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Shepard brings volunteer campaign manager on boardBENNINGTON BANNER ARTICLEShepard brings volunteer campaign manager on board July 20, 2006 NEAL GOSWAMI, Staff Writer Bennington Banner BENNINGTON — U.S. House candidate state Sen. Mark Shepard has lost his campaign manager after a shift in spending on the campaign, but he has no plans to drop out of the race. Shepard, R-Bennington, who is facing fellow Republican Martha Rainville in a September primary, said Paul Cook has left the campaign but denies the campaign has run out of money. "We're not out of cash, but it is tight," he said in a telephone interview Tuesday. According to Shepard, Cook left the campaign after spending a week helping a volunteer campaign manager transition into the job. Shepard said Cook had done a "great job," but he couldn't stay with the campaign as a volunteer. "He was fully paid. I said, 'We'll pay you for the rest of the week.' There's limited resources, and you have to apply them to where they're most needed," said Shepard. Shepard's new volunteer campaign manager is Bill Stafford of Colchester. According to Shepard, Stafford has owned and operated a business that has employed 180 people in the past. Shepard's filing with the Federal Election Commission shows that he raised about $25,300 in the fiscal quarter ending on June 30 for a total of about $65,000 over the course of the campaign. The report shows that Shepard has less than $15,000 cash on hand. During that same time, Rainville reported raising $133,000 in contributions, and an additional $72,000 was transferred to Rainville's campaign from other committees, raising her total contributions to about $530,000. Peter Welch, the lone Democratic candidate for the U.S. House seat, raised more than $400,000, which put him over the $1 million mark for the campaign. Overall, Shepard is pleased with the way his campaign is going and said he has no plans of dropping out, despite lagging behind in his fund-raising efforts. "The campaign is going very well; you just have to look at it in a different light. The response we've been getting has been tremendous," said Shepard. Shepard said he wasn't concerned with Rainville's announcement that U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., would be coming to Rutland this weekend to campaign on her behalf. Rainville and McCain will be holding a town hall style forum at St. Joseph's College on Saturday. "I'm really running a different type of campaign. We have an RV, and we're touring the state, and it's a lot more personal. I can do a lot more for less money," he said. "I think it shows the difference in our campaigns. We're not even thinking about who we could bring in. It hasn't even been on my radar screen to do things like that." Shepard attended the first of four "Conversations on the Green" this past Sunday. They are a series of forums held across the state that were proposed by Welch so candidates would have a chance to debate issues in front of voters. Rainville has declined to participate. Shepard was glad Welch organized the event, because it allowed the candidates to speak freely to the voters. "I tried to really answer the questions truthfully rather than just offer a few catch phrases," he said. |
"... many politicians talk the talk about doing something tangible about new jobs and it doesn't go much further. Sen. Shepard walked the walk." Bennington Banner State Senator Endorsement Editorial, October 29, 2004
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