But according to a recent filing with the Federal Election Commission, very little of Sanders’ campaign appears to be based in Vermont — and he hasn’t spent much money in his home state.
A Seven Days analysis of the data found that just 17 of the 279 employees his campaign paid during the first half of the year lived in Vermont. Meanwhile, 101 lived in the Beltway region — including 74 people in D.C., 19 in Maryland and eight in Virginia.
Only $213,666 of the campaign’s $3.1 million payroll, or 6.8 percent, went to Vermonters. Meanwhile, close to $1.4 million, or 43 percent of payroll, went to those in the Beltway.
Those figures likely undercount the disparity because they exclude compensation to campaign advisers who are paid as consultants rather than as traditional employees. Weaver, for example — a resident of Falls Church, Va. — earned $71,250 in consulting fees during the first five months of the campaign. Similarly, Sanders’ chief fundraisers, Tim Tagaris and Robin Curran, appear to have been paid through their firm, Arlington, Va.-based Aisle 518 Strategies, which earned nearly $3.2 million during that period.
When Sanders first ran for president in 2016, he based his campaign in downtown Burlington. That cycle, according to FEC data, he spent more on employees living in Vermont than those living anywhere other than California. Sanders’ Green Mountain State payroll throughout that campaign totaled $1.3 million — or 8.9 percent of his overall payroll.
The Sanders campaign did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Since launching his 2020 bid, Sanders’s campaign has spent more than $18.8 million on all expenses. Of that, close to $1.4 million, or 7.3 percent of his total spending, has gone to Vermont businesses and employees. That compares with nearly $6.3 million, or 33.3 percent, that’s gone to Beltway-based entities.
- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont: $428,718
- United States Postal Service (Vermont offices): $259,082
- First Step Print Shop of Underhill: $230,389
- Five Maples, a Putney-based direct mail firm: $75,006
“This is all stuff that he could be doing in Washington, so I have a lot of respect,” she said. “He’s loyal. He’s definitely loyal to Vermont.”
First Step, a union shop, has worked with Sanders for 15 years, Martelle said, including during his 2016 presidential race. According to Martelle, Sanders has instructed his staff to direct business to First Step and has even called the shop himself.
“He just wanted to know when things are going to get done,” she said. “And we were like, ‘We’re on it!'”
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It’s a national campaign. Of course he’s not going to have that many staff people in Vermont. This article is a puerile hatchet job and the authors should be ashamed of themselves for wasting space.
I don’t know if anyone knew this, but approximately 53% of the air that our good old Bernard Sanders has been breathing this electric cycle is from states OTHER than Vermont! And, when he’s traveling around the country and not in his home state, only 6% of the food he eats is labeled “Made in Vermont”!
See how irrelevant that sounds (kind of like the information in this article)? Especially when there are zero voters here, and the ones that are here, would vote for him? No duh his campaign is going to focus elsewhere; I’d think he’s an idiot if it wasn’t.
Thirsty for an interview? Sounds like this article and the more to come mean there is still a 0% chance of any of the interviews Bernie does with local papers being done with Paul Heintz at 7Days.
Also, the highlighting his spending at Blue Cross Blue Shield, without mentioning it’s likely for healthcare for his employees, seems to be trying to mislead readers into thinking he’s spending money to court an industry he’s constantly railing against. Low blow, imo.
“Low blow, imo.”
I’ll tell you what I think is a “low blow.” It’s a Senator who doesn’t give a s*** about Vermont — the state that propelled him to the national spotlight that he craves so badly — and hasn’t given a s*** about Vermont for years, and doesn’t spend any time in the state, and refuses to talk to the media in the state because they occasionally report less than purely flattering things about him, and doesn’t even spend any time in the Senate where we sent him to represent us. Instead of attacking the Vermont media for questioning Vermont’s elected representative, maybe you should be questioning why your own Senator doesn’t give a s*** about his home state except at election time.
IMO
Vermonters should be “pretty happy” that Sanders works with her business and others in the state. ” ???
“He’s loyal. He’s definitely loyal to Vermont.” ????
Said by Mary Martelle, who co-owns First Step Print Shop, he gives her
$230,389, How much does she give back to him. ???? (donations)
He is NOT loyal to Vermont. he doesn’t even spend a quarter of his time in Vermont (unless he is entertaining the mayor or governor of NY at his lakefront home or have his so-called movie stars come to show off at a rare rally in Vt. DOESN’T spend much time doing the job he was elected to do as a senator either.
The authors did a good job on this. They pointed out how little time Sanders spends in Vt and money. Oh and how he pays his staff $15 an hr but cut back on their days and time.. How about finding out how much he pays his wife and her grown kids to work on his campaign..bet it’s more than $15 an hr.. Could be an interesting story…lol lol lol
Im SO tired of Seven Days dissing Bernie. Whats your problem? Hes running an intense NATIONAL presidential campaign at this time. Seven Days should be supportive of a man who has worked tirelessly for The People. His ideas and policy plans have become mainstream and I thank him!
Meanwhile, on a light but significant note, this summer I am again loving seeing thousands of Vermonters and tourists enjoying the beautiful Burlington Waterfront Park (and spending money in the businesses there), something he was instrumental in creating for All of us.
“Im SO tired of Seven Days dissing Bernie. Whats your problem?”
Wow. Your attitude toward Bernie and the media is embarrassing. Whether one is left, right, or center, no politician, including your Dear Leader, is above criticism.
Bernie is NOT god and NOT infallible. Like Donald Trump, it seems that you do not understand the role of a free media in a democratic society. Its job is not to publish adoring articles about Bernie or any politicians. IMO 7D has already engaged in way too much Bernie flattery over the years.
Bernie hasn’t actually represented the state of Vermont in the U.S. Senate since sometime in 2015 when he started his first presidential campaign. He’s free to run for President for the next 1,000 years if he wishes. But he should not have run for reelection from Vermont in 2018 to do a job he was not going to do: actually be in the Senate. And he should not expect 7D or anyone else to publish only flattery about him.