[I]n the largest single round of expenditures on political advertisements in the 2018 campaign cycle, a national Republican political action committee has spent nearly $200,000 on what appears to be a series of political attack ads targeting top Democrats in the Vermont Legislature.
A mass media report filed with the Vermont Secretary of State’s Office Tuesday shows the Washington D.C.-based Republican State Leadership Committee Vermont PAC has spent a total of $186,000 on television, radio and postcard advertisements that mention Senate President leader Tim Ashe, House Speaker Mitzi Johnson, and Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman.
VTDigger has not seen the ads, and the filings do not indicate that they are in support of any particular candidate.
The payment was made to Junction Consulting LLC, an Essex-Junction based firm that specializes in producing corporate and political messaging. The owner of the company, according to its website, is Jay Shepard, a member of Vermont’s GOP state committee who describes himself as “a strong supporter of President Trump.” Shepard did not immediately respond to a call requesting comment Tuesday.
On Tuesday evening, Ashe said he had received a notification from the Secretary of State’s office that ads were forthcoming, but that he had yet to see any in circulation. “I always think out-of-state negative political ads are totally pathetic and this is no exception,” he said.
The Republican PAC’s reported ad spending Wednesday is the most any political action committee or campaign has spent in a single round of ad buys this campaign cycle, according to filings with the Secretary of State’s office.
“A Stronger Vermont,” a PAC funded by the Republican Governor’s Association, made the second largest buy of the season in August, spending more than $115,000 on a round of television and online advertisements promoting Gov. Phil Scott’s reelection campaign.
In total, the RGA has poured $510,000 into the PAC for the incumbent governor — about $347,000 of the war chest has been spent so far, largely on television and online ads.
Vermont Democrats have set up a PAC called Win Vermont, according a report in Seven Days. MoveOn.org also created a PAC in Vermont to support Christine Hallquist, the Democratic candidate for governor. But neither committee has raised or spent significant funds so far, according to filings with the state.
The Republican State Leadership Committee’s spending in Vermont was on a much smaller scale in 2016. The organization donated about $2,500 to Sen. Randy Brock’s unsuccessful campaign for lieutenant governor at the time, according to FollowtheMoney.org.
In 2016, the committee’s top donors were corporations and interest groups including Walmart, Koch Industries, the Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America and Berkshire Hathaway, according to OpenSecrets.org.
Felippe Rodrigues contributed reporting.
