[V]ermont political candidates raised more than $10 million for their respective statewide and legislative races, with nearly half of that haul coming from outside the borders of the Green Mountain State, according to a VTDigger analysis of state campaign finance data.
Independent political action committees raised an additional $5 million, 86 percent of which came from outside Vermont. Smaller issue and party PACs raised nearly $1.2 million, and party committees brought in nearly $900,000.
More than $18.3 million in total was raised for all Vermont races, an unprecedented amount for an election year in the Green Mountain State.
The biggest fundraiser was Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Lisman, who raised $2.2 million throughout his primary fight against Phil Scott. The former Wall Street executive largely self-financed his bid, however, donating $1.9 million of his own cash to his campaign.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Sue Minter brought in the second biggest haul, raising just over $2 million throughout her primary and general election campaigns. Nearly 40 percent of Minter’s contributions came from out-of-state donors, a total of $817,898.
Phil Scott – who beat Lisman in the primary and Minter in the general election – raised significantly less than both candidates, with his final tally standing at $1.5 million. Eighty percent of Scott’s donations came from Vermonters.
Democrat Matt Dunne — who lost to Minter in the primary — raised just over $1 million, 47 percent of which came from outside Vermont. Peter Galbraith – the third Democrat in the gubernatorial primary – raised more than $405,000 —- half of which came from Galbraith himself.
Outgoing House Speaker Shap Smith raised nearly $97,000 in his short-lived campaign for governor. He raised an additional $163,730 in his unsuccessful bid for lieutenant governor.
While the top fundraiser in the gubernatorial race did not win, the story was different in the lieutenant governor’s race.
Lieutenant governor-elect David Zuckerman, a Progressive/Democrat from Hinesburg, raised nearly $340,000 — nearly double that of his Republican challenger, Randy Brock.
Brock, a former Vermont state auditor, brought in just over $181,000. Brock was outraised by two Democrats who ran against Zuckerman in the Democratic primary: Burlington Rep. Kesha Ram and Brattleboro businessman Brandon Riker.
Ram raised $227,000 while Riker raised $184,733, though Riker put in $59,000 of his own cash to get his campaign off the ground. Riker, whose family runs a hedge fund company called Teucrium Trading, LLC, received an additional $40,000 from family members.
(Riker eventually dropped out of the race, endorsed Zuckerman and donated $4,000 to the ponytailed progressive’s campaign.)
In the attorney general’s race, Democrat TJ Donovan, who triumphed over Republican Deborah Bucknam, raised more than $416,000. Nearly 30 percent of Donovan’s donors were from outside of Vermont.
Bucknam, a St. Johnsbury lawyer, raised $113,000 throughout her campaign — roughly one-fourth of what Donovan brought in.
While most 2016 candidates for statewide office used most of their raised money, Donovan ran a relatively cheap race, and has nearly $130,000 remaining in his campaign account for a future campaign.
The Donors
While much of the money in Vermont’s 2016 statewide races came from out-of-state donors, there were also a few dozen Vermont people and corporations that ponied up hundreds of thousands of dollars to support candidates.
Among the top individual donors this election season were candidates who self-financed their campaigns.
In the governor’s race, Republican Bruce Lisman gave his gubernatorial campaign $1.9 million and Peter Galbraith put $217,000 into his Democratic bid for governor. Even Matt Dunne, who decried self-financing in politics, pitched in $99,000 of his own money in a last-ditch effort to win the primary.
Other statewide races saw candidates putting in tens of thousands of dollars. Bucknam put in $73,000 of her own money to her campaign account, while her opponent, TJ Donovan, put more than $27,000 of his own money into his bid.
Gill Faisal, who ran unsuccessfully for a Chittenden County senate seat, donated $16,500 to his own campaign. Faisal also donated generously to a number of other Democratic candidates, for a total investment of $30,950.
A top corporate donor in the 2016 election cycle was gas magnate Skip Vallee, the owner of the Maplefields gas station chain. Through his company, RL Vallee Inc., as well as personal donations from him and various family members, the Vallees gave a total of $83,060 to state Republican candidates in the 2016 election cycle.
Green energy developer David Blittersdorf was not far behind, giving $73,500 to Democratic candidates through personal donations and associated companies, records show.
The Pomerleau real estate family gave $36,150, mostly to Republican Phil Scott and the state GOP while Bill and Jane Stetson, who are a Democratic fundraising power couple, gave $27,850 to various state Democrats.
The following table allows readers to explore all state donors who gave more than $4,000 in the 2016 election cycle:
