Spending in Vermont race for governor hits nearly $13 million

The 2016 race for governor is the most expensive in Vermont history, and total spending hasn’t yet been fully calculated for spends on the last push to Election Day.

As of Nov. 4, the tally was nearly $13 million, according to data from the Vermont Secretary of State’s office. By Nov. 22, when all the money is counted — what was raised and what was spent — expenditures will likely hover at the $14 million mark.

More money has been spent by outside groups than ever. In all, independent expenditures for Republican Phil Scott and Democrat Sue Minter have exceeded $5.3 million. Meanwhile, the Vermont Democratic Party ponied up $388,294 for Minter and Scott received just $18,988 from the Vermont GOP.

The candidates have also been big spenders. Minter has spent $1.954 million, while Scott spent $1.5 million through Nov. 4. That doesn’t include the summer primary in which Republican and Democratic primary challengers blew $3.6 million on campaigns.

The total amount spent on advertising throughout this election cycle? Roughly $6 million, according to the Center for Public Integrity.

Political Action Committee spending

Political action committees supporting the two candidates for governor have raised millions for relentless media blitzes.

A Stronger Vermont — a political action committee supporting Republican Phil Scott — has raised more than $2.97 million, the vast majority of which has been put into ad spending. The PAC is funded entirely by the Republican Governors Association.

Scott has received support from a handful of other PACs with fewer resources, including:

• The Republican State Leadership Committee — which has raised more than $311,000, most of which has been directed at Republican legislative candidates. Scott has received more than $12,000 worth of supportive mailers from the group.

• The Vermont Right To Life Committee — which has spent just over $5,000 on postcards urging its members to vote for Scott.

• The National Rifle Association’s Political Victory Fund — which has spent nearly $8,000 on mailers supportive of Scott.

The Democratic Governors Association has been pouring money into Our Vermont, a pro-Minter PAC. The PAC has received more than $1.38 million from a handful of political groups, though the vast majority of the money has comes from the DGA.

Two group’s affiliated with Emily’s List — Women Vote! and American Women — have put a combined $285,000 into Our Vermont while the National Education Association has spent an additional $75,000 on the pro-Minter PAC.

Minter has also benefitted from other PACs, including:

• The Planned Parenthood Vermont Action Fund — which has raised $432,000. A majority of the money in the PAC — $350,000 –has come from the DGA.

• The Vermont Conservation Voters Action Fund — which has raised $298,000. A majority of the funding — $225,000– comes from the League of Conservation Voters. Other top donors in the PAC include wind developer David Blittersdorf ($25,000) and Burlington developer Elizabeth Steele ($13,000).

• The Gun Sense VT Victory Fund, which has put $1,700 towards online advertisements supporting Minter.

Candidates score $3.6M

More than $7.2 million was raised by the major party candidates and primary challengers who lost in the August race.

Scott and Minter have raised $3.6 million in all. That big bundle of cash consists of donations from individuals and special interests with ties both inside and out of Vermont.

Minter has raised more than Scott, bringing in $2.1 million to his $1.5 million, according to campaign finance data from the Secretary of State’s office.

Minter has received more than 10,000 donations under $100 — a whopping number that was likely influenced by a fundraising pitch in late October from U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, whose presidential campaign famously had an average donations of around $27. (Minter’s small-dollar donors average $23).

Those small-dollar donations generated $242,773 — about 11 percent of Minter’s total haul. She received an additional $1.65 million from large donors. The average donation in that bracket was $803.

Scott — who did not benefit from a national fundraising email — has received just over 2,000 small-dollar donations under $100. From larger individual donors, Scott has taken in $884,000. In that bracket, Scott’s average is slightly below Minter’s — $762.

In total, 90 percent of Minter’s donations came from individuals. For Scott, 66 percent came from individuals.

While Scott brought in less money from individuals than Minter, he made up part of the difference through corporate support

Roughly 32 percent of Scott’s money has come from corporations and issue organizations, a bundle of cash totalling $490,000.

Out of the hundreds of corporate donors supporting Scott, fifty-three have given the maximum allowed donation of $4,000.

These maxed out corporate donors include construction businesses — like Dew Construction Corp. and J.P. Sicard — as well as other businesses, including GW Plastics, Casella Waste Systems and the Vermont Fuel Dealers Association.

Minter — who came under political pressure for accepting corporate cash during her primary run — returned more than $11,000 in donations and pledged to reject future corporate money in May.

So while the former Transportation Secretary has no corporations on her reports, she has taken in more than $100,000 from issue organizations and political action committees, many with national ties.

Minter has taken in more than $44,000 in PAC money alone — double what Scott has received.

The four PACs that have donated the maximum allowed $4,000 to Scott include Heat PAC, Politically Active Contractors of Vermont, Vermont Realtor PAC and the Vermont Troopers’ Association PAC.

Minter’s top PAC donors include the Emily’s List Federal Fund PAC ($4,000), the Teamster’s DRIVE PAC ($4,000) and the Gun Sense Victory Fund ($4,000).

Minter has also received tens of thousands of dollars from campaign accounts related to a handful of Vermont Democrats, including U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders and Patrick Leahy as well as U.S. Rep Peter Welch and Gov. Peter Shumlin.

VTDigger readers can analyze the campaign finance data and search for specific donors in the following charts and graphs: