It took all campaign season, but we finally got a photo of Lenore Broughton, the Burlington heiress who's bankrolling the conservative super PAC Vermonters First to the tune of $1 million this election. 

Despite her outsize influence on state elections this year, Broughton keeps a low public profile. She declines every interview request she gets and has turned away numerous reporters looking for quotes from her front door this fall.

Prior to a recent Seven Days story and others that followed, there wasn't much known about her background or the source of her sizable fortune. And there don't appear to be any photos of her on the web.

Our last attempt to photograph the elusive Broughton didn't go so well. She walked away from a public meeting rather than be photographed. So we had to get a little more aggressive on the second try.

Seven Days hired freelance photographer Andy Duback to photograph Broughton at a public meeting of a board on which she serves. On Monday, Duback snapped this photo at Burlington City Hall as Broughton was getting on an elevator following the meeting. Along with being a member of the Burlington Telecom Cable Advisory Council, Broughton serves on the Burlington Board for Registration of Voters. That's the volunteer panel charged with maintaining Burlington's voter lists.

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In total, they invested $532,000 in television, radio and newspaper advertising, and in direct mail. A little less than half of that money went toward Vermont's gubernatorial race. The two candidates — Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin and Republican challenger Randy Brock, a Franklin County state senator — have spent $240,000 on television advertising alone during the past month.

Of course, with the advent of Vermont-based super PACs, candidate spending only tells half the story.

For instance, the two leading candidates for state treasurer — appointed incumbent Democrat Beth Pearce and Rutland's Republican city treasurer, Wendy Wilton — have spent $119,000 on mass media in the past month. But independent groups — primarily the conservative super PAC Vermonters First, which has heavily backed Wilton — spent another $220,000 exclusively on that race during the same period.

Factoring in all reported candidate spending during the two-year election cycle coming to a close this Tuesday, Brock has vastly outspent the others. He has spent at least $706,000 since launching his gubernatorial campaign last winter. Behind him are Shumlin ($285,000), Pearce ($194,000) and the Republican candidate for attorney general, Jack McMullen ($191,000).

Last week, we brought you a list of the biggest-spending independent groups in the 2012 election (please note, that list is now a few days out of date). Below is a list of the biggest-spending candidates:

Last week, we brought you a somewhat comprehensive tally of newspaper endorsements in Vermont's statewide races. Well, a few more rolled in over the weekend, so we're updating it below.

The new additions? The Rutland Herald and Barre-Montpelier Times Argus endorsed Gov. Peter Shumlin and Lite Gov. Phil Scott. The Valley News backed Shumlin. And the Vermont Standard endorsed all the incumbents, with the exception of Democratic State Treasurer Beth Pearce; instead, they backed her Republican challenger, Rutland City treasurer Wendy Wilton. The Standard also went for Sen. Vince Illuzzi in the open race for state auditor.

Notably, in a Saturday editorial the Brattleboro Reformer announced it will no longer endorse political candidates, writing:

Readers of our editorial page don't need us to tell them we have a certain ideological standpoint when it comes to politics, and it probably would come as no surprise as to who we would endorse if we were to continue to do so.

But it's not for that self-evident reason we are discontinuing our participation in this hallowed practice.

This shouldn't be a surprise to regular readers. Over the past several years, we've begun to pull back on regular endorsements, first at the local level (selectboards), and then expanding that process to more high-profile candidates.

Simply put, the editorial board believes our job here at the Reformer is to profile the candidates and present their stances on various issues and let readers make their own decisions.

It's election week! Here's what's happening in the world of Vermont politics and news this week. Got an event you want listed in next week's calendar? Email us by Friday to submit it.

