Democratic gubernatorial candidate Christine Hallquist saw a boon in campaign contributions in the weeks after clinching the party’s nomination last month.
In slightly more than two weeks, she brought in $71,437 in contributions — nearly a third of the total amount she has raised throughout her campaign.
Hallquist splashed onto the national stage with her Aug. 14 primary win by becoming the first transgender person to hold a major party nomination for governor.
The Democrat’s fundraising this period far outpaced incumbent Republican Gov. Phil Scott, who raised a total of $42,825, according to campaign finance reports filed Saturday.
Another notable discrepancy is the number of contributors to each campaign. Scott’s money came from 101 donors. Hallquist’s came from 838, many of whom live around the country.
The majority of contributions to the Hallquist campaign were under $100, though a few dozen donors exceeded that level. Three individuals gave $4,000. Her largest donation, the maximum allowed contribution of $4,080, came from the Trans United Fund, a D.C.-based group that supports transgender equality.
Scott also attracted donations from within and outside of Vermont. He brought in three donations of $4,000 or more, including from the corporation Pfizer, a Barre-based granite company, and his campaign treasurer.
Though Hallquist led the fundraising totals for this period, Scott reports the larger amount of donations for the campaign to date. Scott has raised $357,599 so far this cycle; Hallquist has totaled $243,407.
The incumbent also finished out the period with more cash on hand than his challenger. Scott had more than $70,000 on hand, including $18,613 carried from the last election, while Hallquist had shy of $29,000, according to their reports.
The Hallquist campaign heralded the report in a statement released Sunday.
“With nearly double the amount raised this reporting period from eight times the number of donors, I couldn’t be more excited with and proud of the growing momentum of our campaign,” Hallquist said.
Brittney Wilson, of the Scott campaign, said she was not surprised to see money coming into the campaign from out of state, and expects to see more.
“This shouldn’t be a campaign about who can have the most out-of-state donors, which seems to be the focus of our opponent and others,” she said.
“We believe Vermonters will choose the candidate they know will prioritize the economy, make Vermont more affordable and protect the most vulnerable — not the candidate whose focus is national attention and money,” she said.
Meanwhile, in the race for lieutenant governor, the challenger to the incumbent also led the pack.
Republican Don Turner, a longtime state rep, netted $23,593 in contributions this reporting period, bringing his total for the campaign to date to $133,193.
Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman, the nominee of both the Progressive and Democratic Parties, raised $17,439 in this two-week period. That brought his total for the campaign to $92,401.
Turner is in the lead going into the next stretch of the campaign in terms of cash on hand. The Republican has almost $96,000 in his coffers, while Zuckerman has just over $39,000.
This post was updated at 1:22 p.m. with a statement from the Scott campaign. The amount of Scott’s cash on hand was updated to include money carried forward from the last election.
