If Vermonters elect Scott Milne to the U.S. Senate this November, they will send a message to the nation that voters are fed up with professional politicians beholden to special interests, the candidate said Saturday as he kicked off his long-shot campaign against the Senate’s longest-serving member.
Milne, a 57-year-old travel agency owner who has never held elected office, is challenging 76-year-old Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who’s held the seat for 42 years.
“Vermont can lead the nation in changing our broken and dysfunctional U.S. Senate,” the Pomfret Republican said. “If I win this election, it can fundamentally change America — and the way elections are financed.”
Milne said he hasn’t asked anyone for money and has raised “less than $50,000.” Leahy, by contrast, has raised more than $4 million during the six-year election cycle.
The candidate, who officially entered the race last May, held his campaign kickoff before about 100 supporters outside the Washington Town Hall in the rural Orange County community where he was raised.
“A lot of things in Washington, D.C., can be solved with values from Washington, Vt.,” he said.
Milne’s campaign offered supporters copies of the 1939 movie Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, which tells the story of a newly appointed senator who naïvely fights political corruption.
In a statement issued Saturday afternoon, Leahy spokesman Jay Tilton countered the notion that Milne is mounting a clean, naïve bid, arguing that the GOP nominee has “thus far run a 100 percent negative and issue-free campaign.”
“While Mr. Milne believes this race is about Sen. Leahy, Sen. Leahy believes this race is about the issues facing Vermonters,” Tilton said.
At Saturday’s kickoff Milne unleashed a blistering account of Leahy’s tenure in the nation’s capital, but he outlined no issues he would advocate for if elected. Afterward, Milne said he would disclose specific goals at a press conference this week.
“We have a strategy, which we’ll talk about [next] week, for putting term limits in for the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives,” he said.
Milne discounted the value of Leahy’s seniority and corresponding ability to bring federal funds to Vermont.
“I have a business background and know how to balance a budget, know how to meet a payroll. I think those assets are going to help me,” he said.
Two years ago, Milne launched his first statewide election campaign, challenging Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin. Surprising most political observers, he nearly defeated Shumlin, who soon decided not to seek another term. Milne said Saturday that his experience proving pundits wrong had inspired him to take on Leahy.
The candidate focused much of Saturday’s speech on accusations that the U.S. Senate is governed by special interests. He said Leahy was part of the problem.
“The news stories of my opponent trading favors for big companies doing business with our government and then receiving donations are a sign of a broken system,” he charged.
Milne said later that he had been referring to a recent Seven Days column documenting campaign donations Leahy received from a United Technologies political action committee after helping the company obtain a $15.8 million Department of Defense contract.
Joining Milne at his kickoff were former governor Jim Douglas, a fellow Republican who also helped Milne launch his 2014 gubernatorial campaign, and nearly a dozen Republican state legislators. Comedian and actor Rusty DeWees warmed up the crowd, declining to officially endorse Milne, encouraged attendees to read up on both candidates.
“He’s smart. At 57, he’s saying, ‘I gotta get me a job that’s Tuesday through Friday,’” DeWees joked.
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Leahy spokesman, Jay Tilton says “While Mr. Milne believes this race is about Sen. Leahy, Sen. Leahy believes this race is about the issues facing Vermonters…..” Sen. Leahy is our representative, so yes, this race is about him and the job he is doing. Do you know what these issues are any more, Sen. Leahy? How about working to make Vermont affordable so our children can stay here and not move away as it is too tax driven and expensive? Why aren’t you pushing for higher business incentives (like New York) to lure companies to our state for good paying, secure jobs that will benefit everyone and not just a few? Why did you support the F-35’s basing in Burlington? Why did you not consider the thousands of families in Winooski, So. Burlington, Burlington, Richmond, etc. who will be impacted negatively with these high military planes flying over our residential neighborhoods, endangering our health and environment with noise, pollution and putting us “Vermonters” at a high safety risk BEFORE you cut that military/political deal? What about affordable healthcare for ALL Vermonters? What about the ever increasing drug problem so our beautiful state will not be labelled as an opiate haven? I think Sen. Leahy did a good job but after 42 years, he is too comfortable in Washington with his cronies, and only throwing us Vermonters a good deed now and then. It is time for him to retire and we need new blood, new ideas, etc. to move our wonderful state forward…..Milne has my vote!
I think Scott Milne would have a much stronger message if he was running as an independent rather than a Republican which is the party of big money such as the Koch brothers. He’s hanging with the wrong crowd.