BURLINGTON, Vt. –This election cycle, many Progressives are running as Democrats. It’s an effort to avoid splitting overlapping constituencies, but in at least one way, they’re not completely welcomed into the fold.
Several fusion candidates won’t have access to valuable voter information held by the Democratic Party and one is crying foul.
VoteBuilder is a software and data tool that can help candidates decide which voters to target and how to reach them with mailers, phone calls or even plot a door-knocking route.
Democrats who want access for their campaigns can buy in, but not everyone listed as a “D” on the ballot will have that opportunity.
“You need to be a bona fide Democrat to receive access to the tool,” said Conor Casey, Vermont Democratic Party executive director.
Casey says the national party which owns and sells access to VoteBuilder has strict rules.
Progressive-Democrat State Senator David Zuckerman received the state party’s endorsement as an acceptable lieutenant governor candidate last weekend. But party leadership rejected his access request.
“In the case of Senator Zuckerman, he’s been very clear he’ll be primarily a Progressive despite running in the Democratic primary,” said Casey.
The other two Democratic candidates in the race, Rep. Kesha Rahm and House Speaker Shap Smith, both have access.
Candidates can add their own campaign-specific information that is not shared and Zuckerman’s assurances he would not share common info did nothing to help his case.
He argues he should qualify for access since he runs as a Democrat and votes with them in the Senate.
“I think a lot of Vermonters and voters both here and across the country are showing that folks are tired of party establishment politics and really issues matter more, and I’ve always been an issues-based political figure,” said Zuckerman.
The issue isn’t limited to those seeking positions in Vermont’s halls of power. Sen. Bernie Sanders encountered controversy surrounding the national Democrat’s list during his presidential run. The national party briefly cutoff Sanders’ access to voter data in December after a staffer sneaked a peek and possibly saved data from Hillary Clinton’s camp. Sanders filed suit and accused the party of favoritism for Clinton. And the DNC ultimately unfroze his account.
Zuckerman draws similarities to his struggle with the establishment.
“They’re playing the same game,” said Zuckerman.
“We believe there are political parties for a reason,” said Casey.
Casey says four other fusion candidates have also been denied access and says party leaders say they’ll reconsider whether to grant Zuckerman access in the next couple of weeks.
Despite only running a Progressive write-in campaign, Zuckerman does have access to the Progressive Party’s more limited data.
The question of access to the Democratic data could also change if Zuckerman wins the primary.