Presumptive GOP gubernatorial nominee Scott Milne has launched the first salvo of TV ads in the 2014 election cycle with a 30-second spot that will air on local news affiliates.
Milne said Tuesday that the first ad provides insight into Gov. Peter Shumlin’s “greatest failings” as governor, and presents Vermonters with a viable alternative.
The spot will air through next Tuesday’s primary. Watch the ad here.
The GOP field is thin, with Milne’s greatest threat appears to be coming from a write-in campaign by Libertarian candidate Dan Feliciano.
But Milne said it is important for his campaign to take to the airwaves before they get “cluttered” with ads he anticipates from Shumlin and his “massive campaign war chest.”
Shumlin raised $67,451 in the last reporting period leaving him with $1.13 million to spend on his re-election bid. The governor has said repeatedly he won’t begin campaigning until after Labor Day.
Milne has raised $42,790, as of his Aug. 15 campaign finance report, and spent $28,324, leaving him with $14,500.
The TV ads cost $18,730, according to his Aug. 18 mass media report. That means Milne has either loaned his campaign money or raised more money to cover the cost of the ads since his last campaign filing (Milne has already loaned his campaign $350).
The ad takes aim at Shumlin’s “unbridled experimentation with state government,” using footage from Milne’s campaign kickoff and a fervent endorsement from former Republican Gov. Jim Douglas.
Milne said part of the ad’s purpose is to beg the question whether Vermont should be “the most radical state in the country every day,” and whether that’s in the best interest of average Vermonters.
He cited the botched, and he says, overly aggressive rollout of the Affordable Care Act, an unnecessarily overreaching GMO labeling bill that “invited lawsuits,” and the governor’s push for single-payer health care program as examples of imprudent experimentation.
The ads will air on WPTZ, WCAX, ABC 22, and Fox 44.
