Former education secretary Rebecca Holcombe, who is running for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, and Assistant Attorney General Molly Gray, a Democrat running for lieutenant governor, maintain strong fundraising leads just 10 days ahead of the August 11 primary.
In the Republican gubernatorial contest, filings show that Gov. Phil Scott, despite the fact that he is not actively campaigning, far ahead. Lieutenant governor hopeful Scott Milne gained an edge over competitor Meg Hansen, raising $41,000 since July 1— the last time campaign finance disclosures were due.
According to campaign finance disclosures released on August 1, Holcombe’s campaign has raised a total of $546,000 to date, putting her ahead of her main competitor, Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman. Gray has raised just under $214,000, far outpacing the other candidates for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor.
Both have also started spending tens of thousands on television ads in the weeks ahead of the primary, filings show.
Filings show Holcombe, who began campaigning more than a year ago, raised $65,000 over the last month. She has already spent about $500,000 of her total campaign funds, including $115,000 since the beginning of July.
Holcombe has stepped up spending on TV ads in recent weeks, including on an ad in July that attacked Zuckerman and his record on vaccines.
Her July disclosure shows her campaign paid about $73,000 to SKDKnickerbocker LLC, a Washington D.C.-based public affairs and political consulting firm, for expenses related to television advertisements, including local ad buys.
Since she announced her gubernatorial bid last July, 1,915 people have donated to Holcombe’s campaign.
While he has raised less overall, Zuckerman, a Progressive Democrat, has received funds from more individual donors than Holcombe: 3,874 in total. He has brought in $60,000 in contributions between July 1 and August. His total for the campaign cycle is $349,000.
Zuckerman has spent less time on the campaign trail than Holcombe. He announced his candidacy in January of this year.
The lieutenant governor has spent about $61,000 since July, and $307,000 since he launched his campaign.
Over the past month he spent about $10,000 on yard signs and $5,000 on TV ads. He also gave $7,400 to Tappan Research, a New York-based political consulting and research firm, and $4,500 to Summit Strategies, a progressive political consulting firm in Shelburne.
Patrick Winburn, a Bennington attorney who is largely self-funding his campaign, has raised $211,000, which includes about $207,000 of his own money. His filings show that his expenditures have outpaced his fundraising; he’s spent about $218,000 to date through the campaign.
Winburn paid for a series of television ads back in March, when he launched his campaign.
On the Republican side, incumbent Gov. Phil Scott, who has not been actively fundraising or campaigning, brought in close to $19,000 in the last month, and spent only $1,100, mostly on campaign software.
In total, Scott has raised about $100,000 since the last election in 2018.
The Republican Governors Association, however, has also placed $125,000 into a political action committee this election cycle to spend in support of the incumbent. So far the PAC, called “A Stronger Vermont” has spent about $50,000, funding a series of social media ads in the spring that praised Scott’s response to the Covid-19 crisis.
In 2018, throughout the election cycle, the RGA spent nearly $700,000 on Scott’s behalf.
John Klar, a farmer and attorney from Brookfield who is seeking to unseat Scott in the Aug. 11 primary, has reported $40,000 in contributions this election cycle, including about $8,500 in the last month.
Lieutenant governor races
In the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor, Senate President Pro Tem Tim Ashe led the field for fundraising in the month of July. But to date, he has raised less than half the total amount that Gray in the campaign so far.
Gray’s campaign finance filings show that she has raised a total of $213,680 since she announced her bid in January, and $22,000 in the last month. She has spent roughly $135,000 so far, including about $85,000 in the month of July.
Gray is the only candidate for lieutenant governor who has paid for television advertisements so far. But Ashe said on Twitter that he would be launching a T.V. ad this week.
In July, Gray gave about $44,000 to Canal Partners Media, LLC an Atlanta-based company, for TV advertisement expenses and ad buys. She released her first ad in mid-July.
So far, Ashe’s campaign has brought in $109,000, and spent a total of $85,000.
Ashe outraised Gray in the month of July, bringing in $29,000 — about $5,000 more than Gray. During that month, he spent about $52,000.
More than half of Ashe’s spending in July was on postage. He paid the U.S. Postal Service about $26,000, his filing shows.
Activist Brenda Siegel, whose campaign has raised a total of $64,000, took in close to $18,000 in July. She has spent $46,000 of her funds so far.
Sen. Debbie Ingram received $22,000 in the last campaign finance period. Her campaign has raised close to $69,000 so far, including about $49,000 from her own funds.
In addition to raising the most money in the Democratic field, Gray reported the largest number of individual donors: 1,096. Ashe has received contributions from 600 people, while Siegel and Ingram have reported 320 and 153 donors, respectively.
In the Republican race for lieutenant governor, Milne, the owner of Milne Travel, who announced his bid in May, reported raising $41,000 since the beginning of July. His campaign has received donations from 140 contributors so far.
A month ago, only two people had contributed to Milne’s campaign, including Milne himself.
Milne has put a total of $15,000 of his own money into the race so far, and has spent about $13,000 of his campaign funds.
Hansen, who is also seeking the GOP nomination on Aug. 11, reported $10,000 in campaign contributions since July, including $6,500 of her own dollars.
Hansen has raised $37,000 so far — $19,000 of which comes from her own funds — and has spent $31,000.
