Former Education Secretary Rebecca Holcombe leads the pack in fundraising in the governor’s race, outdistancing her competitiors including incumbent Gov. Phil Scott, according to campaign finance filings.
The documents show Holcombe, a Democrat, has raised $378,000 in the last eight months, more than any other 2020 gubernatorial candidates. Candidates were required to file a financial report showing contributions and expenditures by midnight Sunday.
In the lieutenant governor’s race, Assistant Attorney Molly Gray leads the competitive Democratic field in fundraising, and has brought in $100,000 in less than two months after she began campaigning.
In the governor’s race, Holcombe has benefitted from dozens of donors who gave $500 or less, and has not accepted corporate campaign contributions. More than 1,200 individuals donated to her campaign.Â
She also received about 40 donations from in and out-of-state contributors that hit the maximum $4,160 donation limit.
Some of her top donors included members of her or her husband’s family. She received about a dozen maxed out, or nearly maxed donations hovering around $4,000 from her relatives, or those of her husband, James Bandler.Â
Filings show Holcombe’s campaign has already spent roughly $250,000.
Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman, a Progressive/Democrat who launched his bid for the governor’s office in January, has raised $156,000 from 1,126 contributors in roughly two months. He has spent about $80,000 so far.Â
Renewable energy entrepreneur David Blittersdorf gave Zuckerman a maxed out $4,160 donation as did Ben & Jerry’s co-founder and progressive activist, Ben Cohen. A handful of family members also gave Zuckerman large donations.Â
Scott, who has not said whether he is running for reelection this year, has raised just under $52,000 since July, and received donations from 275 contributors. Scott, however, began quietly fundraising in November, when he sent out a letter to donors.
Among Scott’s biggest donors were Malone Properties Inc. a Vermont real estate, management and investment firm, which gave $4,080. James Pizzagalli, a Burlington real estate developer and Bruce Lisman, who ran against Scott and lost in the 2016 Republican gubernatorial primary, each donated $2,000.Â
Al Gobeille, who formerly served as an Agency of Human Services secretary under Scott and is the former chair of the Green Mountain Care Board, and his wife Kim, each gave Scott $1,000.Â
A political action committee backed by the Republican Governors’ Association that spent hundreds of thousands on Scott during his first two election bids, is poised to support him again this year.Â
In 2018, the PAC, called “A Stronger Vermont,” spent nearly $700,000 on Scott’s behalf—largely on television and online advertisements. In February, the RGA placed $100,000 into the PAC, according its campaign finance disclosure.
In February, the PAC gave $39,500 to National Research Inc., a New Jersey-based political polling, market research and ad consulting firm.
Scott’s campaign account, which had a surplus of $106,000 from the last election cycle, has spent $77,000 since July. Most of the funding was spent in July to cover $55,000 in consulting fees at Optimus Consulting LLC, a Washington, D.C., based firm.Â
Patrick Winburn, a Bennington attorney and political novice who announced he was running for governor this month, is self-funding his campaign and put about $100,000 of his own money towards the race. About three-quarters of it has already been spent on television and social media ads.Â
John Klar, a Republican who is challenging Scott on the right, has only raised about $7,000, according to the filings with the secretary of state.
In the lieutenant governor’s race, Gray is far ahead of her opponents in fundraising, having raised $97,000 since she announced her candidacy in January. A total of 445 donors gave to her campaign, and she has spent $13,000 as of March 15.
Sen. President Pro Tem Tim Ashe, who announced he was running for lieutenant governor in January, has raised just under $30,000 so far, from 195 contributors. He has spent only $221 on his campaign to date.
Brenda Siegel, a Democrat who ran for governor in 2018, and is running for lieutenant governor this cycle, has raised $9,312 from 70 contributors and has spent $4,712, the records showed.
Siegel’s donors include Rosanne Greco, a leading opponent to the basing of the F-35 in Burlington, who has contributed $2,000 and $4,160 from Mira Spektor, the president of the Spektor Family Foundation, which gives money to various causes.
Sen. Debbie Ingram, D-Chittenden, another candidate for the post, received $21,649 in contributions, according to the latest filings. The bulk of which has come from her — $15,000 — and her family members.
Meg Hansen, Republican running for lieutenant governor, has raised $22,145 so far — about $13,000 of which came from family members. She has spent $15,276.
Don Turner, the 2018 Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, has filed as a candidate in 2020, but has not yet raised any money. He reported a surplus of about $17,500 from his previous campaign and reported spending about $15,000 this election cycle.
Mark Johnson contributed reporting.