Well, well, well. Former Democratic state senator John Rodgers, now running for lieutenant governor as a Republican, seems to have searched for loose change in the sofa cushions and maybe the console of his (guessing here) pickup truck. Because after reporting no campaign activity whatsoever on July 1, he has now gone and spent a cool $10,400 on advertising with Radio Vermont, a.k.a. WDEV Radio.

We won’t know where the money came from until August 1, the next campaign finance deadline, but candidates are required to promptly report mass media expenditures of $500 or more when they occur close to an election. Rodgers filed his mass media report on July 11.

There are some other mass media filings of note, but let’s stick with Rodgers for the moment. I have to think — in a perverse way, I hope — he’s got some serious money behind him and that this big expenditure is part of a broader plan, because spending $10K on radio ads in central Vermont, by itself, is kind of a headscratcher. And I say that as a veteran radio guy whose brain still conjures up the radio version of the naked-in-public nightmare. (Which basically involves every possible interruption or technical problem sabotaging a live broadcast while I’m sitting at the microphone. Yep, radio in the blood.)

Anyway, WDEV is a worthy enterprise, owned for decades by the Squier family and now owned by Myers Mermel, former Republican candidate and (briefly) head of the Ethan Allen Institute. It features tons of local programming and its audience is a good match for the Republican primary electorate. But its reach doesn’t go far beyond central Vermont, and how many people listen to The Radio anymore?

If Rodgers has tapped into a lot of money and he’s making more ad buys very soon, then I’d have to reassess his chances of winning the primary against hard-core conservative and perennial loser Gregory Thayer. That’s a big “if.” We’ll see if he files any more mass media reports in the next few days. (Early voting is already open, so time’s a-wastin’.)

If the WDEV spend is an isolated endeavor, then I’d have to say he’s getting some bad advice. We shall see.

There have been some other mass media filings of interest. Let’s take a look, listicle-style.

• Gov. Phil Scott has reached into his big bag and paid a cool $20,000 to Battleground Strategies, a D.C. consultancy lately known for serving Never Trumpers like Maryland’s Larry Hogan and Massachusetts’ Charlie Baker, although they’ve also worked for former Maine governor and human stain Paul LePage, so the slate isn’t exactly clean. Battleground’s head man is one Jim Barnett, who has a reputation as a human attack dog. He was last seen in Vermont helming Scott Milne’s unsuccessful bid for lieutenant governor in 2020. Under Barnett’s direction, the Milne campaign went strongly negative against Democratic nominee Molly Gray with what VTDigger called “a consistent attack on Gray’s trustworthiness and character.” Didn’t work, need I say.
• Former TV anchor Stewart Ledbetter, whose state Senate campaign has been richly underwritten by Burlington-area business leaders, spent $1,000 on postcards, which is not particularly interesting. What is, is that he paid the money to Charyk & Francis LLC, a consultancy helmed by longtime Democratic operatives Nick Charyk and Lachlan Francis. Ledbetter had previously disclosed a $2,500 payment to C&F for “consulting fees.” Now, I don’t blame Charyk or Francis for accepting a gig, even with a centrist candidate who might well unseat a Democratic incumbent. That’s their business. But Francis is also chair of the Windham County Democrats, and one of his officeholders, Rep. Emilie Kornheiser, also faces a primary challenge from a candidate heavily funded by business interests. I wonder how he explains himself to himself.
• “Democratic” House candidate Jason Herron of Guilford, who’s also the Vermont head of a far-right organization advocating a very select rewrite of the U.S. Constitution, has spent heavily on newspaper advertising. Between his July 1 report and subsequent mass media filings, he has paid $1,998 to New England Newspapers, publisher of the Brattleboro Reformer, and $1,740 to Vermont Independent Media, publisher of The Commons. So far, neither paper has published any substantial reporting on the race. By the way, Herron’s July 1 campaign finance report is strangely silent on the source of his money. It lists zero contributions, not even from himself, and expenditures totaling $4,571. That doesn’t count $1,499 paid to NEN after the July 1 deadline, so he’s up over $6,000 in campaign spending while reporting no funding source. (He is the son of a former top Entergy Nuclear exec, so maybe he’s one of them trust-fund farmers.)
• State Reps. Kathleen James and Seth Bongartz, the latter now running for state Senate, each reported spending $1,330.61 on brochures supporting both their candidacies plus that of Kathleen Collier, who’s running for Bongartz’ House seat.
• Brenda Steady, conservative Milton school board member and Republican challenger to Democratic state Rep. Julia Andrews, has spent $926.28 for mailers that mention Andrews. Gee, I wonder if they’re flattering. Not. (On July 1, Steady reported raising $2,120 from precisely two donors: $1,000 from the Milton Republican Committee and the rest from nutbar school board member Allison Duquette.)
• David Kelley, who seems to be another pro-business “Democrat” raising big bucks from business leaders and the wealthy, spent $927 for mailers. Kelley is seeking the Northeast Kingdom seat being vacated by Democratic Rep. Katherine Sims, who’s running for Bobby Starr’s Senate seat.

That’s about it for now. I’ll keep an eye on mass media expenditures. I also want to call your attention to a piece written last week by Seven Days’ Kevin McCallum about “Democratic” candidates who are being supported by donors normally associated with Republican causes. It’s a good story, although he missed at least a couple I know of. I might do a follow-up if I can find the time for a thorough exploration of July 1 campaign finance reports.