Faced with an influx of conservative super PAC money in Vermont elections, the state’s Democratic congnoscenti have been all over the map about how to respond. They say they hate on super PACs, but, well, they wouldn’t mind taking a bit of their cash.

Take Gov. Peter Shumlin and his administration. Asked last week about the impact of super PACs on Vermont politics, the governor said, “I really feel strongly that candidates should raise and spend money and advocate for their own candidacy.”

Was he disappointed that the liberal super PAC, Priorities PAC, has failed thus far to keep up in fundraising with the conservative super PAC, Vermonters First?

“I’ll be honest with you. I wish all the PACs would dry up and go away,” he said, speaking after a Winooski press conference. “In an ideal world, that’s how we would do democracy in Vermont.”

But just days later, Shumlin’s own secretary of administration, Jeb Spaulding, was raising money for and recording a radio ad for the liberal super PAC. And according to Spaulding, he got the idea to collaborate with Priorities PAC from Shumlin’s own campaign manager, Alex MacLean.

Paul Heintz was part of the Seven Days news team from 2012 to 2020. He served as political editor and wrote the "Fair Game" political column before becoming a staff writer.

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