Friday, June 14, 2019
"I'm in the exploratory phase," Holcombe said. "I love the state of Vermont. It has tremendous potential, but it needs a new direction." She added that she will make a final decision "within the next couple of weeks."
Democratic governor Peter Shumlin first named Holcombe education secretary in 2014. She continued to serve under Republican Gov. Phil Scott until March 2018, when she suddenly resigned, giving a mere one week's notice.
Tags: Rebecca Holcombe , Phil Scott , T.J. Donovan , David Zuckerman , Krista Huling , Brenda Siegel , governor , Vermont , Web Only , Image
Thursday, May 30, 2019
Scott has sought to distance himself politically from Walker, who pursued conservative, anti-union policies as governor. “I didn’t invite the speaker,” Scott said at a Thursday press conference in Waterbury. “But I felt an obligation to make sure that we welcome governor Walker to our state.
“Vermonters know me,” Scott added. “I’m a centrist and I’m open-minded and I’m willing to listen to other points of view, and that should be the message here.”
Tags: Senator , Phil Scott , Scott Walker , Bernie Sanders , Elizabeth Warren , Erhard Mahnke , David Zuckerman , Mari Cordes , Laura Walker , Donald Trump , Web Only , Image , Slideshow
Thursday, May 23, 2019
The City of Montpelier will seek voluntary reimbursement from Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) presidential campaign for costs associated with his Statehouse rally on Saturday afternoon. It's Sanders' first major Vermont event since he launched his second bid for the White House and is expected to draw a yooooge crowd.
According to assistant city manager Sue Allen, the move is a first for the capital city, which has previously absorbed the costs of police, firefighters, traffic control and site cleanup for any event in town.
On Wednesday, the Montpelier City Council directed municipal staff to pull together cost figures after the rally and send a letter to the Sanders campaign requesting a donation to cover the cost.
"We love hosting events," Allen said. "They make Montpelier vibrant. But we do want to keep track of what all this vibrancy is costing us."
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Sue Allen , Ashley Hill , City of Montpelier , Web Only , Image
Monday, May 13, 2019
Three months after joining the 2020 presidential race, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is ready to hold his first home-state rally of the campaign.
Sanders plans to address Vermonters outside the Statehouse in Montpelier on May 25 at 2 p.m. According to a campaign press release, the event “will highlight Sanders’ career in public service and celebrate the impact it’s had on Vermont through the years.” Singer Brandi Carlile will also perform, the campaign said.
The Burlington Free Press first reported news of the event Monday morning.
After formally entering the race in February, Sanders held campaign kickoff rallies in March in Brooklyn and Chicago. Public records obtained by VTDigger.org showed that he had hoped to hold a kickoff event in Burlington but was prevented from doing so by weather conditions.
In recent months, Sanders has been a frequent presence in the early primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Nevada and California. But he has held no public events in Vermont since joining the race. Sanders has not held a press conference in the state since July 2018.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , campaign kickoff , Montpelier , Web Only , Image
Friday, May 10, 2019
The adviser, former Sanders campaign manager and Senate chief of staff Jeff Weaver, made the charge as VTDigger reported on the past criminal conviction of another Sanders aide, Chuck Rocha, who is Latino.
“Sadly, like too many others in our society, the Vermont Digger wants to brand people like Chuck Rocha for life — an attitude that disproportionately impacts black and brown people and poor people,” Weaver told the online news outlet in a written statement. “This is just another way systemic racism works. It’s disappointing that VTDigger is helping to uphold it.”
In an interview Friday with Seven Days, VTDigger founder and editor Anne Galloway rejected the claim and called Weaver's words "a bullying tactic."
"These are the kind of tactics you'd expect from the Trump administration," she said.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Jeff Weaver , Anne Galloway , Chuck Rocha , Web Only , Image
Wednesday, May 8, 2019
According to the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 400, which represents Sanders staffers, the contract offers sweeping new protections to a class of workers accustomed to grueling hours and low pay.
