See who’s funding Vermont candidates with VTDigger’s campaign finance database #NewsUnitedStates

More than $3 million has been raised in Vermont’s 2024 election season ahead of next week’s state primaries, according to the latest data from the Secretary of State’s Office. 

That’s about $1 million less than candidates raised at this point in the 2022 election cycle, which featured a historic number of open races — and, therefore, more competitive races. 

Still, some candidates have raised far more this cycle than last. Gov. Phil Scott reported $153,000 in contributions this year, compared to $53,000 at the same point in 2022. State Treasurer Mike Pieciak has received $245,000 in contributions this year, almost double what he had raised by August in the last cycle.

Candidates are required to submit the details of their campaign contributions to the Vermont Secretary of State’s Office eight times before the November election. The office then publishes this information on its online database. But if you’re not familiar with the workings of campaign finance rules, the state database may prove difficult to find or interpret. 

Enter VTDigger’s campaign finance database, which we have published each election cycle since 2014. This year, we’ve integrated our work into the Primary Election Guide to give readers the full context of candidates’ races and ideas.

Here’s a quick rundown of where to find campaign finance info and what it means for individual candidates and for this election year.

The 1,000-foot view

On the main page of the primary guide is an overview of fundraising so far this cycle. Each chart is slated to update shortly after the deadline for candidates to submit, the next of which is scheduled for September 1.

The first chart shows a tally of funds raised by all Vermont candidates at this point in the election cycle, compared to the same date in the previous election year, 2022. It also includes a bar chart of the final tally for previous election years. You can see that the inflation-adjusted total peaked in 2016, another year with many open seats and competitive races, including Scott’s first run for governor.

This page also includes a breakdown of contributions by donor type, including individuals, organizations, political action committees and contributions from the candidates themselves. 

There’s an important caveat, though: Candidates do not have to disclose the names or personal information of anyone who has contributed less than $100 in total through the course of the race, which is why the secretary of state reports one category as “​​Total of contributions $100.00 or less.”

Then there’s the table of candidates for statewide office, such as governor, lieutenant governor and secretary of state. The list is ranked by the amount those candidates have raised, but it doesn’t include every single candidate. Some candidates have raised or spent less than the threshold at which reporting is required ($500), so haven’t submitted a report yet. You can check back on this list as the election approaches to see if new candidates have joined the list. 

You can also click on each candidate name to see the next part of the campaign finance database: data for individual candidates. 

Zooming in

Each of the statewide candidates who have reported contributions so far has a section on their profile devoted to campaign finance. In addition to clicking on the candidate names on the landing page, you can also visit their profile directly and scroll down to see the campaign finance section. 

Let’s take a look using the profile for Mike Pieciak, who has thus far raised the most money of any state candidate this cycle.

Similar to the landing page, the candidate profiles have a chart breaking down contributions by category, so that you can see how much was donated by individuals, organizations, PACs and more.

But the candidate profiles include an additional bit of information: the names and basic information about the contributors themselves. The table of contributors is automatically sorted by the total they’ve contributed. You can also use the table’s arrow keys to browse through it, or the table’s search bar to look for a specific name. 

As with the overall data on the landing page, contributors under $100 are not publicly identified, so their information is not reflected in donor categories or top donor charts. 

And similar to the landing page, we plan to update these charts as more data comes in. Notice any issues? You can reach out to [email protected] to report them. Happy digging!