Holy crap!

That’s pretty much all there is to say about the latest campaign finance filing from the conservative super PAC Vermonters First, which has now raised an eye-popping $685,000 and spent $561,000 of it.

In a month and a half!

Most of that, of course, comes from Lenore Broughton, the little-known — but apparently totally loaded — conservative donor from Burlington. Broughton gave the super PAC another $548,000 in the last month, bringing her total contribution level to $682,500. Her checks rolled in every week or so:

  • $100,000 on Sept. 14
  • $140,000 on Sept. 21
  • $140,000 on Oct. 1
  • $130,000 on Oct. 5
  • $38,000 on Oct. 9

By my back-of-the-envelope calculations, that indicates Broughton should be opening up her checkbook right about… now!

Broughton’s bucks are mostly going toward TV ads and direct mail. In total, Vermonters First has spent at least $265,000 on TV, $200,000 on mail, $17,500 on polling and $2000 on robo-calls. It also paid consultant and treasurer Tayt Brooks, who appears to be dodging media phone calls these days, $8000.

We can no longer say Broughton is the super PAC’s sole donor, however. The group picked up a $150 check from Stan Webster of Randolph, $250 from Keith Stern of North Springfield and $500 from Joyce Errecart of Shelburne.

But those sure ain’t Broughton bucks!

The super PAC’s fundraising numbers came out Monday afternoon in time for the last campaign finance filing deadline before election day. We’ll be mining the numbers in this week’s Fair Game. But, for the time being, here are some top-line figures for your perusal:

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Paul Heintz was part of the Seven Days news team from 2012 to 2020. He served as political editor and wrote the "Fair Game" political column before becoming a staff writer.

2 replies on “Conservative Super PAC Raises Half a Million in Broughton Bucks; Shumlin Campaign Has a Million in the Bank”

  1. Re: Scamlin. What’s the point of bringing in over $1 million and spending only a fraction of it? What does he do with the rest? Keep it? Why bother fundraising then? Howbout spending more time in Vermont and less in Hollywood?

  2. Gotta purchase some more pieces of land at pennies on the dollar. Why be governor when in a few short years you can own most all of VT and just be King.

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