In her bid to become the next leader of the Vermont House of Representatives, state Rep. Laura Sibilia, I-Dover, is attempting to raise campaign cash.
“Right now, Laura needs to raise $8,000 to ensure her campaign has the resources to make a strong push for the Speaker’s election,” a letter to her supporters, obtained by VTDigger, said. “Your support will help fund her outreach, team, and the critical tools she needs to win this pivotal election.”
Last month, the five-term independent representative launched a rare challenge to House Speaker Jill Krowinski, D-Burlington, for the chamber’s top leadership position — notably, before November’s general election even occurred. All 150 House members will vote on the question of who should lead the chamber when the Legislature reconvenes for a new legislative biennium in January.
According to Krowinski’s chief of staff Conor Kennedy, the House Democratic caucus is scheduled to meet Dec. 7 to elect its party leaders for the next two years, and vote on the party’s nominee for speaker. Kennedy said there are currently no other challengers to Krowinski from within the Democratic party.
The race to become House speaker is typically conducted mostly behind closed doors, and largely within the majority party’s caucus (although Krowinski in her last bid for the seat, in 2023, won over near-unanimous support from the House chamber). Candidates for speaker will generally hold private conversations with individual members in order to win over their support.
But Sibilia has taken the rare step of bringing her challenge to Krowinski public. And with that, she’s pleading for donations to pay for her campaign efforts, including at least one staffer.
To campaign so publicly for the speakership contest, let alone fundraise for it, is unusual in Vermont. Krowinski, for her part, is taking the more traditional approach of asking for support among her House colleagues in private conversations — not on the public stage.
“I am not focused on fundraising and believe one-on-one and small group meetings are most critical at this moment to ensure we are prepared and able to take on the work before us this January,” Krowinski said in a written statement to VTDigger on Tuesday.
According to Bryan Mills, the chief of staff to Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas, it’s unusual for a candidate to raise funds explicitly in a race for the Speaker’s Office, and the scenario is not contemplated in Vermont’s campaign finance law.
With donations being directed to Sibilia’s preexisting account for her state House campaign, he said, Sibilia remains subject to the rules governing campaign fundraising as a House candidate. Notably, that means Sibilia is limited to accepting $1,120 per election cycle from a single donor or political action committee.
That also means, according to Mills, that Sibilia remains subject to campaign finance disclosure rules. General elections candidates are due to file two more campaign finance reports detailing their campaign raising and spending for the 2024 election cycle: one at the end of day Tuesday, Nov. 19, and the final report on Dec. 15.
It’s after that point that the 2024 cycle concludes and the 2026 cycle begins. Then, Sibilia’s campaign contribution limits would re-start — and her next fundraising report wouldn’t be due until July of 2025.
In her letter seeking donations, Sibilia’s campaign said the funds raised will pay for “building a staff and laying the groundwork for the upcoming legislative session.” Those costs, the letter said, “are paid for entirely by private donations, not state funds.”
The letter concluded with a request for “a contribution of $76, to symbolize the 76 votes Laura needs to win.”
“If you are able to give $100, $250, or $500, your donation will go even further to support Laura’s campaign. Smaller donations are also welcome, and help to show the momentum Laura is building,” the letter added.
The letter then directed donations to Sibilia’s existing state House fundraising account by mailing a check or contributing virtually on her House campaign website, which accepts electronic donations via Paypal, Zelle or Venmo.
Sibilia told VTDigger she is raising money for her speakership bid because “there’s a lot of work that has to be done in order to be ready for the first day of the session — if, in fact, I’m elected — and I can’t wait until that election to do all of that work.” She said that work encompasses meetings with individual House members, as well as “a lot of meetings with stakeholders on a variety of issues.”
“There’s just generally a lot of work … to approach this contest in a responsible way,” she said. “I am a working person, who has a full time job and needs to have a full time job, and I also have a full civic plate … and I need assistance in doing that work if I’m going to be responsible and be serious. And so I am fundraising, literally, to offset the cost of contracting for assistance to make sure that I am ready and organized for January 8.”
Sibilia previously announced that former Democratic state Rep. Lucy Rogers of Waterville would serve as chief of staff for her campaign for speaker. Sibilia noted Krowinski, as speaker, already has two full time staffers paid for by the state: Kennedy and aide Molly Moore.
Asked if she planned to use any campaign contributions for advertising or mailers to the public, Sibilia said, “I think that depends on how much funding we raise.”
“We certainly could use an additional staff person at this point, given the number of members that we are responding to and the work that we are doing,” she said. “I don’t anticipate seeing a lot of mailing campaigns.”
Read the story on VTDigger here: Sibilia seeks campaign cash in her bid to oust Vermont House Speaker Krowinski.