Sugaring Off: Vermont Politics and History, Plain and Simple

Representative Patrick Brennan is one of the Vermont Republican Party’s top recruits for the State Senate this year. He has a very strong chance of flipping the seat containing Colchester and the Champlain Islands occupied for nearly four decades by Senator Dick Mazza, also of Colchester. The seat is now held by Senator Andy Julow of North Hero, who was appointed following Mazza’s resignation last spring. Julow faces a strong primary challenge from Julie Hulburd, the chair of the Colchester Democrats.

Needless to say, then, that I was surprised when Brennan’s July 1st campaign finance disclosures revealed a paltry $3250 in donations, just slightly over 1/10th of the sum raised by Rep. Scott Beck of St. Johnsbury, the other top GOP Senate recruit of the cycle. Were the usual suspects of the GOP donor class leaving Brennan out to dry?

Apparently the answer to that is no, no they were not. They were just waiting a few weeks. Brennan’s August 1st report, filed yesterday, is a veritable Murderers’ Row of Burlington businesspeople, landlords, and real estate barons, the same folks who have also been writing big checks to Scott Beck and moderate challengers in Democratic primaries. Brennan received $4000 from members of the Tarrant family of IDX fame, $1000 from landlord Rick Bove, $3000 from people named Pizzagalli of Pizzagalli Properties, $1000 from Ray Pecor of Lake Champlain Transportation Company, $1000 from Bissonnette Properties, and $1000 from Steele DuBrul of the Automaster BMW. Also among Brennan’s contributors were former GOP candidates Bruce Lisman and Scott Milne.

All in all, Brennan has raised $29,450 in the last month, which is a sizable addition to his WAR CHEST. This $29k came from 38 donors, only two of whom gave less than $100. Including his expenditures, he has about $26,000 on hand and no primary opponent, so he’s sitting pretty going into the general election. He has yet to make any major media buys. This could be a very tough race for either Julow or Hulburd if Brennan spends his money wisely.

Anecdotally, I went to visit a family friend up in the Islands last week and saw many Brennan yard signs alongside those of DEPLOY MALLOY and the recently reunited State House crew of Morgan oncle and Morgan neveu, especially on farms along Route 2 in Grand Isle. This became even more interesting when I saw North Island Dairy of North Hero pop up as one of Brennan’s contributors. Vermont’s small dairy farmers, like farmers around the country, have become increasingly conservative in recent years. However, their political power has also declined as the number of family farms has diminished due to agricultural consolidation and the increasing unprofitability of small-scale farming. It will be interesting to see if their support is what puts Brennan and the Morgans over the top in the Islands.

To wrap up, expect that Colchester and Grand Isle County will be one of the hot spots to watch this fall. Brennan now has a formidable WAR CHEST and still no official opponent, so he’s got a head start on the general election campaign. The question remains: will he make use of it? Stay tuned.