Okay, all the mid-September campaign finance reports are in. Aside from the numbers I reported earlier, here are the top stories:
Peter Shumlin leaves Randy Brock even further in his wake — and tops the $1,000,000 mark in total fundraising. The Governor enters the homestretch of the campaign with a nearly 4-to-1 edge in cash on hand.
Beth Pearce widened her financial lead over Wendy Wilton. And Wilton — a bit embarrassingly for a would-be State Treasurer — had to file a few corrections to her mid-August report.
Cassandra Gekas had a mediocre fundraising performance, leaving her at a huge disadvantage against Phil Scott.
Vince Illuzzi didn’t have a terrific total, and spent a lot more than he raised; but he still holds the money lead over Doug Hoffer.
As for Jim Condos… well, it’s his world, and we’re all just livin’ in it.
Deets after the jump.
Governor. Another great month for Shumlin. He raised better than $160,000, bringing his to-date contributions total to just over $1,000,000. (That figure includes in-kind donations; it’s pretty obvious the Shumlin camp really wanted to get into seven figures. Just another way to say, “Give it up, Randy.”) His report included a cover sheet trumpeting that million-dollar figure and his very impressive $893,267.58 in cash on hand. He spent a bit less than $35,000 in the past month, and has spent a total of $127, 723 in the campaign.
As for Brock, he had his best month to date, but nowhere near Shumlin’s. Brock reported contributions of $62,420. His overall total — including a $300,000 loan to his own campaign — is at $644,270. And Brock continues to spend at a rapid clip; expenditures of $61,000 in the past month, and $408,000 for the campaign. If not for his own loan, his campaign would be in the red. As it stands, by my unofficial calculation, he has about $236,000 in cash on hand.
Brock wrote plenty of handsome checks to his out-of-state consultants, and a couple more big ones to his best bud, Darcie Johnston. She glommed another $14,000 in the past month, bringing her campaign total to almost $80,000 by my count. In about a half a year. She’s clearly the big winner in this Titanicampaign.
Lieutenant Governor. A couple months ago, when she was turning in an underwhelming finance report, Cassandra Gekas said her campaign had received pledges for quite a bit of money. Well, a lot of those pledges must still be unredeemed. Gekas had her best month, but that’s not saying much; she took in just under $11,000. Her total fundraising is at $23,000, and she’s already spent $16,000.
Incumbent Phil Scott, meanwhile, took in more than $33,000 this month, bringing his total fundraising to $86,000. He spent a lot of money in the past month — $43,000, including nearly $20,000 in TV time on WCAX and WPTZ. (The vast majority on WCAX.) He also bought a buttload of yard signs. In spite of this splurge, Racer Phil still has a 3-to-1 edge in cash-on-hand;
Attorney General. Sad to report, the Secretary of State shorted me. I didn’t get a copy of Bill Sorrell’s filling, and I didn’t notice until after hours. (I’d file a complaint, but it is Jim Condos’ world after all, and I’m just a squatter.) Jack McMullen, as I reported earlier, took in about $22,000 — almost all of it from a handful of out-of-state donors. He raised a measly $342.50 from actual Vermonters.
Auditor. Doug Hoffer, as I reported previously, continued his slow fundraising pace. Vince Illuzzi, meanwhile, didn’t have the best of months, but still did better than Hoffer. He took in $8,350 in the past month, bringing his total to just under $60,000. He’s spent about $25,000, so he still has a decent amount of cash-on-hand. (He’s also getting a nice bump from Vermonters First, of course.)
One little tidbit from his list of donors: Peter Galbraith, your Democratic Senator from Windham County, gave ol’ Vince a thousand bucks.
Treasurer. Incumbent Beth Pearce had a good month, raising $36,400, which brings her to-date total to $130,000. Take away expenses of $68,000, and you still have a nifty $62,000 in cash on hand. Challenger Wendy Wilton fell farther behind in fundraising; she took in $15,000 this time around, bringing her to-date total to $49,000. Take out expenditures, and she is left with about $18,000 in cash on hand. That gives Pearce an estimated 3.5-to-1 edge. (Wilton is also getting a hand from Vermonters First’s current ad buy.)
Oh, and as I mentioned at the top, Wilton filed three corrections to her mid-August report. The total money involved is only a few hundred bucks, no big deal — but it’s a trifle embarrassing for the rough, tough financial enforcer Wilton claims to be. One expense of $50.00 was mistakenly entered as $500.00, an explanation of an in-kind donation was omitted, and the totals for “Contributions over $100” and “Contributions of $100 or less” were off by $100 each.
Also, I reported earlier that Vermonters First raised a total of $100,000 from a single donor, Lenore Broughton. Its liberal counterpart, Priorities PAC, also had one single donation — for “only” $10,000 — from Lisa Steele of Shelburne. Priorities PAC hasn’t spent any money so far.
There you go. Sorry about the Sorrell goof.
“Another great month for Shumlin. He raised better than $160,000, bringing his to-date contributions total to just over $1,000,000. ”
More than Cass’ lackluster fundraising, Shummy’s depresses me. It’s a travesty that somebody can and should raise over $1M (in any fashion) to be Governor of this teeny state.