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Candidates challenging Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., in next month’s primary say that they have not been given access to Vermont Democratic Party voter information.
Dan Freilich, a Veterans Affairs physician from Brownsville, said he was told by the party last month that he could not purchase voter files.
Ben Mitchell, a special education professional who lives in Westminster, said he also requested voter files from the party, but was told say he needed to file an official request.
The files include historic information about Democratic supporters, records about volunteer activity on various campaigns, and more, according to party officials.
Candidates use the data to target campaigning efforts.
Terje Anderson, chair of the Vermont Democratic Party, said Monday that the party’s committee decided in May not to allow Freilich to purchase the data.
“It’s not an automatic right that a candidate gets it and we decided that Dan didn’t meet the party’s standards for who should have it,” Anderson said.
The Vermont Democratic Party often allows candidates challenging incumbents to purchase the data, Anderson said. Many other state parties do not share the information with challengers at all, he said.
The party committee considers a number of factors, including whether a candidate is credible and a “bona fide Democrat.”
Anderson said the committee discussed Freilich’s request for about 45 minutes, but ultimately decided that he did not meet the first requirement because of his past interactions with the party. A “very heavy” factor was that when Freilich lost a 2010 primary run against Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., he went on to challenge him in the general election, according to Anderson.
“It questioned, does he have any loyalty to the party at all,” Anderson said.
The information belongs to the national party, according to Anderson, but state committees manage it. Under terms with the national party, Democratic incumbents must have access.
The cost to access the data ranges from $100 for state legislative candidates to $12,000 for candidates for statewide offices. For U.S. House candidates, the files have a $4,000 price tag because they are subsidized by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, according to Anderson.
Freilich feels the decision to deny his campaign access to the party information is problematic.
“It’s kind of unethical, and it’s certainly very undemocratic,” Freilich said.
Freilich says the party’s denial of his request is part of a larger effort to protect those who are already in office.
“It’s part of the unfortunate protection of incumbency which is just very detrimental to democracy,” Freilich said.
Freilich said Monday that his decision to run in the 2010 U.S. Senate general election after losing the primary was a contentious move from the party’s perspective, but he said he “did it for the right reasons” in trying to pursue his agenda of getting money out of politics, and he will not do the same this year.
“I know that I did it for the right reasons, but I do understand that the Democratic Party took offense at it,” he said.
However, he charged, it “doesn’t make me not a bona fide Democrat.”
Mitchell said he also requested voter files from the party. He said he never heard back.
Anderson said the party received an inquiry from Mitchell about the files, but never got a formal request for the information from the candidate.
Mitchell said he was not surprised that he did not get the files.
“I’m not surprised by it at all,” he said. “I would expect little else.”
“I’ve been Liberty Union for years I’m used to being ignored by the media, I’m used to having zero access,” Mitchell said.
Anderson said the decision “isn’t about protecting Peter Welch, this is about the person who asked for access and whether we thought they deserved it or not.”
Access to the voter files has been a point of contention in previous elections.
Anderson said the party will typically share the files with candidates who run under the dual Democrat/Progressive banner, but won’t give access to those who run with the Progressive party label preceding the word Democrat.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, a career-long democratic socialist who runs as an independent, does get access to the files, Anderson said. While Sanders does not have a “D” after his name, he typically does run for the Democratic nomination, which he then turns down. He currently caucuses with Democrats in the Senate, and previously caucused with House Democrats.
The issue also came up during the 2016 election when longtime Progressive David Zuckerman won the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor.
Zuckerman’s campaign did not get access to the files directly, according to Anderson, but the party worked with the campaign to share some information. Anderson believes Zuckerman will have access to the files this time.
Zuckerman said Monday he supports openness among primary contenders.
“I think that primaries should be open level playing field and let the voters who chose to vote in any particular primary be the ones to ultimately make that decisions,” Zuckerman said.
Zuckerman supports a process that gives voters as much information as possible about candidates.
“Now more than ever people don’t want parties sort of making the decision or creating unlevel playing fields,” he said.
A Welch spokesperson referred comment to the Vermont Democratic Party.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Democratic Party is blocking access to voter files, candidates say.