a total of $893,009.
Molly Ritner, Minter’s campaign manager, fired off an email blast about Dunne’s self-funding Friday.
“This is another instance of Matt Dunne saying one thing while doing another on key progressive issues like gun safety, the environment, and campaign finance reform,” Ritner said. “Matt claims to be the progressive choice but in my experience progressives stand by their word even during a tough fight. Sue Minter is the candidate Vermonters can trust.”
The biggest self-funder of the primary season has been Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Lisman, who has sunk more than $1.5 million of his own money in his bid for governor.
