Markowitz Continues to Barnstorm Fundraising Circuit 

Secretary of State Deb Markowitz continues to prove a prodigious fundraiser in an incredibly crowded field of Democratic gubernatorial hopefuls.

On March 9, the same night that Republican Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie hauled in $115,000 from 431 people, Markowitz held a fundraiser just a few miles away in Burlington.

There Markowitz raised $25,000 from 117 people, adding to her sizable campaign coffers. As of June 30 last year, she'd raised nearly $200,000. That was more than all her known challengers — Republican and Democrat — combined.

The March 9 event at Coffee Enterprises on Lake Street was held one day after her official campaign kick-off event in Barre and capped a two-day tour of the state.

Like Dubie, Markowitz came up with clever categories to attract campaign support. In keeping with the coffee theme — and her latte-liberal base — she offered the “Tall Cup” for $100; “Grande,” for $250; “Venti” for $500 and "Host" for $1000.

As we did after Dubie's fundraiser, Seven Days requested the list of major donors from the Markowitz camp. However, they were not willing to share the entire list of supporters who gave $250 or more, as Dubie's team did.

In Markowitz's case, Campaign Manager Paul Tencher provided a list of everyone who donated $500 or more and was considered part of the committee for the March 9 fundraiser. He did not break them down by coffee category.

Sheesh, some service.

I guess we'll have to wait until June 30 to get the full details. I don't know about you, but I'm all for immediate, web-based disclosure of campaign donors.

Some of the names below are people who had already maxed out their donations to Markowitz as of June 30, 2009. So, while they helped get people to turn out at the event, they had already coughed up the big bucks.

Those include Donna and Jake Carpenter of the famous Burton Snowboards (which recently announced it is moving high-end snowboard making to Austria and cutting 43 jobs in Burlington); and environmental philanthropists Crea & Phil Lintilhac. Crea Lintilhac also sits on the board of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group and has been active in the effort to close down Vermont Yankee.

The list also includes some familiar Democratic pols, including former Gov. Madeleine Kunin and her husband John Hennessey (himself a former dean at Dartmouth College); Billi Gosh, who is a Democratic national committeewoman; and four members of the Burlington City Council: Joan Shannon, Russ Ellis, Bill Keogh and Mary Kehoe. They join Democrat Ed Adrian, who gave $308 to Markowitz as of June 30 last year. Adrian works as a prosecutor in the Secretary of State's Office of Professional Regulation. Winooski City Councilor Jean Szilva is also on the list.

Among business leaders, Markowitz picked up support from Dan Cox, the founder of Coffee Enterprises; Bill Lockwood of Country Home Products; Melinda Moulton of Main Street Landing Company; Don Mayer of Small Dog Electronics; and the three main partners of the PR firm Kelliher Samets Volk.

Given Markowitz's own legal background — she was an attorney for the Vermont League of Cities and Towns before running for Secretary of State — it's not surprising to see a number of attorneys pop up on this list, including Cort Richardson, Roger Kohn, Beth Danon and Eileen Blackwood. Also listed is Eliot Burg, an assistant attorney general.

And Gary Margolis, the former police chief at the University of Vermont.

Aside from Lintilhac, Markowitz picked up support from Susan Ritz, who is on the board of the Vermont Natural Resources Council, as well as Cort Richardson and Ginny Callan. Richardson is an environmental attorney, and Callan founded and ran the Horn of the Moon Café in Montpelier.

Here is the complete list:

Former Gov. Madeleine Kunin and John Hennessey, Joan Shannon, Russell Ellis, William Keogh, Dan Cox, Donna and Jake Carpenter, Sheila Hollender, Tim Briglin and Laurel Mackin, Crea and Phil Lintilhac, Melinda Moulton, Roger Kohn and Miriam Adams Kohn, Eileen Blackwood and Lynn Goyette, Beth Danon, Mary Kehoe, Don and Grace Mayer, Bill and Alison Lockwood, Howard and Wendy Pierce, Thomas and Susan Boswell, Keith Kasper and Fran Pomerantz, Edward Clark and Laura Wilson, Michael Rooney and Susan Dorn, Yoram Samets and Linda Kelliher, Tim and Mary Volk, Sandy and Michael Levine, Clark Hinsdale, Greg Strong, Susan Ritz, Michael Rosenberg, Jean Szilva, Billi Gosh, Brenda Bisbee, Hal and Shelley Cohen, Gary Margolis, Mike Kanarick and Liz Kleinberg, Gale Hurd, Shira Sternberg, W. Scott Fewell and Victoria Aldrich Fewell, Edie Yovu, Vaughn Carney, Ginny Callan and Cort Richardson, August Burns and Elliot Burg.