In terms of cash, the race for mayor of Burlington is anything but close. Incumbent Miro Weinberger continues to rake it in while his three opponents remain far, far behind.
The Democratic incumbent has raised $103,562, collecting $10,505 in February alone. Steve Goodkind, the Progressive candidate, has raised $6,262. Greg Guma, who is running as an independent, said he’s raised roughly $12,000. (His campaign finance report shows a slightly different amount — Guma said his treasurer was having computer problems when submitting it.)
The Vermont Secretary of State’s online database had no report for Libertarian Loyal Ploof as of Monday evening, suggesting he hadn’t hit the required $500 threshold.
The mayor has received donations from 260 people, and most of his money comes from donors who gave $100 or more. He’s spent $84,702 so far, including $7,184 on media buys. (Weinberger’s campaign finance reports show lower fundraising and spending totals because they exclude money he raised prior to August 2013.)
His opponents have spent all — or more — of the money they’ve raised. Goodkind has spent $5,451, while Guma said he has spent $13,742.
During an interview last week, Goodkind said his goal has always been to raise between $6,000 and $8,000. One week from the election, he’s hit the lower end of that threshold — but only because he’s loaned himself roughly $3,000. Thirty-nine people have donated to his campaign.
Goodkind also said he had no plans to purchase television ads in an attempt to reach a wider audience. Instead, he’s taken the lower-budget route of recording video clips and posting them on his Facebook page, which has approximately 250 likes. The minimal fundraising is intentional, according to Goodkind, who criticizes Weinberger for “running the city like a political campaign” — a reference to the mayor’s money-raising, which began well more than a year ago.
Guma’s cash comes from 17 people, including $1,825 from his son and his mother. Unlike Goodkind, he’s spent most of his money on ads, paying more than $4,000 total for space in Seven Days, a television spot on WPTZ and Front Porch Forum ads.
The next filing deadline is two weeks after the March 3 election.
In other campaign news, Weinberger announced today that the police and electrical workers unions endorsed him. In a statement, the Burlington Police Officers’ Association, which includes roughly 70 officers, said, “The mayor and his team have made themselves available to the BPOA like no other past administration.” IBEW Local 30, which includes roughly 100 Burlington Electric Department employees, described the mayor as “transparent and evenhanded.”
Updated 2/24/2015: An earlier version of this story misstated the number of contributors to Greg Guma’s campaign.
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A well greased machine keeps enough people happy but most residents are actually removed from the power assured them in a transparent democracy. If the status means a quicker and more extreme gap between rich and poor, open land turned into private gentry access, conversion of business into upscale promotions, and a substandard quality of life for more than a 1/3 of our people ,we have entered a reality that is cruel and self-centered, lost in a moral morass, and blinded to the compassion for one another, that was always a rallying point for change. The election is in 7 days, and the results may answer the question, ” where we were when our common city was losing its way?
With all that money from special interests, Weinberger will buy the election and build up Burlington with a lot of big stores that pay employees minimum wage (we know how Weinberger feels about a liveable wage) and housing with rooftop gardens only trust find students can afford.
$100,000 in his coffers, but where was his public input process for Burlington college development? We’re just now starting to get a public forum now that Town meeting day draws closer. I’m running a shoestring Libertarian campaign for Burlington mayor, more info available at http://www.loyalploof.org