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This race also featured five millionaires, three of whom spent gobs of money on their own campaigns: Lisman, Galbraith and Dunne. The last one of those was a bit of a surprise. At a May press conference, Dunne promised he wouldn’t self-fund and called on his opponents to do the same. But last Tuesday and Wednesday, he loaned his campaign $95,000. Then there’s Citizens United, the 2010 U.S Supreme Court case that opened the floodgates to money in politics — and led to the rise of super PACs, which can raise and spend as much as they like. According to Burns, even “the fear of the super PAC — real or imagined” — has prompted candidates to raise more money on their own. In this race, fear turned into reality. Starting last Wednesday, a super PAC founded by retired Vermont lobbyist BOB SHERMAN and funded largely by EMILY’s List pumped more than $124,000 into pro-Minter advertising. The next day, LinkedIn and PayPal founder REID HOFFMAN spent $220,000 on pro-Dunne ads. Later Thursday, a super PAC financed by Lisman’s former Bear Stearns colleagues dropped $27,000 on his election. The only other time a super PAC has spent so much on a Vermont primary was in 2012, when the Democratic Attorneys General Association plowed $200,000 into ads designed to save Sorrell from Donovan, who challenged him that year. Consider this primary a preview of coming attractions. Now that the general election has begun, you can expect major national organizations to get involved. The Democratic Governors Association and Republican Governors Association have already established Vermont-based super PACs. And if 2010 was any indication, they could each spend millions. Then there are all the other races on the ballot. Whether or not Milne gains traction in his quest for a U.S. Senate seat, you can be sure that Leahy will break the bank. Because, you know, that’s what Leahy does. Given the national trend, Burns says, Vermont’s move toward big-money politics shouldn’t be surprising. “But it’s still a shock to people who think Vermont is a little bit different and we’re not going to be that way,” he says. “It turns out we are not immune to the same tactics that work in other places — and those tactics cost real dollars.” m
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unprecedented influx of direct expenditures from super PACs and a Silicon Valley billionaire. Collectively, they put up more than $371,000 in six short days. “We’re in the dawning of a new era in campaign finance,” says Secretary of State JIM CONDOS. To be sure, Vermont has seen more expensive contests — in the general election. Take, for example, the $13.5 million Sanders (I-Vt.) and Republican businessman RICH TARRANT collectively spent on their 2006 cage match. But never before has a Vermont gubernatorial primary cost so much. Just six years ago, when Vermont saw its last competitive race for an open governor’s seat, the five major Democrats spent a combined $1.8 million. The biggest spender, third-place finisher DEB MARKOWITZ, doled out nearly $631,000, while second-place finisher DOUG RACINE spent just $246,000. (The winner, Shumlin, dropped $565,000.) “It sounds almost quaint, and it was just six years ago,” says Vermont Public Interest Research Group executive director PAUL BURNS. This year, Dunne and Minter likely both exceeded the million-dollar mark. Even discounting the final three weeks of non-media expenditures, Dunne had spent at least $956,000 and Minter $910,000. Even the comparative pittance Galbraith put up, $309,000, topped Racine’s 2010 total. And then there are the Republicans. Lisman, who largely self-funded his campaign, spent more than $2 million — including more than $876,000 on mass media alone. Scott spent far less during his warm-up laps — just $467,000 before last month. But in the final weeks of the race, he revved his engines and ended up dropping more than $686,000 total. What made the race so expensive? For one thing, both Democrats and Republicans had competitive contests — unlike in 2010, when then-lieutenant governor BRIAN DUBIE had the GOP field to himself. It also started unusually early: when Shumlin announced in June 2015 that he wouldn’t seek a fourth term. Within a month of that announcement, Dunne had already collected $134,000. Just as important: In January 2014, the legislature voted to double the amount that individuals, corporations and PACs could donate directly to statewide candidates — from $2,000 to $4,000 apiece. According to a database kept by the Secretary of State’s Office, those who donated between $2,001 and $4,000 this cycle account for $1.1 million in contributions.
Molly Walsh, Alicia Freese and Terri Hallenbeck contributed reporting. Untitled-26 1
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