Monday, February 29, 2016
“I’m supporting Gov. John Kasich because he is a competent manager who has helped to revitalize his state’s economy, while bringing both Democrats and Republicans together,” Lisman said in a statement to Seven Days on Saturday.
Kasich, who was planning his third Vermont visit of the campaign Monday, is trailing significantly in what has become a five-candidate Republican race as it heads into Super Tuesday.
Lisman did not attend Kasich’s Colchester rally February 20, where Lt. Gov. Phil Scott, his rival in the race for the Republican nomination for governor, introduced the candidate. Scott did not endorse Kasich, and days later said he decided he’ll be voting for Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), declaring Rubio offered the best hope of pulling the party together.
Tags: John Kasich , Marco Rubio , Bruce Lisman , Phil Scott , Image , Web Only
Monday, February 22, 2016
Those who would vote as Republicans, meanwhile, favored businessman Donald Trump, who had the support of 33 percent of likely primary voters. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Ohio Gov. John Kasich trailed with 14 percent each.
The same poll indicated that Republican Lt. Gov. Phil Scott had a commanding lead over other declared candidates for governor, but that Vermonters aren’t paying much attention to that race yet.
The poll, conducted by the Castleton Polling Institute from February 3-17, posed to 895 Vermonters a host of questions about political races and public policy, and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percent. Full results are available at www.vpr.net.
Tags: Bernie Sanders , Bruce Lisman , cannabis related , Donald Trump , Matt Dunne , Patrick Leahy , Peter Shumlin , Peter Welch , Phil Scott , presidential campaign , Senator , Sue Minter , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Lt. Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican: “Faith and trust.”
Former state senator Matt Dunne, a Democrat: “The websites will work.”
Former transportation secretary Sue Minter, a Democrat: “Listening and accountable.”
Retired Wall Street executive Bruce Lisman, a Republican: “Competent management.”
In a quick 25-minute forum sponsored by the Vermont Retail & Grocers Association, the candidates sought to distinguish themselves in front of a lunchtime audience of legislators and store owners. The two Democrats and two Republicans are vying for their parties' nominations in an August primary.
Tags: Bruce Lisman , cannabis related , Matt Dunne , Phil Scott , Sue Minter , Vermont legislature , Vermont politics , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, February 9, 2016
“I'm just so excited,” Quinlan said. Quinlan even contributed $100 to Sanders’ presidential campaign via phone as he spoke just after 9:30 p.m.
To Quinlan, it wasn’t just another candidate up on the stage. It was Sanders, stepfather of her longtime friends, who were on stage with him. “I texted them to say, ‘We’re watching from Finnigan’s,'” she said.
Many of the two dozen Sanders supporters who gathered at Finnigan’s on Tuesday night knew the man on the stage, and most admitted to being at least a little surprised that the former Burlington mayor had just won the nation’s first presidential primary race by such a large margin over former secretary of state Hillary Clinton.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Burlington Progressive Party , Vermont politics , Hillary Clinton , presidential campaign , Image , Recommended Reading , Web Only
Friday, February 5, 2016
On Wednesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) became the fourth presidential candidate in the current field to get U.S. Secret Service protection, joining Donald Trump, Ben Carson and Hillary Clinton. That day, Sanders’ Burlington neighbors noticed a new RV parked near his home.
As the candidate travels around the Granite State ahead of its Tuesday primary, Secret Service agents are monitoring his modest, pale yellow abode.
Untraditional toilet aside, residents say they are proving to be good neighbors.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Secret Service , New North End , Burlington , Presidential Campaign , Image , Recommended Reading , Web Only
Tuesday, February 2, 2016
Bernie Sanders on Tuesday kicked off a weeklong sprint to the New Hampshire primary by urging a crowd in Keene, N.H., to continue the work of his supporters in Iowa.
Hoping to ride the momentum from his near tie with Hillary Clinton in Monday night’s Iowa caucuses, Sanders said the results showed that his goal of igniting a political revolution is possible.
