[A] fresh round of ads in the gubernatorial race was released Wednesday — one from Democrat Sue Minter, the other in support of Republican Phil Scott.
The Scott ad — produced by a political action committee associated with the Republican Governors Association — is called “Minter’s Mentor.”
The spot is the fifth in support of Scott, and aims to tie Minter to the relatively unpopular Shumlin. It represents a shift to negativity from the RGA following four upbeat ads focused on the lieutenant governor’s character and political agenda.
“Shumlin failed, and now he’s pushing Sue Minter to continue their bad policies of higher taxes on us and fewer Vermonters working,” a deep voice says in the spot. “We can’t afford two more years of Sue Minter and her mentor Peter Shumlin.”
The RGA PAC — called A Stronger Vermont — spent more than $530,000 to get the first four spots on the airwaves, and a report filed with the secretary of state’s office Monday shows an additional $244,362 directed to media buys.
The RGA has now steered $1.2 million toward the Vermont gubernatorial race, according to the report.
In addition to the television ad, A Stronger Vermont also rolled out a website and Twitter page playing up Minter’s ties with her former boss. Minter served as secretary of transportation under Shumlin, and the governor has supported her candidacy, both through words and campaign donations.
Minter spokesman Elliot Bent tore into the RGA ad in a statement Wednesday, suggesting it distorted the facts.
“The RGA, and Phil Scott’s messages don’t add up,” Bent said. “Scott voted to raise the sales tax — our most regressive tax — costing Vermonters nearly $700 million.”
Scott voted in favor of Act 68, an education reform bill, in 2003 as a state senator, that included raising the sales tax from 5 to 6 percent. Scott said he would not have voted for the bill in hindsight because the cost savings that were promised did not ever happen when the Legislature went under Democratic Party control.
Minter released her own ad Wednesday, a sunnier spot called “Time to Act.” In it, Minter acknowledges a number of Vermont problems that Scott often highlights, including a high cost of living, before explaining how she would help middle-class families.
“All over Vermont families are struggling … it’s time to act,” Minter says. “By reforming our health care system to bring down costs. By creating livable wage jobs. And by making our tax system more fair for middle class families.”