Monday, November 5

• It's the last day of campaigning before the big day, and the last day to request an absentee ballot (click here for more info.)
• Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin has a light (or incomplete) schedule for today. His campaign website shows the guv honking and waving at 7:30 a.m. in Barre, "visiting businesses and walking" in Richmond at 9:30 and doing the same at Five Corners in Essex at 10:45. Full schedule.
• Republican gubernatorial candidate Randy Brock starts the day with a 6:30 a.m. interview on ABC 22/Fox 44, and ends at 5:30 p.m. in the Springfield "GOP Victory Office." He'll be on "Charlie, Ernie and Lisa" on WVMT-AM at 8 a.m. Full schedule.
• Republican Lt. Gov. Phil Scott kicks off a "vote tomorrow" tour today, with the gimmicky idea of making 14 stops in each of Vermont's 14 counties, and spending 14 minutes at each location. The lite guv starts at the ungoldly hour of 4:45 a.m. in St. Albans and finishes at 6:35 p.m. in Barre. Full schedule.
• Republican candidate for attorney general Jack McMullen has just two stops on his schedule for today: a 2 p.m. sign wave outside the Sheraton Hotel in South Burlington, and a somewhat inexplicable 6 p.m. visit to the Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism. Presumably to court the all-important undecided herbalist bloc.
• At 9 a.m., "The Mark Johnson Show" on WDEV-FM welcomes guests Howard Dean and Vermont Pundit Laureate Eric Davis. Listen live.
• At noon, Vermont Public Radio's topic on "Vermont Edition" is the middle class — that nebulous group politicians have been courting so hard this year. Guests are UVM economics professor Elaine McCrate and Dartmouth sociology professor Marc Dixon. Listen live.
• Obama and Romney won't talk about climate change, but Norwich University will. At 7:45 p.m., award-winning microbiologist Dr. Brigit Sattler gives a talk titled "Ice and Life: Living Cryosphere" about the impact of melting polar icecaps on the ecosystem.

Rest of the week after the break...

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Brock's campaign released partial results of a survey conducted last Thursday by Ohio-based, Republican pollster Fritz Wenzel showing that likely voters favor Shumlin 46 to 41 percent. Eight percent favor three other candidates and 5 percent are undecided, the poll found.

The automated survey of 520 Vermonters has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 percentage points.

"It's a close race," Wenzel said Saturday. "Obviously Shumlin has the advantage going into this last weekend. Clearly people are open to considering change. It fits with everything else I'm seeing in polling I'm doing all over the country. People are not satisfied with the status quo."

Neither Wenzel nor the Brock campaign would release complete results of their poll. Here's the scant data they included in a one-page polling memo (Click here to read it for yourself):

• Democrats favor Shumlin 74 percent to Brock's 19 percent, with 3 percent undecided.
• Republicans favor Brock 82 percent to Shumlin's 11 percent.
• Independents favor Shumlin 43 percent to Brock's 39 percent.
• Men favor Brock 49 percent to Shumlin's 38 percent.
• Women favor Shumlin 56 percent to Brock's 34 percent.
• 59 percent of those surveyed have a favorable opinion of Shumlin, while 35 percent have an unfavorable opinion. Six percent say they don't know enough about him to say one way or the other.
• 50 percent have a favorable opinion of Brock, while 29 percent have an unfavorable opinion. 21 percent say they don't know enough about Brock to say.

Okay, now that we've thrown a bunch of numbers at you, let's take a step back and look at a few reasons you should be skeptical of this survey.

Updated below with details of a Burlington City Hall press conference Mayor Miro Weinberger called Saturday afternoon to refute Vermonters First’s claims.

First they supported statewide candidates. Then they tackled legislative races. Now Vermonters First, the big-spending, conservative super PAC, is going local.

The group's latest mailer, which reached Burlington homes Saturday, targets a Queen City ballot item.

"Vote no on question 1. Say no to new debt," it reads. "A tax increase is not a fresh start."

That line appears to be a dig at Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger, who promised a "fresh start" during his successful mayoral campaign last winter. Weinberger has championed the $9 million ballot question, which seeks to refinance short-term borrowing made necessary by the Burlington Telecom fiasco with long-term bonding.

The ballot item requires two-thirds support from Burlington voters Nov. 6 in order to pass.

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Thirteen of the city's 14 city councilors support it. Its sole opponent, Republican Paul Decelles, tells Seven Days he worked with Vermonters First treasurer and consultant Tayt Brooks on the super PAC's new mailer.