"Political campaigns are cause-driven, and because there is always more work that can be done, staffers are typically worked to the bone," Local 400 president Mark Federici said in a written statement. "But it doesn’t have to be this way. Even political work must be subject to minimum standards."
The announcement came a day after the Sanders campaign released a 16-page "equity blueprint" outlining steps it believes such organizations should take to ensure that they are safe and inclusive. Alumni of Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign have alleged that its leaders failed to address allegations of sexual misconduct and discrimination.
According to Local 400 spokesperson Jonathan Williams, the bargaining unit includes roughly 100 people and is "expected to grow to 1,000 at its peak." Williams would not disclose the vote tally but said that "the vast majority" of members supported the contract.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , UFCW Local 400 , Mark Federici , Jonathan Williams , Faiz Shakir , unions , labor , Web Only , Image
Monday, April 15, 2019
Railing against income inequality has made Sen Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) a wealthy man.
Sanders and his wife, Jane O'Meara Sanders, released 10 years of federal income tax returns Monday showing that their financial fortunes have soared along with the senator's political aspirations.
The returns show that the couple earned nearly $2.8 million in the three years since Sanders’ first presidential campaign catapulted him to national political prominence.
After years of earning less than $300,000, Sanders’ income shot up to $1,073,333 in 2016, mostly on the sale of his best-selling book Our Revolution.
The book was released in November 2016, after his rival for the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton, lost the presidential election to Donald Trump.
The following year, Sanders earned slightly more, $1,131,925, again largely on royalties from the book’s publisher, Macmillan.
The income from royalties dropped off sharply last year, however, falling from $855,000 to $391,000. That figure could very well bounce back, given that Sanders’ followup book, Where We Go From Here, was released by Macmillan in November.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Donald Trump , tax returns , Web Only , Image
Sunday, April 14, 2019
“If entities like General Motors think that they can throw workers out on the street while they’re making millions in profits and then move to Mexico and pay people there starvation wages and then line up to get federal government contracts, well, they got another thing coming,” the senator said during a forum at Lordstown High School in Warren, Ohio.
Sanders issued the threat just miles from a GM facility that, until last month, employed more than 1,400 people assembling Chevy Cruze sedans. After the Lordstown plant powered down, President Donald Trump lashed out at GM, the United Automobile Workers and the union’s local president — setting off a fierce national debate over labor, trade, outsourcing and automation.
When Sanders came to town, he focused his ire squarely on the company, noting that it had taken tens of billions of dollars in government bailouts during the 2008 recession.
“Our job now is to tell them, whether they like it or not, they will be good corporate citizens,” he said.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Donald Trump , Lordstown , General Motors , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, April 9, 2019
Massey's predecessor, Conor Casey, resigned in June 2018 — just as campaign season was kicking into high gear — to take a position with the Vermont-National Education Association. Massey was hired in July.
As a former party staffer, Massey had the experience to step in at a crucial time. But now, he’s not sure he wants to go through it all again. “It’s a lot to put my family through,” he said. “2018 was my third election cycle with the party. I’ve served my time.”
Massey and party chair Terje Anderson say they reached a mutual decision that it was better to cut ties before the next campaign season begins.
Tags: Josh Massey , Terje Anderson , Melissa Massey , Conor Casey , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, April 2, 2019
In the first 41 days of his run for the White House, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) raised $18.2 million, his campaign announced Tuesday.
The money came in the form of nearly 900,000 contributions from 525,000 individual donors, according to campaign manager Faiz Shakir.
"Supporters have shown up big time for this campaign," he told reporters on a campaign conference call. "Huge, you would say."
In addition to the $18.2 million in new contributions, Sanders brought to the race $14 million from other campaign accounts, including his Senate reelection fund and his 2016 presidential campaign kitty. He spent a little over $4 million in his first weeks in the race, leaving him with roughly $28 million cash on hand.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , fundraising , Faiz Shakir , Jeff Weaver , Kamala Harris , Pete Buttigieg , Web Only , Image