“Last night in Iowa we took on the most powerful political organization in this country,” Sanders told a crowd of 850 at the downtown Colonial Theatre. “Last night we came back from a 50-point deficit in the polls. Last night we began the political revolution not just in Iowa, not just in New Hampshire, but all over this country.”
Sanders, who flew from Iowa to New Hampshire overnight, was noticeably hoarse during his 50-minute address before a raucous crowd of supporters. He took the stage only a few hours after Iowa officials certified the razor-thin caucus results. Clinton took 23 delegates from Iowa, while Sanders captured 21.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Hillary Clinton , Keene , Iowa , presidential campaign , campaign trail , Image , Recommended Reading , Web Only
Graff, 34, who now lives in Burlington, made the announcement on Facebook on Tuesday. “I am not going to run for elected office this year,” Graff said in the post. He did not return a call seeking comment.
Questions about Graff’s eligibility to run caused uncertainty about his potential candidacy from the start. Those unanticipated concerns ultimately prompted his decision not to run, he said.
“I didn’t anticipate that my move home would erupt into a debate about who is and who is not a Vermonter,” Graff said on Facebook. “It’s become clear that the ambiguity around this question of residency would color every aspect of a potential campaign, and, simply put, that’s not the conversation I wanted to spend this year having with Vermonters.”
Tags: Garrett Graff , Vermont elections , Politico , Image , Web Only
“Vermont is in a very bad place, and it’s entirely self-inflicted,” Lisman says, as he appears in the ad, which is slated to appear on WCAX, WPTZ, WFFF and WVNY.
A WCAX filing with the Federal Communications Commission reveals Lisman has contracts for $28,000 to air the ads on the four stations. The WCAX contract, handled on Lisman's behalf by the national Republican strategy firm McLaughlin & Associates, runs through February 11 for 26 spots. “It’s a modest buy, part of our overall communications strategy to introduce Bruce to Vermonters,” said Lisman's campaign manager Shawn Shouldice.
The ad starts with the foreboding narrator's voice commonly used in political ads. “Storm clouds threaten Vermont,” the voice says. “Higher taxes, health care prices escalating, a heroin epidemic and a lack of jobs threatening our youth.”
Tags: Bruce Lisman , Phil Scott , Vermont elections , Peter Shumlin , Image , Video , Web Only
Monday, February 1, 2016
Molly Ritner, 28, who has traveled the country working on Democratic campaigns, started work Monday.
Sarah McCall, the former executive director of Emerge Vermont, had managed Minter's campaign since it kicked off in September. She will stay on as Minter’s senior adviser, Minter said Sunday.
Minter touted the hiring as “a sign of momentum.” Ritner will be the main media contact for the campaign, Minter said, while McCall will handle scheduling and other duties.
Ritner, who was referred to her by EMILY’s List, the national group that helps elect pro-choice female candidates, has no Vermont ties, Minter conceded. Hiring out-of-state campaign managers has not always worked well here. In 2010, Republican Brian Dubie and Democrat Deb Markowitz lost their gubernatorial bids after hiring outsiders unschooled in Vermont's different style of politics. But Minter said she’s not worried.
Tags: Sue Minter , Matt Dunne , Vermont politics , Molly Ritner , Image , Web Only
Monday, January 18, 2016
So Ralston posted his musing on Facebook.
One person recommended: “Governor!”
“Lt. Gov.,” another answered. They were just the sort of responses you get when you publicly ask your friends what you should do. Ralston also launched a website through which he is seeking input.
And now he’s taking it to the radio airwaves, launching a weekly show titled “The Reluctant Politician” on Waterbury-based WDEV. It’ll air 1-2 p.m. on Thursdays starting this week.
It’s an odd approach — crowdsourcing advice on his potential candidacy — and one that runs the risk of making Ralston appear indecisive. If that’s how it strikes people, Ralston said, they don’t have to vote for him if he decides to run.
“I’m serious about this,” said Ralston, a Middlebury Democrat who served four years in the state House from 2011-2014 and owns the Vermont Coffee Company. “I want to talk to a lot of people.”
Tags: Paul Ralston , Vermont legislature , elections , Image , Web Only