[M]iro Weinberger, the mayor of Burlington, has outpaced his main rival by a two-to-one margin and has eclipsed a third by a 10-to-1 margin.
And the fundraising isn’t over yet — the Burlington mayoral election is March 6. The next deadline for campaign finance reports is March 15.
Weinberger, a Democrat, has raised $107,000 so far. Carina Driscoll, an independent and the daughter of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, has brought in $47,000, and Infinite Culcleasure, also an independent, has raised about $10,000, according to campaign finance filings with the Secretary of State’s website.
About 10 percent of Weinberger’s funding came from donations of $100 or less. About 25 percent of donations to Driscoll and Culcleasure are from small donors.
Weinberger, who is running for his third term as mayor, received gifts from business interests and Democratic Party notables, including former Gov. Peter Shumlin, former Gov. Howard Dean, former House Speaker Shap Smith. Weinberger also received donations from wind developer David Blittersdorf, philanthropists Holly and Robert Miller, real estate moguls Ernie and Tony Pomerleau and their wives, Kim Gobeille, the wife of Al Gobeille, the secretary of the Agency of Human Services, former Wall Street executive and Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Lisman, insurance executive Scott Boardman and Jessica Brumsted, wife of John Brumsted, CEO of UVM Medical Center. Vermont Railway, which built a controversial salt shed in Shelburne, is also a contributor. Elizabeth and Eric Miller, two prominent lawyers and boosters for the Democratic Party, are also on the list.
The incumbent mayor has spent about $78,000 on donations to other candidates in 2016, political events, staff, direct mail campaigns and Facebook ads.
Driscoll received donations from Progressive stalwarts, including her stepfather, Bernie Sanders, and her mother, Jane Sanders, attorney John Franco, Rep. Paul Poirier, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, the founders of Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Ice Cream, and Sen. Chris Pearson.
Our Revolution, a political organization that was launched by Sanders supporters after his presidential bid, has backed Driscoll and has promised to help with fundraising. It’s not clear what, if any, funding the candidate has received from the 501(c)4.
