The Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate and governor are the first in their races to place campaign ads on TV, with the common theme of recovery efforts after Tropical Storm Irene.
U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy has spent at least $31,000 to get his first ads on the Vermont airwaves, according to reports with the Federal Communications Commission. Leahy spokesman Jay Tilton did not say how much the seven-term senator plans to spend on ads ahead of the Nov. 8 election. His last campaign finance report shows more than $3.1 million in the bank.
The first Leahy ad — called “A Senator Who Has Got Your Back” — focuses on the tens of millions of federal dollars he helped secure in the wake of the devastating 2011 storm.
“Washington dragged its feet, but Pat Leahy wasn’t about to leave Vermont stranded,” a narrator says in the spot. “He pushed hard. The emergency funding passed the Senate, and Vermont got the help it needed.”
A second Leahy spot — called “School Lunch” — focuses on his work to improve the nutritional quality of cafeteria food.
Leahy’s Republican challenger, Scott Milne, has pledged to run a low-cost race, and his campaign has not released any TV ads. The Pomfret businessman, however, placed a nearly $20,000 ad buy last month on behalf of his company, Milne Travel. The ads feature Milne prominently and ask for volunteers to log their community service hours on his company’s website.
The other Irene-related ad comes from Sue Minter, the Democratic nominee for governor. Although a political action committee connected to the Democratic Governors Association has released a spot on her behalf, the ad released Tuesday is the first produced and paid for by her campaign.
Minter spokesman Elliot Bent would not say how much the campaign plans to spend on ads, but FCC reports show more than $33,000 to keep the spot airing for the next week.
The ad highlights Minter’s educational platform, including two years tuition-free at Vermont’s community and technical colleges, while touting her work as the state’s Irene recovery officer.
“She helped Vermont rebuild from the worst disaster in nearly a century,” a deep-voiced narrator says in the spot. “As a leader on climate change, she’s worked to address one of our most urgent threats.”
Minter’s Republican opponent, Lt. Gov. Phil Scott, has not released a campaign ad, though the Republican Governors Association has spent more than $500,000 on four advertisements promoting his candidacy.
Recently the Vermont Democratic Party set up PhilScottPaidForBy.com, a website that will compile the corporate and national Republican Party contributions to Scott’s campaign in hopes of highlighting out-of-state funding.
Brittney Wilson, a spokesperson for Scott, called the website hypocritical and divisive, noting the Democratic Governors Association has aided Minter.