"We definitely talked about it," Decelles says. "They ran some things by us and we ran some things by them."

Decelles says he can't quite recall whose idea the mailer was. He says he's in close touch with Brooks, with whom he worked closely when Brooks managed former Republican city councilor Kurt Wright's mayoral campaign against Weinberger. Decelles says he sees no problem with a super PAC delving into municipal politics.

"I see no issue with it," he says. "I don't necessarily have issues with super PACs in general trying to spread their message."

Weinberger certainly does.

Call it a Mirobocall.

On Sunday, almost every land line in Burlington will get a pre-recorded call from Mayor Miro Weinberger urging them to vote yes on three ballot items next Tuesday, and inviting them to participate in a "telephone town hall" about the initiatives.

The robocall, which will go out to roughly 10,000 phone numbers, is part of a $17,000 campaign to win support for three ballot questions that go to Burlington voters on Election Day: a $9 million "fiscal stability bond" that requires a difficult-to-achieve two-thirds majority to pass; and two initiatives to improve and repair waterfront instrastructure, which can each pass with simply majorities.

The campaign, organized by a group called the Partnership for Burlington's Future, is not advocating for passage of a fourth ballot question: a nonbinding referendum on legalizing marijuana and hemp products.

Seven months into his administration, Weinberger is making a strong push for approval of plans that define the direction in which he wants to take the city and that will act as a gauge of his political standing. Weinberger and his supporters have scheduled a rally for passage on Sunday evening at Club Metronome with the Dave Grippo Funk Band and DJ Craig Mitchell providing the tunes.

So who's bankrolling the Partnership for Burlington's Future?

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Not surprisingly, the bulk of that came from the conservative super PAC Vermonters First, which has been almost entirely bankrolled by Burlington super-donor Lenore Broughton.

Since Oct. 6, the organization has spent $322,000 on mass media. The next five biggest-spending outside groups all support Democratic candidates, but their combined spending in the past three weeks pales in comparison: just $138,000.

In that period, $192,000 of Vermonters First's cash has gone to ads and mailers backing the Republican candidate for state treasurer, Wendy Wilton. Thanks to Vermont's quirky campaign finance disclosure laws, it's impossible to determine precisely how much money Vermonters First has spent on Wilton's candidacy in total — but it's likely far greater than that.

Since the super PAC was founded two months ago, it has spent at least $814,000 attempting to influence the election.

In this week's paper-and-ink edition of Seven Days, featuring an exclusive look at Barack Obama and Mitt Romney's Halloween costumes on the cover...

• A spooky Halloween story: "Haunted" tourism is big business in Vermont.
• Attention has focused on Sorrell and McMullen in the attorney general's race, but Progressive candidate Ed Stanak is making an impact on the race.
• The secretary of state's office suffered a series of screwups after the August primary — is Secretary of State Jim Condos to blame?
• In this infographic, find out which Vermont candidates are plowing their thousands of dollars of their own money into their campaigns this year.
• This week in Fair Game: Randy Brock's desperation heave, plus a roundup of state Senate and House races to watch on Tuesday.

Illustration by Matt Morris

A new TV ad released Tuesday morning by Republican gubernatorial candidate Randy Brock is drawing criticism from the top elected official in his own party: Lt. Gov. Phil Scott.

"I've never bought into the notion that negative campaigning is something Vermonters necessarily want to see," Scott says. "I'm sure there's some portions of the ad that are accurate. It's, I guess, the innuendos. It just seems a little over-the-top to me. I'm not comfortable with that kind of thing."

Brock's 30-second ad brutally slams his Democratic opponent, Gov. Peter Shumlin, on everything from land deals to out-of-state travel to "thousands of taxpayer dollars spent to settle undisclosed discrimination and misconduct allegations."

Here, watch it for yourself:

Scott says he first saw the ad during an editorial board meeting with the Barre/Montpelier Times-Argus and the Rutland Herald Tuesday afternoon. He says it reminded him of the nasty 2010 gubernatorial campaign between Shumlin and former lieutenant governor Brian Dubie.